Mom, Don't Cry! Here comes a new Daddy! novel Chapter 130

Chapter 116

Chapter 116

(Ethan’s POV)

Behind me, I hear Gran’s voice.

“I see she’s upset.”

1 turn. She’s standing in the doorway of the living room, watching me with that evaluating

expression.

“She is. And she has every right to be. You threw away Jake’s art.”

“I relocated it. There’s a difference.”

“Not to me. And clearly, not to her or to Jake.”

“The child needs to learn that everything has its place. That’s part of growing up in a prope

household,”

“This isn’t a proper household. It’s a home. Or it was trying to be before your arrival.”

“Ethan. I understand you care for this woman. But you need to think practically. You’re abou to become the head of this family. Everything you do reflects on the Hale name. That includes who you marry and how you live.”

“I’m marrying Sabrina. That’s not changing.”

“Isn’t it? Because she just walked out on you.”

“Because you’re making her feel unwelcome. But that won’t my decision.”

“I’m making her face reality. There’s a difference.” Gran adjusts her pearls. “If she can’t handle

a few changes to an apartment, how will she handle the scrutiny that comes with being a Hale? The expectations? The constant judgment?”

“She can handle it.”

“Can she? Because what I just witnessed suggests otherwise.”

“What you just witnessed was a mother protecting her child. That’s strength, not weakness.”

“Perhaps. Or perhaps it’s insecurity. Fear that she doesn’t actually belong here.”

The words hang between us.

“She belongs here,” I say quietly. “She belongs with me.”

< Chapter 116

“Then prove it. Make her see that she needs to adapt. To fit into this world instead of expecting the world to fit around her.”

“That’s not how relationships work.”

“That’s exactly how they work when one person has considerably more to offer than the other.”

I stare at my grandmother. This woman who raised me. Who built everything I have. Who always put family first.

“Is that what you think? That I have more to offer than Sabrina?”

“Don’t you?”

“No. If anything, she’s the one settling. She’s the one taking a risk on a man whose family doesn’t think she’s good enough.”

Gran’s expression doesn’t change. “Then perhaps you should let her go. If you truly believe she’s settling, the kindest thing would be to release her from this burden.”

“She’s not a burden. Neither is Jake.”

“I didn’t say they were. But they are complications. And complications require sacrifice. The question is: are you willing to sacrifice your family’s approval for them? Or will you sacrifice them for your family’s approval?”

She walks away, leaving me alone in the hallway with a question I don’t want to answer.

From the guest room, I hear Rosalie on the phone. Laughing about something.

My phone buzzes. A text from Sabrina.

Jake wants to know if his drawings can come home. I told him they’re staying at your place. Please make sure they do.

I look at the refrigerator. At the twelve drawings displayed there.

Then I go to Jake’s room. Find the thirteenth one-the dinosaur family-where I left it on the counter.

I put it back on the fridge with the others.

And I text Sabrina: They’re not going anywhere. Neither are you.

But I’m not sure she’ll believe me.

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I’m not sure I believe me.

Because Gran is still here. Still rearranging. Still testing.

And I have no idea how to make her stop without losing her entirely

That night, I lie awake in a guest bedroom in my own apartment.

Because Gran took the master suite. Said she needed the space.

And I let her.

Just like I let her remove the artwork.

Just like I let her throw away Jake’s drawings.

Just like I keep letting her chip away at everything Sabrina and I are trying to build.

Rosalie was right about one thing.

I don’t see it.

I don’t see that every time I choose not to fight, I’m choosing Gran over Sabrina.

And eventually, Sabrina will stop coming back.

Eventually, she’ll decide I’m not worth the battle.

And if that happens, I’ll have no one to blame but myself.

(Rosalie’s POV)

I’ve been in love with Ethan Hale since I was fourteen years old.

Not the puppy love kind. Not the crush that fades when you meet someone new. The real kind. The kind that digs its claws in and doesn’t let go no matter how many years pass or how many times he looks at you and sees a sister instead of a woman.

I was fourteen when it started. He was sixteen. There were three boys from the senior class who thought it was funny to corner me after school. To call me names. To remind me that I was just the charity case Kate took in. Not real family. Not real anything.

Ethan found me crying behind the gym.

He didn’t ask questions. Didn’t make me explain. Just walked straight to those boys the next day and made them apologize. I don’t know what he said to them. But they never bothered me again.

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Chapter 116

That was the moment.

The moment I decided Ethan Hale was the only man I would ever love.

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