On the day my childhood best friend—and husband—caused the biggest scene, he slapped me for the sake of the little girl he loved. I didn't just take it. I exploded and broke three of his ribs in return. He screamed that he wanted a divorce, but I refused. At the time, I thought we would just keep tormenting each other like this until we both died. But reality hit me fast. Three months later, I fell head over heels for a sweet, innocent younger guy. He's currently chasing me, begging to make things official. So, I was forced to pull that familiar number out of my block list. When I dialed it, that little girl’s playful voice picked up on the other end: "Elara, it's too late, you know. Even if you come crawling back like a dog begging for forgiveness, Liam won't even spare you a glance." Facing the provocation, I just spoke calmly: "Tell Liam I want that divorce." The next second, the phone seemed to be snatched away. There was a flurry of static and noise, and then Liam's voice sounded, fighting hard to control his trembling. He said: "Elara, don't you dare." 01 The year I hated Liam Miller the most. I beat up the little girl he loved more than anything. He backhanded me in return and demanded a divorce. Over the years, what he said to me most often was for me to be "good." For me to be gentle and submissive, just like Daisy. This was the first time he actually asked for a divorce. I didn't agree. Instead, I pinned him to the ground, broke three of his ribs, and choked him into unconsciousness before he could say another word. Before Liam rolled his eyes and blacked out. The last words I left him with were: "You want a divorce? Not a chance in hell. Since you two forced me to go crazy, you can deal with the consequences. Daisy Miller will be nothing but a mistress her entire life. You both will live in my shadow forever." At that time, I had a whole list of plans ready. I was prepared for how we would torture and entangle each other until the bitter end. I've always held grudges. Once I bite down on my prey, I never let go. Three years of marriage. Liam took me from a girl full of joy walking down the aisle to a full-blown psycho. That trashy couple ruined me. I swore that even if I spent the rest of my life on it, I would make them miserable. For this, I even bought a separate apartment across town, preparing for a long, drawn-out war. However, the universe never lets you know how to arrange the next step of your life. I thought I would be getting revenge on Liam for the rest of my life. I didn't expect that just three days later. I would find Ethan Barrett fainted from hunger right at my doorstep. At that moment, I had heard Liam was awake in the hospital, cursing me out as a psycho in front of a whole crowd of relatives and friends visiting him. I had excitedly put on my makeup and picked out my brightest, most stunning outfit, getting ready to go there and make his blood boil. I just didn't expect that as soon as I walked out the front gate, I would trip over a large, unidentified human-shaped object. In a daze, I flipped the person over and saw a face in the prime of its youth. Ethan had gotten his luggage stolen that day. He had gone to a supermarket to work as temporary labor unloading goods, only to be tricked into working three days for free. He was so hungry he was delirious. In a daze, his palm grabbed the hem of my red dress. I saw his lips move and couldn't help but lean in closer. Then I heard his voice, weak as a dying breath: "Mom..." ... After a long silence, I couldn't help but mutter: "...You serious?" There was no response. He had completely blacked out from starvation. 02 It was only later that I found out. Ethan calling me "Mom" that day was purely a delusion brought on by hunger. When he was a kid, his biological mother abandoned him in a park. The very last image he had of her was her wearing a red dress just like mine. That day, when he collapsed in front of my house, he saw me squatting down close through his haze and thought his mother had come to take him to heaven. When he confessed this part, I couldn't help but throw my head back and laugh. I laughed until I realized halfway through that nobody was laughing with me, and it actually wasn't funny at all. Ethan was just crouching in front of me, watching my neurotic face with a pair of wet, round, puppy-dog eyes. There was no anger, no embarrassment, nothing but deep concern. He was very tall. Standing up, his six-foot-two height was quite intimidating. But his demeanor was so utterly harmless. Seeing me look at him, he instinctively got nervous. He rested his head on the arm of the sofa, just watching me with those watery eyes. He didn't say anything, yet it felt like he said everything. Realizing that I had just directed malicious intentions towards such an innocent, almost transparent soul, I felt a stab of guilt. But I didn't know how to lower my head and apologize. Three years of an unhealthy marriage had only taught me to use offensive shouting to cover up my own fragility. For three years, all my time was spent entangling with Liam. I had almost forgotten that before I married him, I was the proudest heiress in this city. That sophisticated, confident woman who knew exactly when to advance and when to retreat seemed to have been forgotten in the deepest parts of my memory. The current me was full of resentment towards the world. I once thought I would be trapped in this hate forever. But Ethan reached out his hand, like a dog pawing at my hand. Until I opened my palm, and he placed a pendant inside. It was the one he always wore around his neck. That