I CHOSE MY SON OVER PEACE
1051 Words
I yanked my hand out of Ethan’s grip as my eyes were still glued to Sienna.
The sound echoed louder in my head than it should have.
She was still smiling, that slow but poisonous smile that said she believed she had won something, and she believed she could say anything and walk away untouched.
“You really don’t know when to stop, do you?” I said quietly.
The room suddenly felt smaller, as if the walls themselves were leaning in and listening to the saga.
I took a step forward as my heels were clicking softly against the floor.
“Ava, calm down,” Ethan said behind me, but I didn’t even turn.
“Stay out of this,” I warned, making my voice low and dangerous.“This doesn’t concern you anymore.” I added
Sienna laughed under her breath. “Look at you,” she said. “So emotional, all because of a…” She stopped.
Because I was already moving, not recklessly but with pure instinct. Motherhood had really stripped fear out of me long ago.
Ethan caught me again, his arms wrapping around my waist, holding me back just as I reached her. My breath came hard as I felt my chest tight and heat burning behind my eyes.
“Let me go, Let me go now.” I said through clenched teeth.
“Ava, don’t do this, please don’t let her provoke you.” Ethan whispered urgently, his voice shaking.
I gave a sharp and humorless laugh then.
“She already did, the moment she opened her stinky mouth and spoke about my son.” Sienna tilted her head.
“Your son? Do you really call that a son? He’s just …”
I didn't let her finish her sentence.
“Enough!!! That's it!! I am going to deal with this slut” The word cracked through the room like thunder.
Instantly, securities rushed in, there were two men moving fast with their eyes alert.
One of them stepped between us instinctively.
“Is everything all right here?” he asked firmly.
“Yes. It’s fine, it is just a minor misunderstanding, we will handle it.” Ethan nodded too quickly.
Handle he said, like he has done anything.
“Violence isn't allowed here at all, this is a conference hall, I suggest we escort her out.” One of them said with his eyes fixed on Sienna.
“You’re escorting the wrong person out.” Sienna scoffed.
The guard looked at her in disgust.
“Ma’am, please come with us,” he said calmly.
“What? You can’t be serious.” Her smile finally slipped.
One of them took her arm, probably controlling himself from pushing her and she snapped.
“Get your hands off me!” She struggled, her heels scraped against the floor as they dragged her toward the door.
Suddenly her eyes locked onto mine, burning with venom.
“This isn’t over, Ava,” she screamed. “You think you’ve won? You have just started a war”
The doors slammed shut behind her and then silence followed.
I stood there, shaking not from fear but from the effort it took not to collapse.
Ethan released me slowly, as if he was afraid that I might break.
I turned to face him.
“Don’t,” I said immediately.
He opened his mouth anyway. “Ava, I…”
“No! You don’t get to explain.” My voice was calm now
His face crumpled slightly. “I didn’t know she would say that.”
“But you did know who she is, yet you still chose to stand by her side.” I replied.
“That’s not true, I stopped you, I was trying to protect…” He said desperately
“Her, you protected her.”
His silence confirmed it and something inside me hardened completely.
“You failed him again, Ethan,” I said quietly.
“Ava, please…”
I turned and walked away, each step I took felt like I was reclaiming a piece of myself that I had lost years ago.
I felt him following me into the hallway.
“Ava,” he called, his footsteps quickening.
“Just listen to me.”
I stopped in front of the elevator and turned slowly.
“Listen to what? How do you let another woman insult your child? How did you stand there and did nothing until the security arrived?”
The elevator doors slid open.
“I was wrong and I don’t want to be wrong anymore.” He said hoarsely.
“You don’t get redemption just because you regret it,” I said. “Some mistakes don’t come with second chances.” I added before the doors began to close.
“Goodbye, Ethan.”
I hailed a taxi and slid into the back seat as my eyes were still fixed to the conference centre.
“Where to ma'am?” The taxi driver asked and I gave him the address of my hotel.
The ride down felt endless.
By the time I stepped into the lobby, the weight of everything crashed into me all at once.
My legs felt weak but then I heard laughter, it's Leo's.
He was sitting on the carpet and rolling a small ball back and forth with another child, his face so bright and carefree.
My heart softened immediately, I crossed the room and scooped him into my arms and buried my face in his hair.
“Mommy!” he giggled. “I played all day!”
“I know, baby,” I whispered. “I know.”
Now this… this was real, not some boardrooms, power, not even Ethan Blackwood.
My son wrapped his arms around my neckband at that moment, I remembered exactly why I had survived everything.
As we stepped into the elevator together, I held him close.
“I will always protect you, no matter who stands in my way,” I murmured.
The doors closed.
I smiled but the feeling didn’t last at all because, when we reached our floor, I saw Ethan, he stood near the end of the hallway with his hands in his pockets and eyes fixed on us, especially on Leo like he had been waiting all along.
How did he get here before me?
- Writer
