Tania watched from her car parked a safe distance from Ella’s house, her nails digging into the leather steering wheel. She had spent hours here, observing Ethan, Ella, Grace and the twins. The sight of them laughing together earlier that day at the park had made her blood boil.
“Look at them,” she muttered under her breath, venom dripping from her words. “Playing happy family like nothing ever happened. Like I don’t exist.”
Her hands trembled, but whether it was from rage or desperation, she couldn’t tell. Tania leaned back in her seat, her jaw tightening as she replayed the scene in her mind Ethan pushing Leo on the swing, Ella helping Grace and Liam with their kite, and their shared laughter floating in the crisp autumn air.
Her eyes narrowed. “Very soon, you won’t be smiling anymore,” she whispered to herself, her voice a chilling promise.
Tania started her car and drove off, her mind racing with plans. She needed to act, and soon. The sight of Ella and Ethan growing closer every day was more than she could bear. Ethan had been hers once, and Ella had stolen him back. That wasn’t something she could forgive.
Back at Ella’s house, she stood by the kitchen sink, staring out the window at the darkening sky. Something about the day had left her feeling uneasy, though she couldn’t quite pinpoint what it was. The boys were asleep upstairs, their innocent faces free of worry.
She sighed and rubbed her temples. Her thoughts wandered back to Ethan and how effortlessly he had slipped back into their lives. He was good with the boys patient, kind, and genuinely interested in their little worlds. She couldn’t deny the pull she felt, but she also couldn’t forget the past.
A soft knock at the door startled her. She turned, her heart skipping a beat.
Ethan stood in the doorway, his expression gentle but curious. “Everything okay?” he asked.
Ella hesitated, then nodded. “Just… thinking.”
He stepped inside, his presence filling the room with a quiet strength. “About what?”
She gestured vaguely toward the window. “About how quickly things are changing. For the boys, for us… for me.”
Ethan crossed the room, stopping a few feet away from her. “Change can be good, Ella. It doesn’t have to be scary.”
Her eyes met his, and for a moment, she saw the man she had fallen in love with all those years ago. “It’s not just change, Ethan. It’s everything that’s happened. Everything we’ve lost.”
He nodded, his gaze steady. “I know. And I can’t undo the past, but I’m here now. For you. For the boys.”
The sincerity in his voice was almost too much. Ella looked away, struggling to keep her emotions in check. “It’s not that simple.”
“I’m not saying it is,” he replied softly. “But we can try, can’t we? One day at a time.”
Ella’s lips parted as if to respond, but the words wouldn’t come. Instead, she nodded, a small, tentative gesture of agreement.
Ethan and Ella had moved to the living room. The atmosphere between them was lighter now, the earlier tension giving way to a comfortable silence.
“You know,” Ethan said, breaking the quiet, “Leo told me he wants to be an astronaut.”
Ella laughed softly. “That’s this week’s dream. Last week, it was a firefighter.”
Ethan chuckled. “Well, whatever it is, I’ll support him. Both of them, actually. They’re incredible kids, Ella.”
Her smile faltered slightly, and she looked down at her hands. “They’ve been through so much already. I just want them to be happy.”
“They are happy,” he assured her. “And a big part of that is because of you.”
Ella glanced at him, her heart aching at the tenderness in his voice. Before she could respond, the sound of a car engine outside caught their attention.
Ethan frowned. “Are you expecting someone?”
Ella shook her head, her body tensing. “No.”
He stood and moved to the window, peering out cautiously. “It’s nothing,” he said after a moment. “Probably just a neighbor.”
Ella nodded, but the unease from earlier returned, stronger this time.
In the shadows of the neighborhood, Tania sat in her car, watching the house with a predatory gaze. She saw the lights in the living room and imagined the scene inside Ethan and Ella, cozy and content, plotting their perfect little life.
Her fingers tightened around the steering wheel as she whispered to herself, “Enjoy it while it lasts.”
She started the engine and drove off into the night, her mind racing with plans for the chaos she would unleash.
Across town, Tania sat in her dimly lit house, her mind spiraling. She had pulled out a box of old photos and mementos, reminders of the life she once had with Ethan. She picked up a picture of them on their wedding day, her fingers tracing the edges of the photo.
“He was mine,” she murmured, her voice trembling with emotion. “And you took him from me.”
The walls of her house seemed to close in around her as her thoughts grew darker. She opened her laptop and began scrolling through pictures of Ethan, Ella, Grace and the boys images she had secretly taken over the past few weeks. Each one felt like a knife to her heart.
Tania’s lips curled into a sinister smile. “soon I’ll make you both pay”
“very soon”.
Tania slammed the photo frame onto the table, the glass cracking under the force. Her breathing was uneven, and her chest heaved with the weight of her rage. She stood abruptly, pacing the small confines of her apartment, her mind a whirlwind of chaotic thoughts.
“How dare they?” she hissed, her voice echoing in the empty room. “How dare they laugh and play like nothing ever happened? Like I’m the villain in this story!” I’m I the villain? No. no I’m not She said gripping the back of a chair, her knuckles turning white as she leaned against it for support.
Tania’s gaze fell on the cracked photo frame, and a bitter laugh escaped her lips. “They don’t know what it’s like,” she muttered. “They don’t know the pain I’ve endured. The sacrifices I made to have what I wanted… what I deserved.”
She turned sharply, her eyes narrowing as if the walls themselves mocked her. “Ella had everything handed to her,” she spat. “The perfect husband, a chance at happiness, and now even children! And me? What do I have? A pile of broken dreams and an empty house.”
Her voice broke, and for a moment, the storm within her wavered. She sank into the chair, burying her face in her hands. A strangled sob escaped her throat, but it was quickly replaced by a sharp intake of breath as she straightened up, brushing away tears with the back of her hand.
“No,” she said firmly, her voice colder now. “They don’t get to win. Not after everything I’ve been through. Not after what I’ve done.” Her mind raced, piecing together fragments of a plan. She thought of the moments she had observed their routines, their laughter, the way Ethan looked at Ella as if she were his entire world.
A dark smile tugged at the corners of her lips. “They think they’ve won, but they haven’t seen the last of me. Not yet.”