Chapter 4 - Ethan’s Desperate Betrayal Backfires Completely
Ethan reached across the table, his fingers clawing desperately at my sleeve as panic finally overwhelmed his arrogant exterior.
“Mom... please... you have to understand. Claire didn't know! We were just stressed about the mortgage and our new social circle!” Ethan pleaded.
I looked down at his trembling hand, remembering all the nights I skipped meals so he could afford his college tuition textbooks.
“You told me to remember my place, Ethan,” I reminded him, my voice colder than winter wind over the Hudson River.
“I was just joking! You know how tension is at these high-end dinners!” he stammered, tears pooling in his desperate eyes.
“When you told me not to embarrass you, you made your choice clear about where I fit in your pristine new life,” I said softly.
Claire glared at Ethan with pure venom, realizing that her ambitious social climbing had just hit a massive, immovable concrete wall.
“Don't sit there crying to your mother like a pathetic child, Ethan! Fix this right now!” Claire hissed under her breath.
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“Fix what, Claire? Your lies or your mother’s insulting comments about what I bring to this family?” I asked, turning my gaze to her parents.
Her parents sat in stunned silence, refusing to meet my eyes as the humiliation they intended for me boomeranged back onto them.
