Ethan froze. The hand that had been fixing
Ava’s hair stopped mid–action.
“Claire’s gone? What document?”
“Yes, Mr. Ethan. The nurse said that Ms. Claire
left in the middle of the night. The
document…it’s a divorce agreement.”
Ethan’s grip on his phone tightened. He stood
up to walk back to his car, a dark cloud settling
over him.
He thought he was mistaken. This has gone too
far. If she didn’t want to apologize, she
shouldn’t have joked around with divorce.
A flicker of resentment passed through Ava’s
eyes. She grabbed the man’s sleeve with an
obedient tone.
“Did something happen with Claire? I’ll go with
you, maybe I can help.”
Ethan nodded and the two got into the car.
Inside the small car, Ava gently placed her hand
on the man’s chest, trying to comfort him.
“Don’t worry, Claire will be okay.”
Ethan felt annoyed, the touch suddenly feeling
intrusive, he frowned and lowered Ava’s hands,
murmuring, in rejection, an almost muffled “okay”.
Ava reluctantly lowered her hand, her nails digging into her skin. This was the first time Ethan had acted this way with her.
She glanced at the man with dark eyes. She felt a rising sense of panic and quickly sent a text. The reply was instant: “Don’t worry, it’s all taken care of.’
Inside the private VIP room of the hospital, the hospital director was frantic, how did they lose a pregnant woman who should be in their care, he had no clue how to explain this.
“What’s going on?” Ethan pushed the door
open, the room suddenly plummeted in
temperature.
The director shakily handed over the thin piece
of paper, dreading the man’s reaction.
“Divorce Agreement” flashed in front of
Ethan’s eyes and seeing the clean signature at
<
the bottom right corner, he sank.
“Where’s Ms. Claire? I asked you to watch over
her. How could you lose her like this?”
One of the nurses, a young woman who’d
always liked me, began to cry.
“Mr. Ethan, it’s all my fault. I failed to keep an
eye on her, after the miscarriage she’s so weak.
Where could she possibly have gone…”
“Miscarriage?” Ethan interrupted, his eyes
becoming dark and menacing.
The nurse choked back a sob, “Mr. Ethan, don’t
you know? She was six weeks pregnant. We
don’t know how she fell down the stairs…”
Ethan’s eyes widened, almost in shock. Then
his voice became low and husky.
“Claire was pregnant with my baby? Our baby is
gone?”
He almost sounded like he was losing his mind.
He stared at the divorce agreement. A sense of
dread he’d never known before washed over
him.
His heart pounded. He felt like he was about to
lose me.
35
<
He couldn’t help but think of the pain I’d felt during the miscarriage, and how heartbreaking
it must have been for me. I’d always wanted his baby so much.
He knew the reasons for us not having a baby
all those years, and it was an agonizing thought if I ever knew.
Ethan felt an overwhelming sense of guilt, he couldn’t breathe. The scene of me in the
restaurant, asking him, “Ethan, what about what you did to my father?” kept replaying in his head.
A terrifying thought formed in his head, and his voice became hoarse.
“Find all of Ms. Claire’s recent whereabouts.”
“And find out how she fell down the stairs.”
Soon after, his assistant sent him the list of my recent trips.
“Mr. Ethan, the security camera in the hallway
was manipulated by someone”
“But we already asked every patient at the
hospital and we should have results in a day.”
Ethan’s eyes landed on the KTV footage.
He saw me, clutching the door with trembling
hands. The look in my eyes when I turned, it was one of utter despair.
He instantly understood that I’d heard
everything.
His actions from my past had been exposed to
- me.
But he couldn’t believe I would ask for a
divorce. He couldn’t possibly leave me.
He recalled the five years I’d showed my love, and how it was like I was trying to engrave him into my bones.
“Any updates about Ms. Claire’s location?”
“Ms. Claire has cancelled all her personal
information and the airline is intentionally hiding
her location, we are unable to find her for the time being.”
Ethan rubbed his temples and went back to the
mansion.
Everything was exactly the same as it always
had been, with my things placed as I had left
them. It felt as if nothing had happened.
He slumped down on the sofa, staring at our
く
wedding photo on the wall.
The bride and groom were looking at each
other. If you looked closely, you could see a hint
of melancholy in both of our eyes.
I didn’t understand the melancholy in the
groom’s eyes, but now I knew.
It was because he was marrying the woman he
didn’t love.
At first, Ethan and I were just friends, nothing
more.
Until one night, a drunk Ethan held me down
and murmured my name over and over.
I kissed him, and our bodies tangled together. After that night, our relationship completely
changed. We became the loving couple that
everyone knew.
Ethan couldn’t stop doing nice things for me,
showing his concern for Ava. He always cared
about my feelings, bought me birthday
presents, and tried to make me happy, like any
other good husband.
One time I got sick and had a fever, the traffic
was so bad that he had to carry me on his back
<
for five kilometers.
He always thought that he was doing all of this
because he felt guilty, like he was paying me
back.
But today, he finally realized, that it wasn’t only
guilt, but feelings that he himself had not
realized.
From the day we shared our first kiss, Ethan fell
in love with me without realizing it.
Ethan closed his eyes. When he opened them,
he saw the smile on my face, then my
devastated look, his heart pounding and he
gasped for air.
He looked at the pregnancy report in his hands
and his heart was stabbed again.
His baby, his and Claire’s was gone.
“Ethan, don’t be sad, I will always be by your
side.”
A gentle voice was heard. A pair of soft hands
wrapped around Ethan’s neck.
Ethan’s body jolted, he thought I was back, he
turned and held the woman closely.
“Claire, you’re back. I don’t want a divorce.
く
vvnat i did was wrong, I want to make it up to
you for the rest of my life.”
Jealousy filled Ava’s eyes, she didn’t expect
Ethan would make such a mistake.
She couldn’t believe, I was so important to him.
Feeling the man slightly shaking, Ava didn’t
speak, and allowed him to hold her.
Suddenly, Ethan pushed her away and said
coldly.
“You’re not Claire, what are you doing here?”
Ava lowered her head in despair, feigning
sadness.
“Ethan, I was just worried about you. You
haven’t eaten or drank anything, I believe Claire
will come back.”
Hearing my name, Ethan’s eyes grew dark.
“We shouldn’t see each other anymore, so that
there won’t be any unnecessary
misunderstandings.”
Ava looked at him, shocked and confused.
“Ethan, we have known each other for years.
How could you say such a thing?”
Ethan looked away, and his eyes fell upon our
wedding photo
((
