Chapter 100
Chapter 5
His words struck like a clap of thunder, leaving my mind completely blank.
A confession rushed to the tip of my tongue, but the image of Grace in her wedding dress suddenly flashed
before my eyes.
I took a step back, breaking eye contact. “Ethan, Grace is waiting for you.”The light in his eyes dimmed. He
said nothing more.
I turned and walked away, hearing him let out a soft sigh behind me.
When I returned to my seat, Grace was holding his arm, smiling with pure happiness on her face.
I looked at their intertwined hands, and a sharp pang shot through my chest.
If I spoke up, I might ruin my cousin’s wedding. If I stayed silent, I would carry this regret for the rest of my
life.
As the reception ended, Ethan quietly slipped a piece of paper into my hand. It had his phone number written
on it.
“When you’ve made up your mind,” he whispered by my ear, “whatever you decide, I’ll accept it p>
I crumpled the note tightly in my fist, the numbers almost imprinting themselves into my palm.
I stood at the hotel entrance and watched their wedding car drive away.
My feelings were in total turmoil.
Should I safeguard Grace’s happiness, or take a gamble on my own heart? I honestly had no idea.
I slipped the note with his number under my pillow, not daring to even look at it for three whole days.
During the day, I pretended everything was fine, helping Grace with post-wedding chores.
While organizing their new home, I saw the wedding photos hanging on the wall.
Ethan smiled gently in the pictures, but the distance in his eyes was nothing like the burning intensity I remembered under the concert lights.
Grace leaned into him, tracing the edge of the photo frame.
“That Ethan and I found each other,” she said contentedly, “it must be fate p>
My hand fisted in the curtain fabric. Fate? Then whet was our night together?
Chapter 5
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Após se livrar de um agressor, ela pede demissão. Agora ele a…
The fourth night, I tossed and turned, unable to sleep.
In the end, I reached under my pillow and pulled out the note.
My fingers trembled as I typed in the number. I edited the message again and again, and finally sent just one
line.
[Do you have time to meet up p>
The moment I hit ‘send,’ I threw my phone down. My heart hammered against my ribs, wild and frantic.
Less than five minutes later, my phone vibrated. It was Ethan calling.
“Are you free now? I’m at your campus gate,” his voice came through, laced with a hint of urgency.
I froze. He had actually come to my school.
I threw on a jacket and ran downstairs.
Under the dim streetlights, Ethan was leaning against a black sedan, a cigarette between his fingers.
When he spotted me, he pushed off from the car and stood up straight.
A mix of weariness and uncertainty flickered in his eyes.
“Why…” I had just started to speak when he interrupted me.
“Get in the car. We’ll talk there p>
The interior was filled with a faint cedar scent, the same smell he had carried that night.
He started the car without asking where to go, just driving slowly down the street.
“After the concert ended, I looked for you for a long time,” he said first, his voice low. “But there were too many people. I couldn’t catch up p>
I turned to look at him. The streetlights cast shifting shadows across his face. “Then why did you marry
Grace p>
His grip on the steering wheel tightened, his knuckles turning pale. “Grace and I were a strategic marriage p>
The words stunned me, and my started to spin. “A strategic marriage p>
“Yeah.” He gave a slight nod, his voice thick with resignation.
“My family’s business hit a crisis last year. Her family’s help came with strings attached. With all the pressure, I didn’t have a choice p>
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I just stared at him, at a loss for words.
That explained everything.
In the wedding photos they looked close, but there was something missing. It didn’t feel genuine.
“Then you…” I bit my lip, wanting to ask how he felt about me, but swallowed the question at the last second.
He seemed to see through my thoughts and turned to me, his gaze burning.
“Chloe, that night wasn’t just some impulsive thing. The moment I saw you, I knew you were different p>
“When I couldn’t find you afterward, I thought I’d lost you for good. Then I saw you at the wedding p>
His words were like warm water, slowly soothing the turmoil that had twisted my heart for an entire month.
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