The Wife He Thought Would Wait

Ethan Carter had always believed I was the one woman who could never leave him. That was why, three years ago, even after learning I was pregnant, he agreed to his childhood sweetheart Vanessa’s twisted test and divorced me. “Three years from now, Clara will come back with my child.” He never called. Never once asked if I was safe or how I was surviving. He was certain I would stay exactly where he left me, waiting for him. Three years later, Ethan returned with a bouquet of roses and called me his wife as if nothing had changed. He had no idea that I had been in a car accident the day our divorce was finalized—and that our unborn child had died. He did not know that I had already married another man and now had a two-year-old son. When Ethan offered me the roses, I calmly stepped back. “Sorry. My husband doesn’t like me accepting flowers from other men.” Ethan only smiled, convinced I was still angry and too stubborn to admit I wanted him back. He had no idea that my husband was Don Dante Moretti—the head of New York’s most feared Mafia family. Chapter 1 Ethan looked at me, and the smile on his lips only deepened. “Still angry?” He set the roses on the counter and reached out to stroke my hair, just as he used to. “Come on. The three years are over. I came back, didn’t I?” I moved away from his hand. “Mr. Carter, please show some respect. I have a husband.” His hand stopped in midair. He studied my face for several seconds. “You’re really that angry this time?” He did not believe I was married. In his mind, everything I said was simply my way of punishing him for the choice he had made three years ago. Back then, when Vanessa proposed her so-called test at a private members’ club, everyone urged Ethan not to treat his marriage like a game. I was four weeks pregnant at the time. Before we left for the club, Ethan had rested his hand on my stomach and promised to take me to my first prenatal appointment the next morning. But when Vanessa asked whether he dared to divorce me, he hesitated for only a few seconds. “Clara is carrying my child. She won’t leave me.” He signed the divorce agreement in front of everyone. He even laughed and asked if we should schedule our remarriage three years in advance. He was convinced that a woman carrying his child could never start a new life. So he never asked whether I agreed. It never occurred to him that our baby would not survive the day our divorce was finalized. “Clara.” Ethan stepped closer again. “Tell me what you want. A vacation, another wedding, a new house. I’ll give you anything as long as you stop this.” “I don’t want anything from you. I want you to leave.” Some of the confidence faded from his smile. The woman I used to be would never have spoken to him that way. I had pursued him for two years. When his company was on the verge of collapse, I stayed beside him and gave him every dollar I had saved to help him survive. Even after we married, no matter how many times we fought over Vanessa, I never truly left him. I had loved him so completely that, eventually, he began to believe my love was simply part of who I was. Ethan frowned, irritation entering his voice. “It was just a test. We divorced to prove to Vanessa that our relationship was real. I never betrayed you, and I never intended to abandon you.” His gaze dropped to my stomach. “Where’s the baby? The child should be a little over two by now.” Even after three years, the memory of the baby I had lost still hurt. Ethan mistook my silence for something else. A pleased smile entered his eyes as he reached for my face again. “Was it a boy or a girl?” I stepped back. “That has nothing to do with you.” “The baby—” Before I could finish, his phone rang. Ethan answered immediately. “What happened?” Vanessa’s frightened voice came through the phone. “My car broke down in an underground parking garage. It’s so dark down here, and there’s a man who keeps staring at me. Ethan, I’m scared.” Concern instantly filled his face. “Lock the doors and stay inside the car. I’m coming.” He ended the call and grabbed his keys. “Vanessa’s in trouble. I need to go get her.” I looked at him without saying anything. It had always been this way. No matter where we were or what we were doing, the moment Vanessa called, Ethan left me behind. He reached the door, then glanced back at me. “I’ll come back later. Stop lying about having a husband just to make me angry.” “I’m not lying.” “If you’re really married, why won’t you tell me who he is?” I said nothing. Ethan had no right to know Dante’s identity. He had even less right to ask about the life I had built without him. My silence only convinced him that he was right. “Once I’ve taken care of Vanessa, we’ll discuss our remarriage.” Then he hurried out. I picked up the roses and dropped them into the trash. The next afternoon, Ethan returned