Chapter 4

"Apologize to Chloe, right now!"

The air instantly solidified.

"What did you say?!" Liam was the first to react, shoving Ethan away. "Audrey said she didn't do anything, so she didn't!"

"What do you want her to apologize for?"

Seeing Liam protect me like that, Chloe bit her lower lip and started to cry. "Liam... you don't believe me, do you?"

"Look at her, she's soaking wet. It's obvious she just...!"

"Liam! I would never lie to you..."

Ethan's tone instantly softened when he saw Chloe's distress.

He turned back and reached for me. "Audrey, stop making a scene. I'll take responsibility for what happened tonight."

"As long as you stay and go to university here, we'll get married right after graduation."

"I promise."

He spoke with such emotion.

The old me would probably have felt her heart race wildly and nodded without hesitation.

But now, all I saw were the words floating in the air.

"I stayed in our hometown for him, had two difficult pregnancies, both times losing the baby. He comforted me, saying it didn't matter, as long as I was okay."

"I believed him, until I was almost dying, and he confessed everything to me."

"I learned then that he deliberately caused me to lose the babies because he didn't want any woman other than Chloe to have his children."

"He said he would feel guilty if any other woman bore his child."

"He said giving me the title of 'Mrs. Ethan' was the biggest compromise he could make."

"He said so much, but he forgot he'd promised to be good to me for a lifetime."

Between the lines of the diary, I saw the tears of my thirty-years-older self.

The weight of them made me almost unable to stand.

Liam quickly steadied me. "Audrey, it's okay. I believe you."

Ethan instantly frowned, yanking me into his arms. "Are you crazy?!"

"Audrey is mine now. What does our business have to do with you?"

Then he pointed at Chloe. "Liam, Chloe likes you so much, can't you just look at her?"

I couldn't help but sneer.

It all came back to him being afraid I'd ruin things for Chloe.

I took a deep breath and violently pulled away from his touch. "Ethan, we have nothing to do with each other."

"If you touch me again, I'm calling the police!"

Ethan froze, as if confirming he hadn't misheard. "Audrey, what did you say?!"

"What's wrong with you today! Didn't you say you'd only marry me?!"

"How could you—"

"Didn't you hear her?" Liam stepped forward, blocking Ethan. "Now, get lost."

Then he turned, took off his jacket, and draped it over my shoulders. "Come on, I'll take you home."

I thought for a moment, then shook my head. "I can go home myself. I'll give you back the jacket in a couple of days."

With that, I turned and walked away.

Whether in the future or now, I didn't want to be involved with them anymore.

When I got home, Mom saw how I looked and immediately rushed over. "Audrey, what happened to you? You're soaking wet!"

Looking at her, I remembered the line from the diary, "For Ethan, I hadn't contacted my parents in thirty years."

My nose suddenly stung.

I forced a smile. "It's nothing, just got splashed by a sprinkler truck on the road."

"Mom, I'm going to take a shower."

Mom handed me a towel, her eyes full of concern. "Go quickly, don't catch a cold."

After my shower, my phone buzzed.

It was a voice message from Liam. "Audrey, I applied to Harvard. First choice."