2026-04-21 16:52:01
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Chapter 21
He drank.Eleanor picked up her chopsticks. Stared at the food. Put them down again."I'm not hungry. I'm going to lie down."She stood and walked to the bedroom without another word.Reginald's brow furrowed as he watched her go. A flicker of something — annoyance, or maybe the faintest trace of guilt — crossed his face.He said nothing.He poured another glass and drank alone.Downstairs, Ethan scanned the complex.He knew Vivian.Five years of marriage had given him a near-perfect map of her patterns. When Vivian was angry, she ran. But she never ran far. She'd storm out of the apartment like the building was on fire, then park herself somewhere within a two-hundred-meter radius and cry until she ran out of tears.She'd done it after every fight with Reginald. Every single time.Same script. Different corner.He found her in under three minutes.She was crouched beside the ornamental garden near the south entrance, hugging her knees, phone pressed to her ear. Her shoulders were sha
Chapter 20
Vivian pressed her palm to her cheek.The skin burned.She stared at Eleanor, eyes wide, brimming with something between shock and betrayal."Mom." Her voice trembled. "You hit me. You actually hit me — for him?"Twenty-seven years.Twenty-seven years, and her mother had never once raised a hand to her. Not when she failed her driving test three times. Not when she maxed out Eleanor's credit card in college. Not once.Until tonight.Until Ethan.The tears came before she could stop them. Hot, furious, spilling down both cheeks."Vivian, sweetheart, I—"Eleanor's anger crumbled the instant she saw her daughter cry. She reached out, her expression shifting from rage to guilt in a heartbeat.But Vivian didn't wait to hear it.She shot one last look at Ethan — raw, venomous, her jaw locked so tight the tendons in her neck stood out — then turned and bolted for the door.The slam rattled the picture frames on the wall."Vivian! Where are you going?"Eleanor rushed to the hallway.No answer
Chapter 19
Reginald stared. He'd heard it from Vivian already, but clearly hadn't believed it. His expression said he still thought it was a bluff.Vivian's face went white. Her fork hovered in the air, frozen.Eleanor set down her silverware.She looked at Ethan first — a long, pained look — then turned and smacked the back of Vivian's head."Vivian! What did you do to him this time?" Eleanor's voice shook. "How many times have I told you — your career isn't everything! You keep ignoring Ethan's feelings, and for what? Is this how a wife behaves?"Vivian flinched. "Mom! Why are you hitting me? I'm not the one who asked for the divorce!""So what?" Eleanor's eyes blazed. "I know Ethan. Unless you did something to break his heart, a man who loved you that much would never walk away on his own."She pointed straight at Vivian's face."You ungrateful girl. Haven't I told you privately? Ethan is a good man. I told you to cherish him. Why don't you ever listen?""Do you need to lose him completely? W
Chapter 18
After thinking it over, Ethan decided to go.Not because of Vivian's threat. That text had pissed him off, but it wasn't the reason.It was Eleanor.Eleanor Whitmore — Vivian's mother — was the only person in that family who had ever treated him like a human being.Five years of marriage. Five years of Reginald's sneers, his cold remarks, his endless comparisons to men Ethan had never met and didn't care about.But Eleanor?Eleanor asked him if he'd eaten. Eleanor noticed when he looked tired. Eleanor once spent an entire month making bone broth from scratch because Ethan had mentioned — just once, offhand — that he'd been a premature baby with a weaker constitution."You're my son now too," she'd said, pressing a thermos into his hands. "And I take care of my sons."She'd even scolded Vivian for him. More than once. Vivian had thrown fits about it, accusing her mother of caring more about her son-in-law than her own daughter.If Ethan was going to end this marriage, Eleanor deserved
Chapter 17
Time slipped hard and fast.By five-thirty, most of Stellaris had already emptied out. The business department was nearly silent, just the low hum of computers and the occasional click of a keyboard.Ethan sat with a client file open in front of him, eyes moving line by line.Across from him, Aurora propped her chin in both hands and stared at him with open annoyance."Are you seriously doing this right now?" she muttered. "It's after work. That file will still exist tomorrow."Ethan didn't look up."You don't have to wait for me. I'll leave after I finish this."That only made her roll her eyes."As if I'm waiting because I enjoy it. I want the dinner you promised me."A faint smile tugged at the corner of Ethan's mouth.Yesterday, she had still been testing him. Today, she had gotten bolder.Probably because she had realized he wasn't going to snap at her for every little thing.He closed the folder.Aurora lifted a brow. "What, giving up already?""You said you wanted me to cook."
Chapter 16
The name hit her like a slap.Vivian Lockwood.Aurora's eyes flicked toward Ethan — still standing at the door, hand on the handle, back turned.The secretary stood waiting, gaze bouncing between them.Aurora watched Ethan for two seconds. Three.He didn't turn around. Didn't say a word. Just pulled the door open and walked out.Aurora exhaled through her nose."Send her up.""Yes, Ms. Sinclair."The secretary disappeared.Vivian stepped out of the elevator and froze.A man was walking toward her. Toward the elevator she'd just exited."Ethan?"He didn't stop. Didn't look at her. Walked straight past, stepped into the elevator, and pressed a button.The doors closed.Vivian stared at the brushed steel surface where his face had been a second ago."Ms. Lockwood? Ms. Sinclair is waiting for you."She blinked. "Right."The CEO's office was everything Vivian's wasn't.Twice the size. Three times the view. The kind of space that didn't need to announce power — it simply radiated it.And be
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