Chapter 24 - The Fallout

“What the FUCK?!”

The scream echoed through the hallway.

Jennifer froze.

For one impossible second nobody moved.

Ethan stood outside the guest room doorway staring at her.

His face had gone completely white.

Jennifer’s stomach dropped.

No.

No no no.

Not like this.

Not now.

“Ethan—”

“What the FUCK is this?!”

His voice cracked.

Jennifer instinctively took a step forward.

Ethan immediately took one back.

As if she were a stranger.

As if she were dangerous.

Lights snapped on upstairs.

A bedroom door opened.

“What happened?” Michelle called.

Jennifer couldn’t answer.

Her heart felt like it had stopped.

“Ethan…”

Ethan stared at her.

Then at the outfit.

Then at her face.

Then back again.

Trying to **** reality into something that made sense.

Nothing did.

Michelle appeared in the kitchen.

The moment she saw Ethan standing there and Jennifer standing frozen in front of him she knew.

The secret was over.

“Oh God…”

Sophie appeared behind her.

Still half asleep.

“What happened?”

Nobody answered.

Ethan looked up.

His eyes landed on Michelle.

“What is this?”

“Ethan…”

“What is this?!”

The panic in his voice made Jennifer want to throw up.

Nobody sat.

Nobody even thought about sitting.

The bright overhead lights felt cruel.

Ethan stood on one side of the island.

Michelle.

Sophie.

Jennifer.

On the other.

Jennifer wrapped her arms around herself.

Trying not to cry.

Failing.

“What is going on?” Ethan demanded.

His eyes never left Jennifer.

“Why does Dad look like that?”

Nobody answered.

“Mom.”

Michelle swallowed.

“Ethan…”

“No.”

His voice rose.

“No more bullshit.”

Silence.

Then Michelle quietly said:

“That’s Dad.”

“What do you mean that’s Dad?!”

“It is.”

“What does that even mean?!”

Jennifer started crying.

“I can explain—”

“No!”

Ethan pointed at her.

“No.”

The word hit like a slap.

Jennifer immediately fell silent.

Michelle spent the next twenty minutes trying to explain.

The job loss.

The interviews.

The rejection.

The fake resume.

Jennifer Brennan.

The assistant position.

The new life.

The secret.

Every answer somehow made everything worse.

Ethan just stared.

Listening.

Not understanding.

Not wanting to understand.

Then he looked at Sophie.

“You knew?”

Sophie immediately started crying.

“Ethan…”

“You knew?”

She nodded.

His face twisted.

“Oh my God.”

“Ethan, please—”

“You knew.”

The betrayal hit him harder than anything Michelle had said.

Not because of Jennifer.

Because everyone had known.

Everyone.

Except him.

His own family.

For months.

“You all lied to me.”

Michelle tried to explain.

“We weren’t trying to hurt you.”

“Really?”

His laugh was sharp and ugly.

“Because it feels like you did.”

Silence.

Then Ethan shook his head.

Suddenly remembering something.

His eyes moved to Jennifer.

“And Joe.”

Jennifer blinked.

“What?”

“Joe.”

Nobody understood.

“The guy from Thanksgiving.”

Jennifer’s stomach dropped.

“Oh God…”

Ethan laughed.

“You seriously don’t get it?”

The kitchen went quiet.

“He was hitting on you all day.”

Nobody said anything.

Because everyone knew he was right.

“He thought you were hot.”

Jennifer looked away.

“Oh my God…”

“He was flirting with you.”

“It wasn’t like that.”

“Really?”

Ethan shook his head.

“Because it looked like that.”

Jennifer felt herself shrinking.

Every word hurt.

Every accusation.

Every misunderstanding.

Every piece of truth.

Then Ethan turned toward Michelle.

“And David.”

Michelle closed her eyes.

Not this.

“What about David?”

“What about David?”

Ethan laughed again.

The sound was bitter.

“You can’t be serious.”

Michelle didn’t answer.

The silence answered for her.

“The way he looks at you.”

“Ethan—”

“The way you look at him.”

“Stop.”

“The speech.”

“Ethan.”

“The hand holding.”

Michelle looked away.

For the first time all night.

And Ethan noticed.

Immediately.

His eyes widened.

“Oh my God.”

“No.”

Michelle shook her head.

“No.”

“Are you together?”

“No.”

The answer came instantly.

Truthfully.

Firmly.

But Ethan looked unconvinced.

Because tonight had proven everyone could lie.

Jennifer watched Michelle.

Watched David’s face flash through her own mind.

Watched every fear she’d buried for months suddenly dragged into the open.

Then Ethan pointed at Jennifer.

“Dad becomes Jennifer.”

He pointed at Michelle.

“Mom has David.”

He looked around the room.

“And everybody’s just okay with this?”

Jennifer started crying harder.

Michelle looked devastated.

Sophie looked terrified.

Nobody knew how to answer.

Ethan looked at her for several seconds.

Ethan stared at Jennifer for several long seconds.

The kitchen had gone quiet.

Everyone had stopped talking.

Stopped arguing.

