Five years of “I’ve got it, Nat. Go relax.”
And all that time, the bathroom had been hiding a secret I never thought to look for.
Ethan was arrested.
The case took months to unfold.
There were hearings.
Investigators.
Lawyers.
Reports.
Forensic testing.
Clare was eventually called to testify about what she had noticed that morning.
She explained that the cleaning pattern had been what first alerted her.
The repeated chemical treatment.
The altered surfaces.
The areas where cleaning had been concentrated.
None of it proved the entire story by itself.
But together with the physical evidence and Ethan’s statements, it helped investigators understand what they were looking at.
I never went back into that bathroom.
The house itself felt contaminated by memory.
Every hallway reminded me of something.
Every sound reminded me of the brush against porcelain.
Every time I smelled bleach, my stomach turned.
I filed for divorce.
