The Man They Never Knew

5

Jenny’s face changed instantly. For a moment, she simply stared at Ethan as if she had misheard him.

Then anger exploded across her features.

“You’re lying!”

Ethan stopped.

Jenny’s breathing became ragged, her eyes burning with fury.

“You’re actually lying to me just to make me feel guilty!”

“How despicable can you be, Ethan?” she shouted. “You know exactly what happened back then!”

Ethan slowly turned around.

Jenny’s tears were still falling, but there was no sadness in her eyes anymore.

Only anger.

“It was David who found out where his father was keeping me!” she said. “It was David who risked everything to expose his own father so the police could rescue me!”

Her voice trembled with conviction.

“You weren’t there!”

Ethan stared at her silently.

“You expect me to believe that you were the one who saved me?” Jenny continued bitterly. “After all these years, you suddenly decide to rewrite the past because you want me to feel guilty?”

“I’m not rewriting anything.”

“Yes, you are!”

Jenny pointed at him with a trembling finger.

“David lost his father because of me!”

David lowered his head, looking pained.

“He exposed his own father’s crimes to save me,” Jenny continued. “Do you know what that cost him?”

Ethan’s expression remained painfully calm.

“He lost his family because of me. He lost everything.”

She looked toward David, her eyes filling with tears.

“And now you’re angry because I tried to save him?”

Ethan said nothing.

Jenny’s voice cracked.

“After everything he sacrificed for me, how could I just stand by and watch him die?”

She looked at David with tear-filled eyes.

“So if I lost a child for his sake…” She swallowed. “…then maybe that’s only fair.”

Ethan’s body went completely still. For several seconds, he simply stared at her.

“Only fair?”

His voice was so quiet that Jenny almost wished he had shouted instead.

She hesitated. “Ethan, I—”

“You think losing our child is payment for what David lost?”

Jenny’s lips parted while Ethan let out a slow breath, his eyes burning with pain.

“Jenny…” He shook his head. “You keep talking about what David lost.”

His voice trembled. “His father. His family. His money. His life.” He pointed toward himself. “But what about me?”

Jenny froze.

“What about what I lost?”

Silence filled the room… Ethan’s eyes reddened as he continued, “That was my child too.”

Jenny’s face went pale.

“My child too, Jenny.” Ethan’s voice finally broke. “I spent five years waiting for that child. Five years hoping. Five years watching you cry every time another treatment failed. Five years telling myself that one day, we’d finally have a family.”

He swallowed hard, his gaze dropping to her stomach. “And when we finally did…” His voice trembled. “…you decided someone else needed you more.”

Jenny couldn’t speak. She simply stared at him, unable to find a single word that could undo what had already been said.

Ethan held her gaze for another long moment before giving a faint, bitter nod. “I understand now.”

“Ethan…”

“I really do.” His voice was quiet, almost painfully calm, as he turned toward the door.

Jenny instinctively reached out. “Wait.”

But Ethan didn’t stop. “Ethan!” she called again, her voice filled with desperation, yet he continued walking.

She watched helplessly as he reached the doorway. “You’re really leaving?”

Ethan paused for half a second, but he didn’t turn around.

“Yes.”

Then he walked away. He didn’t look back, didn’t slow his pace, and didn’t give Jenny another glance.

His footsteps gradually faded down the corridor until they disappeared completely.

Jenny remained frozen on the bed. For the first time, she realized that Ethan wasn’t trying to punish her. He was simply done… completely and utterly done.

A few seconds later, an unexpectedly joyful voice came from behind her. “Did you really mean what you said?”

Jenny froze before slowly turning around. David stood at the entrance of the room, a smile spreading across his face. He looked almost relieved.

“David?”

He walked toward her, his voice carrying a strange warmth. “I heard everything. You said losing your child for my sake was only fair.” He stopped beside the bed and looked at her. “Did you really mean that?”

Jenny’s expression hardened as she immediately pulled her emotions back behind the cold mask she had worn for years. “I was testing Ethan.”

David’s smile faltered for the briefest fraction of a second. “Testing him?”

“Yes.” Jenny looked away. “I wanted to know whether he still loved me.”

David remained silent for a moment before his expression softened again. “I understand.”

He reached for her hand and gently held it. “You don’t have to explain yourself to me.”

Jenny glanced at him.

David gave her a gentle smile. “And Jenny… I don’t want to come between you and Ethan. If you still love him, you should go after him. I’ll never force you to choose me.”

Jenny stared at him, and for a moment, she felt touched. This was David… always understanding, always patient, and always willing to put her happiness before his own.

She sighed. “I wish Ethan could understand me the way you do.”

“Maybe he just needs time,” David replied with a gentle smile.

Jenny lowered her gaze. “I hope so.”

David nodded. “Then give him time. I’ll wait.” His voice was soft and sincere, and Jenny looked at him gratefully.

“Thank you, David.”

“Of course.”

But the moment Jenny looked away, the warmth disappeared from David’s eyes. His fingers slowly tightened.

Ethan. That bastard.

He had ruined everything.

David cursed Ethan repeatedly in his mind, but his expression remained perfectly calm. He had been worried before.

As long as the child remained, Ethan still had something tying him to Jenny. A child could bring a husband and wife back together. A pregnancy could make Ethan forgive. A family could make him stay.

But now? The child was gone.

There was nothing left to bind them together.

David lowered his eyes to hide the satisfaction flashing within them. Even if Jenny and Ethan somehow wanted to reconcile, how could they possibly return to the way things had been?

Their child was dead, and Ethan would never forget that Jenny had chosen David at the most important moment.

David quietly exhaled. Everything was finally falling into place.

Jenny, meanwhile, continued staring at the doorway where Ethan had disappeared. Her heart felt strangely heavy. She had expected him to fight, to become angry, or even to beg her to reconsider.

Instead, he had simply walked away.

Perhaps he really was tired.

Jenny’s eyes lowered. If only Ethan could be more understanding. If only he could understand that she wasn’t trying to hurt him. She had simply been repaying David.

After all, David had lost his father because of her. He had sacrificed so much for her. Was it really so wrong for her to sacrifice something for him in return?

Jenny placed a trembling hand over her stomach, her eyes filling with tears.

The child was gone.

It hurt. Of course it hurt.

But they could have another child.