Chapter 49 The comment

Chapter 49 The comment
Turn your phone off," Ethan said without looking up from the pan.  
Emily stared at the screen. "They’re calling me selfish."  
"Turn it off," Ethan said again.  
"I’m not selfish," Emily said. "I just said no to a buyout."  
"I know," Ethan said. He flipped a pancake. "That’s why you should turn it off."  
Emily set the phone face down. "People are mad I mentioned you."  
"Good," Ethan said. "Let them be mad."  
"They’re saying we’re using Liam for PR."  
Ethan went still. Then he looked at her. "Are we?"  
"No," Emily said. Fast. "God, no."  
"Then it doesn’t matter," Ethan said. "Come eat."  
Liam ran in with socks on. "Why are you guys whispering?"  
"We’re not," Emily said.  
"Yes you are," Liam said. "Are we in trouble?"  
"No, buddy," Ethan said. He slid a plate in front of him. "Extra special. No comments."  
Liam frowned. "What comments?"  
"Grown-up comments," Emily said. "Boring. Eat your pancake."  
After breakfast Ethan pulled Emily into the bedroom.  
"Hey," he said. "Talk to me."  
"I hate this," Emily said. "I hate that they get to have an opinion on us."  
"I know," Ethan said. "But they don’t live here. We do."  
Emily nodded. "I just... what if I messed up? Saying that much?"  
Ethan took her hands. "You told the truth. The truth is messy. It’s also the only thing I trust."  
"Even when it’s ugly?"  
"Especially then," Ethan said.  
His phone buzzed. Mark. From the board.  
Ethan read it and cursed.  
"What?" Emily asked.  
"He wants an emergency meeting. About the article."  
Emily laughed, sharp. "Of course he does."  
"You don’t have to go," Ethan said.  
"Yes I do," Emily said. "If they want to talk about me, I’m there."  
Boardroom. 3pm.  
"Ms. Hart," Mark started. "This level of personal disclosure is... risky."  
Emily sat down. Didn’t smile. "Risky how?"  
"It invites scrutiny," Mark said. "On the company. On the family."  
"My family is not a liability," Emily said. "It’s the reason I’m good at this job."  
"With all due respect," Mark said, "you have a child involved now."  
Ethan leaned forward. "Don’t."  
"Don’t what?" Mark asked.  
"Don’t use my kid to try to scare her," Ethan said. Quiet. But it landed.  
The room went quiet.  
Emily looked at Mark. "You want to talk scrutiny? Let’s talk numbers. Sales are up. Press is up. Morale is up. You want to cut that because you’re uncomfortable?"  
Mark didn’t answer.  
The chair cleared his throat. "I think we’re done here."  
In the elevator after, Ethan exhaled. "You okay?"  
"I’m pissed," Emily said.  
"Good," Ethan said. "Me too."  
"You didn’t have to do that," Emily said.  
"Yes I did," Ethan said.  
They got home. Liam was drawing at the table.  
"How was work?" he asked.  
"It was dumb," Emily said.  
"Work is dumb," Liam agreed. "Can we watch a movie?"  
"Yes," Ethan said. "Blanket fort."  
They built it. All three of them. On the floor.  
Halfway through the movie Liam fell asleep between them.  
Emily whispered, "Rule 7?"  
Ethan whispered back, "Good: We didn’t let them in. Hard: That sucked. Better: We went home and did this."  
Emily nodded.  
Ethan kissed her temple. "Rule 8?"  
"We choose us," Emily said. "Out loud."  
"Out loud," Ethan said.  
His phone lit up again. Another article. This one with the headline: "She Said No. He Backed Her."  
Ethan looked at it. Then turned the phone off.  
"See?" he said. "We choose."  
Emily closed her eyes. "Yeah. We choose."