Chapter 3

At the end of their conversation, Ethan had written:

“If only I’d been born a few years later. Or if only I weren’t married.”

“Ugh, you’re the worst. As punishment, I’m taking your necklace. Your wife gave it to you, and I hate looking at it.”

I heard something inside me shatter.

I’d made that necklace myself. Our names were engraved on it.

His wedding vows still echoed in my ears.

“Sophie, I finally get to marry the love of my life. I’ve never felt so lucky.”

But now he was telling another woman:

“If only I weren’t married.”

Pain wrapped around me like a net, leaving no room to breathe.

Ethan came out of the shower and caught me holding his phone.

His expression changed. He rushed over and snatched it from me.

“Sophie Bennett! Since when do you have so little respect for boundaries? Who said you could snoop through my phone?”

I stared at his bare neck.

“I just picked it up to put it on the dresser.”

Ethan relaxed.

I had no respect for boundaries?

He was the one who had made his passcode the same as mine.

“You can look at my phone whenever you want. I have nothing to hide from you.”

“Ethan, did your business meeting go well last night?”

He froze for a moment, then pressed his lips together.

“It was fine.”

Without warning, tears spilled down my face and soaked into the comforter.

I almost never cried like this.

Stunned, he came over and wrapped his arms around me.

“I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have snapped. It was just a reflex. I raised my voice a little. Why are you crying so hard?”

“Ethan… I feel awful. It hurts so much…”

I couldn’t stop sobbing.

Ethan apologized again for not coming sooner the night before.

He brought a hot-water bottle and carefully held it against my stomach, massaging me. His eyes were filled with tenderness and love.

After twenty-eight years of knowing him and ten years of loving him, I could no longer tell whether any of it was real.

I wasn’t the heroine of some revenge fantasy.

Twenty-eight years together had woven our lives into flesh and blood. I couldn’t just walk away without a second thought.

And our financial interests were tangled together beyond recognition.

I couldn’t simply cut him out of me.

“Ethan, your assistant was rude to me when I visited headquarters the other day. Fire her. I don’t like her.”

Ethan froze.

“She’s just a kid. Why are you making such a big deal out of it?”