to the coffee shop. Vanessa had her arm wrapped around his. His black coat rested over her shoulders. I had once asked Ethan to wear coordinated outfits with me, but he always said it was not his style. Yet Vanessa had only needed to mention it once for him to show up in a casual suit that matched hers. Before either of them could speak, my phone rang on the counter. The screen read: My Baby. I answered the video call, and Leo’s little face appeared. “Mommy!” He hugged his toy car and waved excitedly at me. “Daddy said he’ll be home tomorrow. Can we go pick him up together?” Before I could answer, Ethan’s face lit up with joy. “I knew it.” He stared at Leo and laughed. “You really did give me a son.” I immediately ended the call. But Ethan had already decided he was right. He looked around the coffee shop, then frowned at me. “I gave you plenty of money in the divorce. Why are you still working here as a waitress?” Chapter 2 When we divorced, Ethan gave me half of our marital assets. In his mind, the money was enough to keep me comfortable for three years—and enough to keep me exactly where he had left me, waiting for him. I handed a customer the coffee I had just made. “This is my shop. I work here because I enjoy it.” Ethan did not get angry. He still believed I was only acting cold to punish him. Vanessa greeted me with a false smile. “Clara, it’s been three years. How have you been?” “Good.” My calm response caught her off guard. Just then, Ethan’s phone rang. He checked the screen and stepped outside to take the call. Once Vanessa was sure he could not hear us, the smile disappeared from her face. “Stop playing hard to get. Even if Ethan remarries you, you still haven’t won.” I said nothing. Vanessa mistook my silence for pain, and the satisfaction in her eyes deepened. “Mrs. Carter has never accepted you. In her eyes, I have always been the perfect woman for her son.” “Ethan only came back because he feels responsible for you. He thinks you spent the last three years waiting for him while raising his child, so he believes he owes you an explanation.” She deliberately glanced toward Ethan outside. “And before he came to see you, he asked for my permission.” Vanessa took a document from her handbag and placed it in front of me. “It’s a new prenuptial agreement. I drafted it for Ethan myself.” I glanced through it. According to the agreement, if Ethan and I remarried, I would have no right to interfere in his relationship with Vanessa. I would have no authority within the Carter Group and could not appear publicly as his wife. If the marriage ended again, I would receive nothing. Even gifts Ethan gave me could be reclaimed by the Carter family. “If you sign it, Mrs. Carter won’t stand in the way of your remarriage.” Vanessa smiled. “But you still won’t be allowed to call yourself Mrs. Carter in public. Your background could damage Ethan’s reputation and the company’s image.” I pushed the agreement back toward her. “If Mrs. Carter likes you so much, then you should marry him.” I meant it sincerely, but Vanessa took it as mockery. “You think Ethan hasn’t married me because he doesn’t love me?” “The only reason he hasn’t is because he still feels responsible for you!” When I remained silent, Vanessa felt even more humiliated. She raised her hand to slap me. Footsteps sounded outside. Her hand stopped in midair. A second later, she lowered it, her eyes turning red as tears began to fall. “Clara, I truly want you and Ethan to get back together.” Her voice was soft and wounded. “I was only trying to prevent problems between you in the future. If the agreement upset you, I can take it back. Please don’t be angry.” Ethan walked inside and found her standing in front of me with tears in her eyes. “What happened?” Vanessa shook her head. “It was my fault. Please don’t blame Clara.” The more she defended me, the colder Ethan’s expression became. “Clara, apologize to her.” “Vanessa is trying to help us.” He spoke as if he were disciplining an unreasonable child. “She and I grew up together. She’s like a little sister to me. Why do you always have to treat her like an enemy?” It was always the same excuse. Three years ago, Vanessa took my anniversary necklace, and Ethan said she merely liked it and that it was not worth arguing over. She called him away during our anniversary dinner, and he said she was drunk and needed someone to look after her. When Mrs. Carter refused to let me attend the family Christmas dinner, Ethan told me to respect his mother and stop putting him in the middle. Vanessa crossed the line every time. Yet I was always the one expected to apologize. “I won’t apologize.” Ethan frowned, clearly not expecting such a direct refusal. He was about to lecture me again, but I looked toward the door. “If neither of you intends to order anything, please leave.” Ethan’s expression darkened. “Clara, I