Ex Wife's Collapse After Divorce novel Chapter 41

Chapter 41

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The realization hit Ethan like cold water. Ethan set his glass down and looked at Sophie.

“You’re right,” he said. His voice was low. “I needed to see this. All of it.”

Sophie’s eyebrows rose a fraction. She clearly hadn’t expected the admission to come so easily.

“Coming here tonight,” Ethan continued, “was the right call. You helped me.”

A slow, triumphant smile spread across Sophie’s face. She tilted her beer toward him in a mock toast.

“Well,” she said, drawing the word out like taffy, “since you’re feeling so grateful – how about returning

the favor?”

Ethan’s eyes narrowed. “What kind of favor?”

“A small one.” Sophie held up her thumb and index finger, barely a centimeter apart. “Tiny, really.”

“Spit it out.”

Sophie set her bottle down and leaned forward, both elbows on the table.

“Day after tomorrow. College reunion. Our old classmates – mine and Vivian’s.” She paused, letting the name hang in the smoky air. “Vivian will be there. And Damian will be right beside her, playing the devoted boyfriend. He does it every time.”

Ethan said nothing.

“I want you to come with me.” Sophie’s eyes locked onto his. “As my boyfriend.”

Silence.

The grill sizzled. A scooter horn blared somewhere down the street.

“I want her to know what it feels like,” Sophie said, her voice dropping to something raw, something real. ” To watch someone she thought was hers standing with another woman. To taste betrayal – even just a

mouthful.”

Ethan picked up his beer. “Done.”

The word came out clean and final.

Sophie blinked. She’d clearly prepared a longer pitch – arguments, persuasion, maybe even another round of leverage. None of it was needed.

“That easy?” she asked.

“You gave me what I needed tonight. This is a fair trade.”

Sophie stared at him for a long moment. Then she leaned back, crossing her arms, studying him the way someone studies a painting they’ve just noticed isn’t what they thought it was.

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Chapter 41

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