hapter 247
Ethan’s gaze locked onto mine, his expression sincere yet laced with a stubborn intensity. But I just laughed coldly.
“Love? Do you even know what love is?”
He kept talking about love, but he hadn’t d
done a thing to prove it.
Maybe my firm stance caught him off guard. His eyes flickered with a hint of unease as if he hadn’t expected me to be so resolute, to sever ties so cleanly.
I’d had too much to drink my stomach burned from the alcohol. But if I wanted to make my mark and carve out a place for myself in this world, dealing with moments like this was part of the price.
I pressed my lips together and forced myself to stand tall, looking up at him without flinching. It felt just like it did in my past life-always loolding up at him, always standing beneath him.
I had been like a flower stuck in the mud, always gazing up at Ethan, who remained pristine and untouchable, floating above me in the clouds.
“I really do love you. What happened between us has nothing to do with Leah. I’ve always seen her as a sister,” he said, frowning in mild frustration. A flicker of distaste crossed has face at the mention of her me.
He stared at me intensely, his imposing figure casting a shadow that seemed to lower the temperature around us.
I scoffed, my gaze growing colder by the second. He reached out to grab my arm, but 1 jerked away.
“Don’t touch me!” I shouted. I was like a rose covered in thoms, determined to keep him at a distance,
I continued, “Don’t say something as ridiculous as “I love you. Don’t think for a second that your words are going to move me.
I wasn’t a child anymore, and after living two lives, how could I possibly be swayed by love?
I no longer believed in sweet words or promises. Everything he said felt hollow, the land of emptiness that only highlighted my own foolishness,
Time was running short, and I still had a dinner to get backto. I tried to push past him.
“Eve, please, believe me. I don’t love Leah. I only dad what I did because of my family’s expectations. I know I’ve hurt you, but please, give me another chance. I swear we can start over, just the two of us. This has nothing to do with her.” Histone was pleading, his eyes filled with desperation. But I had long since become numb to the pain he’d caused. No words could reachine now.
He reached for my wrist again, and when I heard him call me Eve, there was no joy, no warmth-only a wave of nausea.
“There’s nothing intimate between us,” I said coolly. “Like you said, it has nothing to do with Leah. But she killed my grandmother. And your family helped cover it up. You protected a murderer, and that makes you just as guilty.” His loyalty had always mattered to me, and he’d never once chosen me. How could I not feel heartbroken?
Ethan, let’s be strangers from now on Leave my world while I still don’t hate you.”
The hallway lights flickered, casting eerie shadows that danced in the brightness. But inside, I felt cold, wrapped in a chilling layer of frost
I was cold, and I was in pain.
He still tried to reach out to stop me from leaving, but I walked away without looking back. He had chosen someone else when I needed him most. Now, I didn’t need human hore His belated affection was worthless to me.
With calm, steady steps, I walked back into the private room, heels clicking against the floor. As soon as I opened the door, it was like stepping into another world—one filled with the stench of alcohol and indulgence, a chaotic infero where pleasure and greed reigned.
One drink after another, the sharp bum of liquor tore at my throat, and the soumess in my stomach churned with pain. But I kept drinking, holding up my glass with a steady hand.
“Ms. Wiley, this business deal with you is solid. We’re like family now. Cheers to our partnership!”
Now thoroughly drunk, the big boss scrawled his signature on the contract with a sloppy flourish. The handwriting was crooked, barely legible, but it was done.
I smiled as I looked at his signature, a sense of triumph washing over INE.
“I look forward to working together with you!