Chapter 5 - The Bail Out
Two days later, Ethan was finally released from county jail after his mother liquidated her emergency jewelry collection to post his ten-thousand-dollar bond.
He walked out of the detention center looking like a shell of his former self. His tailored clothes were wrinkled and stained, his hair unwashed, his posture slouched in deep humiliation.
Waiting for him on the curb was Brenda in her silver sedan.
"Get in the car, Ethan!" Brenda barked, rolling down the window. "We're going to the lawyer's office!"
Ethan climbed into the passenger seat, staring straight ahead at the dashboard. "Mom, the lawyer said we don't have a case. He said the forgery charges are solid and I'm facing up to five years in state prison."
"That lawyer is an idiot!" Brenda snapped, slamming her hands against the steering wheel. "We'll hire a real lawyer! A top-tier defense attorney!"
"With what money, Mom?!" Ethan suddenly yelled, turning to face her, his face flushed with rage. "Avery froze all the joint accounts! My credit cards are maxed out! The bank called me this morning—the mortgage on your house is three months overdue because you were using my salary to pay it!"
Brenda flinched, stepping back emotionally. "Ethan, how dare you raise your voice at me after everything I've done for you!"
"What have you done for me?!" Ethan shouted, tears streaming down his face. "You made me sign those stupid papers! You told me Avery wouldn't fight back! You told me she was weak! Now my wife is divorcing me, my son doesn't know who I am, I have a felony record, and I'm facing prison time!"
"She's a manipulative little snake!" Brenda hissed. "She turned Grant against me, and now she's turning you against me!"
"Grant was right!" Ethan screamed, slamming his fist against the dashboard. "You ruined his life, and now you've ruined mine! Take me to a hotel, Mom. I don't want to look at you right now."
Brenda sat frozen in the driver's seat, her face turning pale as she realized that her tight, manipulative grip on her youngest son was finally beginning to snap.
Later that afternoon, Ethan drove alone to my house in a rental car.
He didn't pull into the driveway. He parked across the street, sitting in the car for over an hour, watching the front windows.
Through the shear curtains of the living room, he could see me sitting in a rocking chair, softly singing a lullaby as I held Theo against my chest. Sloane was in the kitchen, cooking dinner, while Grant sat on the porch step outside, guarding the front door with a quiet, watchful presence.
Ethan pulled out his phone and typed a single text message to me from his new burner phone:
Ethan: Avery, please let me see him. Just for five minutes. I'm so sorry. I'll do whatever you want. I'll cut Mom off completely. Just please let me hold my son.
May you like
I looked down at my phone screen, read the message, and did not reply.
Some choices, once made, cannot be undone. Ethan had chosen his mother over his wife and newborn child when it mattered most. Now, he had to live with the silence he had created.
