CHAPTER THREE — THE SPEECH
Ethan set his laptop on the desk and opened a document with Hannah’s name across the top.
The first paragraph thanked Lillian for teaching her that loyalty did not require self-erasure.
The next paragraph described two decent people who had spent a painful year pretending to be happy.
Andrew read the words slowly.
They were designed to sound gracious.
They were also false.
“She told me you helped shape this,” Ethan said.
“She said you wanted the announcement to be gentle.”
Andrew scrolled down.
A sentence claimed he had asked Hannah to sacrifice her own happiness until his mother could enjoy one final perfect family gathering.
He recognized neither the request nor the man described by it.
“You need to know something,” Andrew said.
“Hannah and I talked about renovating our kitchen yesterday.
”
Ethan looked surprised.
“She told me you had agreed to list the house in September.”
“We’re not selling.”
“She said the real estate agent was waiting for the anniversary weekend to pass.”
“There is no agent.”
Ethan sat back.
“I thought she was being careful with your family.”
Andrew closed the laptop.
“You were helping her rehearse a public lie about me.”
“I see that now.”
“You don’t get to call yourself innocent just because you believed the version that made your relationship convenient.”
Ethan accepted the rebuke without looking away.
“You’re right,” he said.
“I asked fewer questions than I should have.”
A second knock interrupted them.
Hannah entered before Andrew could answer.
Her eyes moved from Ethan to the open laptop.
“What are you doing?” she demanded.
“Reading my retirement speech,
” Andrew said.
“It’s not yours,” Hannah replied.
“That’s the problem,” he said.
“You wrote about my marriage as though I weren’t in it.”
Hannah looked at Ethan.
“I told you not to bring that here.”
“You told me he agreed,” Ethan said.
“You told me he wanted the speech.”
“I was trying to make everything less painful,” Hannah answered.
Andrew stood.
“Less painful for whom?”
Hannah squeezed her hands together.
“I knew that if I told you I wanted to leave, your mother would blame herself for the timing.”
“You never told me you wanted to leave.”
“I was going to.”
“After an audience heard I had been forcing you to pretend?”
Hannah had no answer.
Andrew gestured toward the laptop.
“You had a speech prepared for a conversation we never had.”
“I didn’t want a fight.”
“You wanted witnesses who would believe you first.”
Hannah flinched.
Ethan shut the laptop completely.
“I’m not attending Saturday,” he said.
Hannah turned toward him.
“Don’t abandon me now.”
“I don’t know what you told him, what you told me, or what you’ve told anybody else,” Ethan said.
“That’s not abandonment.”
“I thought you loved me.”
“I thought I was helping you leave a relationship that had ended,” he answered.
“Those aren’t the same thing.”
Andrew moved toward the door.
“You both need to go.”
Hannah stepped into his path.
“Please don’t destroy the weekend over this.”
He met her eyes.
“You put our marriage on a schedule,” he said.
“I didn’t.”