was a gift his parents gave him right after he was born. Back then, he was still cherished and loved. But later, his father died in an accident, and his mother remarried and abandoned him. All he had left was this pendant. It was the only shred of good memory this world had granted him. But now, he had taken it off and placed it in my palm. He said: "This used to be the most important thing to me. But now, you are the most important person to me. I’m giving it to you, hoping you'll be happy." After saying that, he pushed my fingers closed over it, then gently kissed my fist. This was during Ethan’s third month living at my house. I had taken him in with a playful, mocking mindset, wanting to see what he really wanted from me. But he never did anything. He just stood up, put on an apron, and went into the kitchen to make me a newly learned nutritious meal. The spatula he was holding was one I had originally bought with the intent of using as a weapon to smash over Liam's head during an argument. It looked a bit small and awkward in Ethan's large hand, but his movements were nimble, not clumsy at all. The boy had a smile on his lips. The sunlight filtered through, making those light brown puppy eyes shine brightly. Spurred by some unknown force, I walked over and couldn't help but ask him why he was so happy. "Because I get to cook for you." It was such a simple reason. But it could be interpreted in so many ways. Because someone was eating the food he cooked, because he had a stable environment where he could slowly cook a meal, or simply because he liked cooking for me. Facing those eyes that easily saw through my pretenses, for a moment, I didn't want to dig any deeper. 03 Under my protection, Ethan had successfully found a job. And nobody dared to bully this poor kid anymore, even though he had no family and was stubbornly kind and honest. He was nineteen this year. Last year, he had been accepted into a good university, but he couldn't afford the tuition. So, he ran to the big city to find work, thinking there would be more opportunities, only to be scammed right out of the train station. Fortunately, despite the rocky start, things were going well now. He got his new ID sorted out, wore the clothes I bought him, and went to work every day full of energy. When he came back, he was always carrying several large bags of groceries. He thought I was too thin. He would always pinch my slender wrist, not knowing how to use his strength, a deep look of worry appearing on his sharply defined face. In all fairness, my figure wasn't dainty. In fact, so that I could one day knock that trashy couple—Liam and Daisy—into next week with one punch, I had even taken up boxing. But there was nothing I could do about Ethan being too tall and having a large build. He used to do manual labor to get by. This meant he ate much, much more than the average person. That’s why, after his bag was stolen, he had starved so quickly. And now that he could eat his fill, a faint smile of happiness was always hanging on his face. However, in contrast to his tall stature, he was actually quite socially anxious, and his mind was rather sensitive. If I talked to him too much, he would get embarrassed. According to his colleagues, Ethan barely interacted with anyone at work. But nobody thought he was hard to get along with. Because he spent the whole day working. Whether it was his own job or helping someone else, if you gave it to him, he did it. Unsurprisingly, Ethan was friendly, sincere, and full of sunshine. He was completely different from me. The current me was a bit too dark. All I thought about every day was how to torture my cheating husband and his little mistress. Just because I had been worried about Ethan dying in front of my house and missed the chance to go to the hospital to gloat to Liam didn't mean I was giving up on tormenting him. Giving up on that man who had been my childhood best friend for twenty-seven years, who had used his entire passionate youth to pursue me and protect me, only to get quickly bored of me after marriage and turn around to love a young girl who looked a few degrees like me. 04 I remembered the last time we met, it was in Liam’s office. I had originally gone there to talk about the divorce. Three years of marriage. My infatuation with him only lasted for the first year. For the remaining two years, I was constantly doubting myself and consuming myself from within. Finally, I was able to face this marriage properly, admit my failure, and want to have a serious talk with Liam. But I didn't expect Daisy Miller to be hiding under his desk... The two of them were interacting right in front of me, exchanging glances. Acting as if nothing was wrong, treating me like a prop for their sick game. Daisy even thought she was hiding very well. She was leaning against Liam's leg, smiling slyly. And I, at the very moment Liam looked entirely satisfied, throwing his head back and letting out a groan as his Adam's apple bobbed, walked straight up to the desk. I grabbed that girl's hair and dragged her out from underneath. Daisy screamed as she took a slap from me, her pale, pretty little face immediately turning red and swollen. And at that moment, Liam's voice came from behind me. He called my name: "Elara." I subconsciously turned around, only to be slapped so hard that stars appeared before my eyes. It took a long time to clear my vision. He was looking down at me arrogantly: "You finally learned how to fight for my attention? Too bad that when you're like this, you only get uglier and uglier." Mean words fell one after another. My world