22
My pale face made Ethan frown. His gaze fell on my bare feet. With a sigh, he got a pair of familiar slippers from the side. Kneeling before me, he said with a mixture of exasperation and tenderness, “You’re sick, barefoot. You’re still the girl who can’t take care of yourself, aren’t you?”
you
can’t go
Fear and shock filled me. I instinctively recoiled. Ethan failed to touch me, a flicker of disappointment crossed his dark eyes.
“Ethan, why did you bring me here? We broke up!”
I backed away, trying to escape. He grabbed my wrist again, his voice trembling. “Natalie, we didn’t break up! I never agreed! This is our home. We’ll live here after getting married.”
“Natalie, it’s the same as before. Everything you like is here.”
I saw it. The lights, the subtitles precisely why it looked terrifying.
–
everything was exactly as it was when I had hearing problems. That was
“Natalie, I know I made a mistake. I was a bad boyfriend, and I hurt you. Chloe’s better now; I won’t have anything to do with her.”
“Natalie, I’m sorry. I won’t hurt you again.”
I frowned, cutting him off coldly. “Ethan, that’s all in the past. Every time you chose Chloe, we drifted further apart,”
Ethan’s gaze intensified.“I can change, Natalie! You“re the only one I love. Just give me another chance. I promise I’ll make things right.”
His expression was stubborn. Wanting to resolve this, I forced myself to stay. “Ethan, the hurt you caused was real. You know me well; I won’t give anyone a second chance. Just move on. Don’t cling to the past.” Each word was like a blade of ice, piercing Ethan’s heart. Every breath was a stab of pain. He looked up at me. My eyes were still clear and bright, but they held no trace of him.
He couldn’t bear the feeling of being utterly abandoned.
“You won’t forgive me because you have someone better, right? Peter? You’re in love with him?” His voice trembled; his eyes were fixed on me, desperate for a denial.
I frowned, finding him irrational.“Ethan, what are you talking about?”
But I didn’t deny it, which fueled his jealousy and burned away his reason.
“I saw you in Peter’s car. When did you two get together?”
“When you two were both abroad? Or did you hook up before that?”
“I knew it! He looked at you differently when we were in college…”
A sharp sound echoed. I was furious, my hand still trembling.
The air froze. Ethan turned his head, blood trickling from his lip. He looked at me, his eyes red, like a wounded animal. “You hit me for Peter?”
< 23
