Chapter 2

Ethan finally looked at her.

"Don't be ridiculous."

With those simple words, he dismissed her statement as a joke.

"I'm serious."

"I had four surgeries today. I'm exhausted."

In the past, whenever he brought up work, it was a signal for Olivia to be quiet.

Ethan unbuttoned his sleeves and walked into the living room nonchalantly.

She caught a whiff of Sophia's favorite plum blossom perfume.

Olivia felt nauseous. She closed her eyes briefly and continued speaking.

"I'll draft a divorce agreement and let you look it over. If you don't have any—"

Olivia's words were cut off by a ringtone.

"Little White, answer the phone! Little White, answer the phone!"

Sophia's voice came from Ethan's coat pocket.

Little White was the nickname Sophia had given Ethan.

A nickname she had used since middle school.

An intimate nickname that only Sophia used for him.

Ethan glanced at Olivia. "I didn't know the ringtone changed."

His explanation sounded perfunctory.

When he answered the phone, his voice became exceptionally gentle, a complete contrast to just moments ago.

"Sophia, what's wrong?"

It was always like this.

Sometimes Olivia couldn't tell who was really Ethan's wife.

After hanging up, Ethan looked down at Olivia.

"Sophia has a low fever today. She said she's craving your pumpkin porridge."

Olivia gripped her pants leg tightly, looking at him in disbelief.

"Ethan, do you know what time it is?"

The clock on the wall showed it was past midnight.

Ethan replied flatly,

"You're a freelancer, unlike us. It's fine if you sleep in tomorrow."

Olivia gave a self-deprecating laugh.

She was an illustrator, so her time was indeed quite flexible.

But that wasn't a reason for Ethan to order her around.

Apparently her health meant nothing in his eyes.

Olivia took a deep breath, staring at him intently.

"Ethan, let's set that aside for now. Can you please respect me? I'm trying to talk to you about divorce."

Ethan's cold expression finally changed as he frowned.

"Sophia is sick. Olivia, be sensible."

Ethan looked at her like she was being unreasonable.

Olivia struggled to breathe.

She used to love his eyes the most.

She could still remember the first time she saw Ethan, sitting on her family's garden wall holding a cat, glancing back at her.

Those clear yet cold eyes.

One look was enough to capture her heart.

One look was enough to make her fall in love hopelessly for thirteen years.

Only now did she realize she had fallen in love with an idealized version of Ethan that she had created in her mind.

"You didn't come home for five days, and now you want me to cook for Sophia as soon as you're back. Ethan, am I really the one being unreasonable?"

Faced with her questioning, Ethan replied nonchalantly.

"It's just one meal, you're being petty. Olivia, Sophia is your stepsister."

How ridiculous. Every argument in the past

Always ended with that line.

She's your stepsister.

Those words were like a curse.

Hanging over Olivia's five-year marriage.

Olivia laughed coldly, looking at Ethan with increasingly unfamiliar eyes.

The difference she thought existed turned out to be no difference at all.

Ethan was no different from her family.

"Ethan, remember this - her last name is Lewis, my last name is Hayes. I don't have any random stepsister, and I don't need anyone to assign me a stepsister!"

She spoke each word clearly and forcefully.

Ethan's eyes flashed with disbelief.

"Olivia, why are you acting like a shrew?"