fell into a storm of confusion. I remembered the first time Liam confessed to me. He looked at me, his eyes shining, and said, "You look so proud with your head held high, like a princess. I want to protect you forever." But afterwards, it was: "She knows how to be submissive and please me much better than you do. What about you? You need to show me some sincerity, prove to me that you love me more than she does." He dragged Daisy into important social events, where she would hide behind him timidly. The guests present looked at us, standing on opposite sides, and whispered amongst themselves. I still stood tall, holding my head high like a princess with a lonely crown under the massive crystal chandeliers. But when I took off my wedding ring and turned around to leave without hesitation, he would chase after me. In a corner where nobody was looking, he would embrace me from behind. "Are you really mad? See, I knew my wife had me in her heart." His kisses fell on my neck, one after another, his tone ambiguous and lingering. "I just wanted to make you jealous. How could she possibly compare to you? You’re the rose I personally raised for so many years." He buried his head in my neck and laughed softly. "My stubborn little rose, refusing to bow her head, even your stubbornness is so cute." At that time, I thought Liam was crazy. I wanted to get out, but due to the deep entanglement of interests between our two families, I chose to endure it again and again. Until finally, they pushed me too far. By the time I snapped back to reality, I already had Liam pinned to the ground. I was holding the ashtray in my hand, smashing it against him again and again, roaring: "I gave you an inch and you took a mile! You two are screwing right in front of me and don't know how to act, and you even dared to lay a hand on me!" Liam’s face was covered in blood, looking quite frightening. His little girl was huddled up against the wall in a corner, trying her best to minimize her presence, too scared to make a sound. "Elara, if you don't act 'good,' then we get a divorce." Even now, his eyes were locked onto me, threats issuing continuously from his mouth. He always provoked me, then stood arrogantly on his high ground, savoring my breakdown. And now, looking at his face distorted by pain, I suddenly let out a relieved laugh. I said: "You know, Liam, intentionally hurting someone gets a heavy sentence, but domestic violence only gets a warning." "As long as our relationship still exists, I will torment you for the rest of your life." After saying that, I grinned widely, exposing two rows of white teeth. I said: "A divorce? Keep dreaming." I must have looked incredibly insane. That’s probably why I saw clear fear in Liam's eyes. The moment my hand choked Liam, I admit I wanted to drag him down to hell with me. But was it worth it? Just letting him off easily like that, letting him die, I wasn't willing to do that. Yes. Revenge on him was the only thing keeping me going. Until now, I refused to turn back, and I was unwilling to admit that my life had completely become distorted. Now, I was a psycho, a shrew. My reputation was in tatters, and I was still entangled with a man who didn't love me. My hand started trembling uncontrollably again. The next second, a warm touch pressed against my palm. I turned around and saw Ethan resting his chin on my knee. He was slowly, gently opening my hand, which I had clenched so tightly my nails were digging in, trying to uncurl my fingers. After trying to press on my palm and offering me water but failing, he directly pressed his cheek against my hand, finally succeeding in pulling me back from the emotional storm. At this moment, the boy was staring at me, unmoving, with those round puppy eyes. I lowered my eyes to scrutinize that face. It was youthful, yet had sharp features, giving him a somewhat exotic look. Ethan was undoubtedly good-looking. It was just that his eyes were too clean, making it hard to have indecent thoughts when looking at him. His cheeks and earlobes were turning red, but the sincerity in his expression overrode his embarrassment. Seeing me look at him, he seemed to finally summon his courage. He took a deep breath and spoke as if making a plea: "Don't bully yourself anymore, okay?" After saying that, he gently picked up my other hand and reverently placed it on top of his head. When Ethan first arrived at the house, his hair was cut very short like stubble, and it felt really good to the touch. At that time, I had joked that the condition for taking him in was that I got to touch his head whenever I wanted. And now, looking at his clumsy, foolish attempts to comfort me, looking at the clarity in the boy's eyes, I ultimately couldn't restrain myself from asking that question: "Ethan, after hiding by my side for so long, what do you really want from me?" 05 Once, I also believed that a soul connection existed between people. Like between Liam and me. The first time he saw me when we were five, he put a ring he had woven himself onto my finger and declared that I was a princess he would protect for the rest of his life. In those years when he loved me loudly, he put me high up on a pedestal. During our high school years, almost no boys could get close to me. Correspondingly, Liam was also very conscious of his own behavior. Many girls wanted to get close to him, but Liam just sneered disdainfully. He pointed at me, not far away, and spoke indifferently: "With Elara around, I would look at you?" Later, I went abroad to chase my dreams, and Liam waited for me for three years. As long as he could find