Stopped explaining.

Because Ethan was looking directly at Jennifer now.

Not at Michelle.

Not at Sophie.

Jennifer.

His father.

Or at least the person who used to be his father.

Finally he asked quietly:

“Do you like it?”

Jennifer blinked.

“What?”

Ethan gestured helplessly.

“This.”

His eyes moved up and down.

“The hair.”

“The clothes.”

“The whole thing.”

Jennifer felt her stomach tighten.

“Ethan—”

“No.”

His voice cracked.

“I need to know.”

The question hung in the air.

Jennifer looked down at her hands.

The skirt, tights and boots.

The long blonde hair falling over her shoulders.

The polished red nails.

Things that had once felt ridiculous.

Then necessary.

Then normal.

She swallowed.

“I don’t know.”

Ethan frowned.

“What does that mean?”

Jennifer struggled for an answer.

Because the truth was complicated.

At first she had hated everything.

Then she had gotten used to it.

Then some parts had become easier.

Comfortable even.

And admitting that felt impossible.

“I never wanted this,” Jennifer said quietly.

“That’s not what I asked.”

The words hit hard.

Jennifer looked away.

For a moment nobody spoke.

Then she finally whispered:

“Some days.”

Ethan stared.

Jennifer’s eyes filled with tears.

“Some days it’s easier.”

The silence that followed felt endless.

Because that answer scared Ethan more than all the others.

More than the makeup.

More than the clothes.

More than Jennifer Brennan.

Because for the first time he realized this might not be something Dad was simply enduring.

It might be something that had changed him.

And Ethan didn’t know what to do with that.

Finally he shook his head.

“So when Joe was flirting with you today…”

Jennifer closed her eyes.

“Ethan…”

“No. Answer me.”

His voice broke.

“Were you enjoying that too?”

The question landed like a punch.

Jennifer’s eyes widened.

Michelle immediately stepped forward.

“Ethan, stop.”

But Ethan wasn’t looking at Michelle.

He was looking at Jennifer.

Waiting.

Demanding honesty.

Jennifer felt tears sliding down her cheeks.

“I wasn’t trying to—”

“Were you?”

The kitchen fell silent.

Jennifer thought about Joe’s smile.

The compliments.

The attention.

The way it had made her uncomfortable.

The way a tiny part of her had also felt seen.

And she hated herself for even remembering it.

“No,” she whispered.

Then after a long pause:

“Not the way you mean.”

Ethan looked away.

As if that answer somehow made everything worse.

Eventually the shouting stopped.

The anger ran out.

The accusations ran out.

Only hurt remained.

Jennifer wiped her eyes.

Then looked directly at Ethan.

For the first time all night.

“I was scared.”

The room went quiet.

“I lost my job.”

More tears.

“I couldn’t find another one.”

Her voice broke.

“I thought I was failing all of you.”

Ethan stared.

“I didn’t know what else to do.”

Jennifer wiped at her face.

“I hated lying to you.”

Silence.

“I missed you.”

Another tear.

“I wanted to tell you.”

She looked down.

“I was afraid you’d hate me.”

For a moment Ethan’s expression softened.

Just slightly.

Then he asked the question nobody could answer.

“If you trusted me…”

His voice cracked.

“…why didn’t you tell me?”

Nobody spoke.

Not Michelle.

Not Sophie.

Not Jennifer.

Because there wasn’t an answer.

Only silence.

The clock ticked.

The refrigerator hummed.

Somewhere outside a car drove past.

Finally Ethan nodded.

As if he had received the answer anyway.

“I can’t stay here.”

Jennifer felt her heart break.

“Ethan—”

“I can’t.”

Michelle stepped forward.

“Please don’t leave.”

“I need space.”

“Ethan.”

“No.”

His eyes filled with tears.

“I can’t do this tonight.”

Nobody stopped him when he walked upstairs.

A few minutes later he came back down carrying a duffel bag.

Jennifer stood.

“Ethan.”

He paused.

The silence stretched.

Then he shook his head.

“I don’t know what any of this is anymore.”

Jennifer started crying again.

“I love you.”

Ethan closed his eyes.

For a second she thought he might stay.

Thought he might say something.

Anything.

Instead he opened the front door.

Ethan looked at her for several seconds.

“When I left for school…”

He stopped.

“Dad was still here.”

Then he walked out.

“I’m staying at Ryan’s.”

Then he left.

The door closed.

The house fell silent.

Nobody moved.

Nobody spoke.

Eventually Sophie went upstairs crying.

Then Michelle.

Leaving Jennifer alone in the kitchen.

Eventually Jennifer made her way back to the guest room.

The pink satin nightgown felt ridiculous now.

Humiliating.

She crawled into bed.

Pulled the blanket over herself.

And cried.

For the job she had lost.

For the life she had lost.

For the son who had walked out the door.

The tears eventually became exhaustion.

Then numbness.

Then darkness.

Jennifer cried herself to sleep.

Alone.

Wondering if Ethan would ever come home.

Wondering if he would ever forgive her.

Wondering if becoming Jennifer had just cost her everything.