can tolerate your anger, but you can’t keep behaving like a spoiled child.” After a short pause, his voice returned to that same entitled tone. “Saturday is my mother’s birthday. You’ve always been good at baking. Make her favorite cake and bring our son with you.” “Leo is not your son, and I will not attend her birthday dinner.” “A DNA test will settle whether he’s mine.” “If you touch my son, you’ll regret it.” He only smiled. “Enough. Stop fighting me. I know you resent me for leaving you to raise our child alone.” “Once you and Leo return to the Carter family, I’ll make it up to both of you.” The sheer arrogance of it stunned me. He had disappeared for three years. Now he thought a promise of compensation gave him the right to take my son and steal the life I had built without him. Ethan did not notice the disgust in my eyes. “My mother may have been a little hard on you before, but you’ve given the Carter family an heir. If you humble yourself and show her some respect, she won’t make things difficult for you anymore.” I stared at him, suddenly finding the whole thing bitterly amusing. So he had always known exactly how his mother treated me. He had seen everything. He simply had not cared. Chapter 3 Three days later, on Mrs. Carter’s birthday, I did not go to the estate. I did not make the cake Ethan had demanded either. That afternoon, Ethan called me. “Leo is spending time with his family. I’ll bring him back once he’s settled in.” Family? What gave him the right to call the people who had hurt me Leo’s family? When I arrived at the Carter estate, the birthday dinner had not yet begun. The staff were still preparing the garden. I shoved past the people trying to stop me and stormed into the house. “Ethan! Give me back my son!” No one answered. Then I heard Leo screaming from the backyard. “Mommy! I want Mommy!” My heart clenched. I immediately ran toward his cries. Vanessa was holding Leo, with two cats beside her. His face was red from crying. He kept pushing away the black cat in her arms, and an angry rash had already spread across his exposed skin. “Leo is severely allergic to cats! Tell Vanessa to get that animal away from him!” Ethan blocked my path and refused to let me pass. “Vanessa is only trying to help him get used to animals. You can’t raise a boy to be this delicate.” “He isn’t being delicate. He’s having an allergic reaction!” Leo began clawing at his throat. His breathing grew faster and more strained. “Ethan, let me go! He could die!” Vanessa took a step back with the cat still in her arms. “You don’t have to frighten everyone. I only let Leo pet her. She didn’t even scratch him.” “Get the cat away from him!” I was almost screaming. Leo reached for me. His cries were growing weaker. “Mommy… I can’t breathe…” Something inside me snapped. I stomped hard on Ethan’s foot. The moment pain forced him to release me, I slapped him across the face. “Get out of my way!” I rushed to Leo and pulled him into my arms. His body had already gone limp. Red, swollen welts covered his face and neck, and every breath came with a sharp, desperate wheeze. I dropped to my knees and searched his emergency bag for his medication. Vanessa grabbed the strap. “Leo took something from my room. I need to check the bag first.” I shoved her away. “If anything happens to my son, I will never let you get away with this!” I found the emergency spray and held it to Leo’s nose. His body twitched slightly, but his eyes remained closed. “Baby, look at Mommy.” He did not respond. I lifted him into my arms and ran toward the door. My legs were shaking so badly I could barely stay upright. Ethan finally realized something was seriously wrong. He chased after me and tried to take Leo from my arms. “Give him to me. I’ll drive.” I pulled away. “Don’t touch him!” “Clara, this isn’t the time for another tantrum!” By the time we reached the hospital, Leo was unconscious. I stood outside the emergency room, trembling from head to toe. Memories from three years ago crashed over me. The blinding surgical lights. The cold machines. The doctor’s voice. “I’m sorry. We couldn’t save the baby.” I had already lost one child. I could not lose Leo too. The emergency room doors suddenly opened, and a doctor hurried toward us. “The child is in severe anaphylactic shock. We’re doing everything we can. Who is his legal guardian?” The doctor handed me a medical consent form. “We need his mother or father to sign.” I reached for it, but Ethan snatched it first. “I’m his father. I’ll sign.” I tried to take the form back, but he raised it out of my reach. “Clara, saving the child is what matters right now. We can settle our issues later.” He lowered his head, ready to sign his name on the line marked Father. Just before the pen touched the paper, an icy voice came from the other end of the corridor. “When did my son become yours?”