Chapter 3 - The Screenshot
The ambulance left for Massachusetts General with Allison riding beside Natalie.
Ethan followed in a taxi with his heart pounding harder than it had during any emergency he had ever faced.
He kept hearing the same words.
Divorce attorney emails.
There had never been any.
Not once.
Their marriage had been strained by schedules, exhaustion, and the thousand small absences that accumulated when one person lived from suitcase to suitcase.
But divorce?
No.
Ethan opened his phone and searched his email while the taxi crawled through airport traffic.
Nothing.
He searched “divorce.”
Nothing.
“attorney.”
Nothing relevant.
At the hospital, Natalie was moved into a private examination room.
Her blood pressure had crashed from dehydration and anemia. Her oncologist was contacted.
Allison stood at the foot of the bed.
Ethan stood near the door.
Neither looked away from the other.
Finally Natalie reached for her phone.
“I took a picture.”
She opened a hidden photo album and handed the phone to Ethan.
There it was.
A screenshot of an email that appeared to be from his account.
To: Franklin & Rowe Family Law.
Subject: Consultation before filing.
The message read:
I need to understand what leaving a long-term marriage will cost me. My wife is gone half the month anyway. I’m ready to stop pretending this works.
Ethan read it twice.
Then a third time.
His hands started shaking.
“I did not write this.”
Natalie looked away.
“It came from your address.”
“No. This is a screenshot. Where is the actual email?”
“I couldn’t find it again.”
“Because it never existed.”
Allison crossed her arms.
“Or because you deleted it.”
Ethan looked at her.
“Why are you answering for her?”
“I’m protecting my sister.”
“From what?”
“From a man who found out she had cancer and immediately made it about himself.”
Ethan took one step toward her.
A nurse entered.
“Mr. Cole, I need everyone calm.”
“I am calm.”
His voice was so quiet the nurse watched him more carefully.
Natalie whispered, “Ethan, stop.”
He handed the phone back.
“When did you see that screenshot?”
“Five weeks ago.”
“Where?”
Natalie hesitated.
“Allison sent it to me.”
The room changed.
Allison’s jaw tightened.
Ethan looked directly at her.
“How did you get a screenshot of an email from my account?”
Allison answered too quickly.
“Natalie left her laptop at my apartment. Her email was open.”
“That email was supposedly from me.”
“I know.”
“So how did it appear in Natalie’s inbox if it was sent to a law firm?”
Allison blinked.
Natalie frowned.
Ethan stepped closer.
“What exactly did you send her?”
Allison’s face hardened.
“You’re trying to distract her.”
“No. I’m trying to understand why my wife thought I was leaving her.”
Natalie picked up the phone again.
She zoomed in on the screenshot.
Then she stopped.
“What?”
Ethan leaned over.
At the top of the image was a tiny gray notification banner almost cropped out.
It read:
Screenshot saved to Allison’s Photos.
Natalie slowly looked at her sister.
“Allison?”
Allison grabbed her purse.
“I need coffee.”
Ethan blocked the door.
“No.”
The nurse stepped forward.
“Sir.”
Ethan did not touch Allison.
He simply pointed at the chair.
“Sit down.”
Allison stared at him.
Then Natalie’s phone rang.
Her oncologist.
Natalie answered.
The first sentence made her sit upright.
“Wait. What do you mean someone called to cancel tomorrow’s treatment?”
— — —
The next chapters are on the left side of your screen.
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