The room went still, the air thick like it wanted to collapse in on itself.
"And… who are you again?" the principal asked, her tone sharp now, tired of whatever little show this was turning into.
Ethan smiled. That insufferable, self-assured smile that Mara had once, to her eternal regret, found intoxicating.
"Ethan," he said, straightening a little, as though claiming space that wasn't his. "Ethan Anderson. The twins' father." He paused, then added with a little flourish, "And her husband."
The words landed like a slap. Mara blinked. The world seemed to reel, her stomach flipping so fast it left her momentarily lightheaded.
Husband.
The word left her lips before she could catch it, a sharp, disbelieving whisper. "Husband?"
As if he could just rewrite history because it suited him. As if the ink on their divorce papers could vanish by sheer force of will.