the time, he would fly to London to be with me. When the first snow fell, he embraced me from behind and told me, word by word, truly and plaintively, how much he missed me. Later, when I returned home to fight my father's illegitimate children for the family inheritance, he supported me fully. Even when I successfully acquired the first company, he laughed happily and said: "I’m now a kept man with a CEO girlfriend. I’ll have to work hard in the future so people won't call me a gold digger." On the day he proposed successfully, he had fireworks lit up across the city for me. Under the romantic lights, he held my hand and swore he would use the rest of his life to cherish me. The sincerity in his eyes never seemed fake. It's just that I ignored many details. For example, when he used to hug me and act spoiled, he had mentioned, as if joking, how other people's wives acted after marriage—how attentive they were to their husbands. "Will I get treated like that one day?" He had looked at me with expectation in his eyes. I had poked his forehead with my finger. "You really think everything good in the world should just fall into your lap, don't you?" At that time, Liam had sighed, as if resigning himself to his fate: "Yeah, yeah, yeah. I married a powerful woman, so I just have to follow her lead." But not long after, he changed. The same tactics he used to pursue me were now all given to Daisy. As if intentionally seeking revenge on me, he bought all the gifts he had ever given me for Daisy, even more of them. He said: "She’s so good and obedient. She deserves these rewards." But when facing me, he sighed: "Elara, I said I would protect my princess for a lifetime. But fairy tales only go up until the prince and princess get married. You’re already married to me now. What you need to do now is learn to be domestic and maintain our marriage, instead of thinking about that stupid company of yours all day, running around outside." 06 I stood in place, feeling the blood freeze in my veins inch by inch. He seemed to admire my expression at that moment, savoring it bit by bit, a look of satisfaction in his eyes. The hurtful words continued. He said: "If time could turn back, I would still love the old Elara without hesitation. Too bad that the current you has absolutely nothing left that attracts me." How high he had once placed me on a pedestal was how hard he was now throwing me down. After that, I no longer believed in anyone. Just as I didn't believe in the current Ethan, didn't believe that a boy in the prime of his youth would willingly stay by my side without wanting anything. I had been waiting, waiting for Ethan to actively ask me for something—resources or money. He had to want something. Once he opened his mouth, exposed his ugliness, exposed his weakness. Then I would grab hold of his weak spot. This relationship would be entirely dominated by me. I could keep him as a nice little toy or throw him away after I was done. At the very least, he should tell me what he wants. But Ethan just looked at me quietly, those light brown eyes so bright and honest. He said: "I’ve already looked at apartments. Tomorrow, once I get paid, I can move out." So he had been planning to leave all along. Hearing this, I sneered. Perhaps my expression was too awful. When he spoke next, he became very cautious. He studied my face while his words came out slowly: "After that... can I still cook for you?" He spoke softer and softer. Finally, that head lowered deeply, not daring to look into my eyes. "Ethan." I looked at him, suddenly speaking calmly: "Do you want me?" The boy's body jerked. Immediately, a wave of red shot from his face straight to the tips of his ears. Seeing him not speak, I suddenly curled my lips, my smile malicious: "Last time you were in the bathroom, I heard you call my name." "I'm sorry, I'm sorry..." The boy’s eyes filled with tears, looking deeply ashamed, almost on the verge of crying. "You were kind enough to take me in, yet my thoughts are so filthy..." I remembered the second day Ethan stayed at my house. I had hired someone to investigate his entire past, every aspect, thoroughly. So I knew that he was still a blank slate. In that instant, the desire to tease him suddenly vanished. I lifted his chin with my finger and spoke bluntly: "Hold me." When the boy's muscular arms wrapped around me, I still felt a bit daze. I thought that at this moment I would think of Liam, think of my anger and heartache when he paraded Daisy around in front of me, that I would feel a sense of revenge. But I felt nothing. My gaze was completely drawn to the boy's eyes, filled with love and adoration. Those eyes crinkled slightly, his eyelashes trembling. When I tightly gripped his full muscles, his breath would become erratic, with soft tremors, like a puppy whimpering. I had to admit, this was the most relaxed and pleasant moment I had experienced in these three years. Regardless of what Ethan's motive was, at least right now, he was a useful distraction to pull myself out of the swamp of negative emotions. Besides, he was clean, healthy, and skilled. I wasn't losing anything. I thought in my heart. The lips he was biting were brushed open by his finger pad. The boy's movements were a bit frantic, a deep look of worry and pity in his eyes. My voice could no longer be controlled, but my ex-husband's phone call happened to come in at that moment. During these past few months, I hadn't had the time to find trouble for Liam, but he wasn't used to that, so he pasted himself right in front of my eyes.
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