When Sophia and I finally arrived at the zoo,
I saw Ethan holding the hand of a little boy—while Rachel Adams walked on the other side.
So this was his “family of three.”
A role I thought was meant for me… had already been given away.
Beside me, Sophia seethed.
“I can’t believe this! What does he even see in her? That she’s older and ‘experienced’? That she already has a kid so he can play dad with no effort?”
“What a shameless woman! If it hadn’t been for you, he’d have been dead years ago!”
But I couldn’t hear a word. My eyes were locked on the three of them.
Ethan and Rachel each held the boy’s hand.
Soon the child ran off to the trampoline play area,
leaving the two of them on a bench together.
Hidden in the crowd, Sophia and I clearly heard their conversation.
Rachel sighed. “Ethan, you don’t need to do this. You have a wife.”
“Daniel is Daniel. You are you.”
Daniel Brooks—Ethan’s closest older brother.
Ethan’s voice was flat. “Daniel’s death was partly my fault. Rachel… this is what I owe you.”
“Admit it—after that night, you haven’t been able to forget me.”
At those words, Rachel Adams’s cheeks flushed red.
Ethan Brooks suddenly leaned closer, his eyes carrying that roguish arrogance.