The reply carved itself into the page:
Then let them change. I'd rather burn the world to ashes than watch it destroy you.
Emma pressed the pen to paper with shaking hands. She couldn't tell him about Diana's betrayal, the accident, or the infertility that had gutted her. But she could give him a shard of truth:
One day, Ethan… you'll choose someone else over me. And it will break me.
The silence after was unbearable. She wanted to slam the book shut, to take back the words, to undo what she had written. Then, as though sensing her hesitation, the ink began to spread again:
I would never choose anyone over you. Who is she? Tell me her name.
Emma's pulse thundered. Her hand hovered. Finally, she wrote:
Her name is Diana.
The reply exploded, jagged and furious:
No. Never. You're wrong. I'll never let her come between us. I swear it.
She pressed her forehead to the page, sobbing, torn between hope and despair.