Chapter 9 - THE DIVORCE DID NOT DESTROY ETHAN
Ethan expected divorce to ruin him.
It didn’t.
That might have been the most useful thing that happened to him.
The house sold.
Assets were divided according to agreements, tracing, valuations, and negotiation.
Grace retained her company shares.
Ethan retained his.
Support was structured appropriately.
Parenting time increased gradually as Lila grew.
No one “won” the baby.
Thank God.
---
Ethan entered therapy.
Grace did not care initially.
Then she noticed changes.
He stopped sending five messages when one went unanswered.
Stopped assuming schedule changes.
Stopped talking about Vanessa with bitterness.
Stopped describing the board as traitors.
Eventually, he admitted publicly in a company mediation that his decisions had contributed to the liquidity crisis.
No:
Market conditions did this to me.
No:
Pierce engineered my downfall.
Responsibility.
Imperfect.
Late.
Still responsibility.
---
One afternoon, when Lila was eighteen months old, Ethan dropped her off.
She wore one yellow rain boot.
One purple.
Grace looked down.
“Where’s the other yellow boot?”
Ethan sighed.
“Unknown.”
“And the other purple?”
“Also unknown.”
Lila lifted both arms.
“Pretty!”
Grace laughed.
“Very.”
Ethan smiled.
Then became quiet.
“Can I ask you something?”
“Yes.”
“Do you hate me?”
Grace considered.
“No.”
He looked surprised.
“Why not?”
“Because it would require too much maintenance.”
He laughed.
Then:
“Do you forgive me?”
Harder.
Grace looked at their daughter.
“I understand you better.”
Not the answer he wanted.
But a truthful one.
“That may be as far as I ever get.”
Ethan nodded.
“Okay.”
And meant it.
May you like
That was progress.
---
