Ethan came over that same evening. He looked tired but determined. The kids were already in bed, so we sat in the living room with the lights low.
“I’ve spoken to my best lawyers,” he said. “We’re fighting the temporary order. My mother went behind my back. I’m cutting all ties with her business connections.”
I wanted to believe him. “This is all happening because of me coming back. Maybe I should have stayed away.”
“No,” Ethan said quickly. “You did the right thing. Those kids deserve both parents. And I deserve the chance to make things right.”
We talked for almost two hours. He told me more about how his mother controlled him after his grandfather died. How she hated that I came from a simple background. How she lied about me to push the divorce.
“I was weak,” he admitted. “But I’m
