The Rise of Betrayed Husband
Copyright© 2026 by Laxu
Chapter 7: You Have No Idea What Really Happened
Ethan left the Lowell Group building, found a restaurant, sat down, and ordered.
While he waited, he sipped his iced tea and started planning his next move. Claire had done a paternity test herself and still refused to accept the results. He had pointed out that Natalie had almost certainly been conceived the month before their wedding, and she still wouldn’t admit it. He had told her again that he’d walk away from the divorce without a cent, and she had played the love card.
Claire, do I have to make the results for the other two girls public before you’ll admit you cheated on me? That would strip away the last of my dignity.
He still wasn’t that ruthless. Or rather, the timing wasn’t right yet.
He also wondered why she was still refusing to admit anything at this point. After thinking it over, he concluded that she simply saw him as a fool—a man with no background, easy to control—so she could keep doing whatever she wanted behind his back.
Damn it. You make a chump of me while you live it up out there, making money hand over fist and enjoying other men on the side. Claire, you’re a monster, the most vicious woman alive.
Ethan decided not to let her off easy. If she still refused to agree to a peaceful divorce, he would blow the whole thing wide open, demand a large sum of money, and then leave Easton for somewhere nobody knew him to live the life he wanted.
While he was eating, he got a voice message from Marvin Cole telling him to come back to the hospital that afternoon for a medical knowledge exam, and to sit next to him so he could copy his answers.
Trying to ride my coattails again.
He texted back. “What medical knowledge exam?”
Marvin sent another voice message. “The hospital just announced it at the last minute. I asked around, and the scores might affect this round of promotions. Ethan, I haven’t cracked a textbook in ages. I can’t remember any of the key points. I need your help again this time. Same deal as always.”
You don’t know a thing about medicine, and you’re still out chasing women. You should’ve been demoted ages ago.
Ethan got the time and location and ended the conversation.
As he ate, he suddenly heard a waiter shouting. “Is there a doctor here? Is anyone here a doctor?”
Ethan looked around the room. When no one answered, he raised his hand. “I’m a doctor at Easton General. What happened?”
“Could you come take a look? A child’s choking...”
“Take me there, quickly.”
Ethan hurried to the private dining room. An eight-year-old boy was choking and already struggling to breathe. He was in serious danger. An older woman and a young woman were beside him, panicking, but neither was doing anything to help.
Ethan examined the boy and performed the Heimlich maneuver. The child coughed up the food stuck in his throat—a meatball—and his breathing cleared. After examining him further, Ethan turned to the young woman. “He’s fine for now. But his asthma isn’t looking good. I’d recommend taking him to the hospital for a full checkup.”
He glanced at the boy again. “Go now, as fast as you can. Don’t wait.”
The young woman trusted him, seeing how professionally he examined the boy and how he’d immediately identified the child’s chronic condition. She also noticed that he was handsome, refined, and dependable-looking, and she asked for his contact information. Ethan noticed that her phone was a custom model studded with diamonds and her clothes were high-end. This was no ordinary family.
A family like that, with a child in that condition, eating at a restaurant like this—something felt off.
He gave her a number without thinking much of it and told her not to waste any time.
As she thanked him, he felt a sense of comfort and self-worth, as though he had rediscovered the man he used to be.
My medical skills were always what I really had to stand on. Why did I let Claire run my life and waste all those years on a fake family? Thank goodness medicine is something you build up over time. My skills haven’t gone to waste or gotten rusty. I can live just fine without Claire.
Moved by the thought, he lost his appetite and went back to the hotel.
After a short rest, he went to the hospital for the exam. He didn’t sit with Marvin. Looking around at the people taking the test, it seemed like practically the whole hospital was there. He found that a little strange but didn’t dwell on it. He finished quickly and left.
That evening, Sophie knocked on his door, and Ethan let her in.
He got straight to the point. “Claire should have come around by now. She’s not still refusing to face reality, is she?”
Sophie sighed. “Ethan, I’ll be honest with you. Claire loves you very much. She can’t bear the thought of divorcing you.”
Ethan frowned. “What’s that supposed to mean? What’s Claire up to now?”