Chapter Three "This is my house. Why wouldn't I be here?" I said evenly, meeting their eyes. "Don't mind me-go right ahead." "Serena, your sister just died. Instead of keeping a vigil, you're still sitting at home-what kind of sister does that make you?" Ethan set Ivy down, face dark. The guilty party playing the victim-unbelievable. He had the nerve to sneak home with his intern to do something shameless, then turn around and question me. "Since you're here, this saves me a trip," Ethan said, expression flat. "You wouldn't sign, and the hospital couldn't reach your family, so I signed the death certificate for you." He handed over a flimsy little paper box wrapped in a plastic grocery bag. "Your sister's ashes. Figured I'd spare myself the delivery." I'd half expected him to treat the remains with zero respect. But seeing that torn, filthy bag-ashes leaking as he passed it to me, dusting the floor-I couldn't hold the anger anymore. "You really dote on your sweetheart," I said, voice cold. "Already this eager to destroy evidence?" "Don't slander me. What evidence did I destroy?" His eyes went mean. He flung the box at my feet. "Your sister died in a crash. Short life. I'm a doctor, not a god." I drew a breath and bent to pick up the box. Half the ashes were gone. "Speak no ill of the dead," I said, fists tight, face iron. "You're a physician and you can't give the deceased the bare minimum of respect?" "Crematoriums burn how many people a day?" he snapped. "Those ashes all mix together. Who can tell who's who? What's the point of fussing? You just need enough to bury." A disbelieving laugh burst out of me. What kind of person says that? "Doctor... Mrs. Lane... please don't fight. This is all my fault," Ivy hiccupped, tears glittering, "I was the one who bagged the ashes. If I'd known, I'd have filled it to the top-then even if some spilled, there'd be enough left." "How could this be your fault?" Ethan stroked her hair, indulgent, then shot me a sneer. "She left her sister's body at the hospital and tried to use the death to shake us down. You did her a favor and brought the ashes home. Instead of being grateful, she's dumping the blame on you. Heartless." I almost lost it at the pair of them. A decompressive craniectomy ends in a corpse-and I'm supposed to be grateful? Look, as the former sister-in-law, I had nothing to clutch at here. But if the big brother wants to thank the person who got his sister killed, that's his business. Chapter Three 2.75% "Don't say that about Mrs. Lane," Ivy cooed, pouting as she covered Ethan's mouth with her hand, a smile in her eyes. "She's just lost her sister-anyone could lose their composure." A softness I'd never seen flickered through Ethan's gaze. Watching it, a blade turned inside. my chest. "Fate is fate," Ivy blinked innocently, offering the box out to me. "Let her be laid to rest. Out here... it's too easy for remains to get scattered to the wind." I pushed the box back with a cold smile. "Let Ethan keep his sister's ashes. Personally." As the box changed hands, Ivy jerked back a couple of steps. The plastic bag tore; ashes puffed everywhere, choking me. "Mrs. Lane, I'm sorry. If hitting me would make you feel better, go ahead," she said, dropping to the floor with a thump, weepy and wronged. "But your sister's death really had nothing to do with me. 'Are you crazy?" Ethan surged forward and cracked his palm across my face. "Ivy brought you the ashes out of kindness. And you think you can hit people? You're a raving lunatic." He scooped Ivy up around the waist and moved to leave. "Ethan Lane, let's get divorced," I said, palm burning, breath steady. I didn't have the strength to argue anymore. I took out the divorce papers I'd prepared.