Chapter 17 - PRISON WALLS AND BITTER TEARS
Ethan let out a strangled cry as the video screen went black, leaving him alone in the small, sterile room of the prison.
A guard grabbed his arm, escorting him down the damp concrete corridor back to his shared cell.
Inside the cell, Ethan sat on the narrow metal bunk, staring at the blank concrete wall in utter ruin.
He remembered Nora's gentle smile when they first met, her devotion to him, and how he had treated her like an inconvenience.
"I had everything," Ethan whispered to himself, hot tears spilling down his hollow cheeks. "I had a beautiful wife and twins, and I threw it all away for shopping bags."
His cellmate, an older convict serving a life sentence, scoffed from the top bunk.
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"You didn't throw it away, kid," the convict said coldly. "You showed her who you really were, and she grew strong enough to crush you."
Ethan buried his face in his hands, realizing he would spend the next decade behind bars while his children grew up calling another man father.
