Chapter 4

Afterwards, he sank into unbearable, agonizing guilt.

He typed and played: "I'm a bad person. I've wronged Mr. Ethan. I'll stop accepting his sponsorship."

His serious demeanor was just too cute—my heart melted watching him.

I stroked his head, then kissed his cheek.

"Don't feel guilty. He has women outside too. Our marriage is just a marriage in name only now."

Barry was stunned.

I grabbed his phone and left my number.

"If you really want to repay me, let's make a deal.

"From now on, I'll cover all your mother's medical expenses. You just need to spend every weekend with me."

After all, I'm a normal person too. I have normal physical needs.

Ethan was dirty, I didn't want to use him.

Barry was incredibly simple—although too proper, he was easy to coax.

Plus he really needed money right now. With a few words, I coaxed him into agreeing.

I comforted him:

"No one will know.

"You're not a bad person, you're my little sweetheart."

Barry couldn't handle being teased—he was so embarrassed he wanted to take off his hearing aids.

After adding his contact info, I FaceTimed him every day.

Barry couldn't speak, so whatever I said, he just nodded or shook his head.

Taking advantage of the fact that he couldn't speak, I teased him every day.

Watching the innocent college guy blush in embarrassment—what a life.

Being with Barry, I rediscovered the passion of my younger dating years.

I'd even forgotten that, since the one-sided fight Ethan had with me, he hadn't been home for a long time.

The lover was obedient, the husband didn't come home—life was getting more and more promising.

I had coaxed Barry into taking off his shirt to show me his abs, and had just hung up the call.

Ethan came home.

He pushed the bedroom door open without turning on the light.

He lay down beside me, reached out to pull me into his arms, and intimately called my name:

"Lena, I love you."

This was him having strayed and feeling guilty about it.

He wanted to kiss me, but the thought of where his mouth might have been on Daisy made me sick.

Without thinking, I pushed him away. Ethan was stunned for a moment.

He asked me: "Are you still angry?"

He sighed helplessly. "Can I apologize to you? It was all my fault. I shouldn't have been so harsh with you that day."

I continued playing innocent. "Honey, what are you talking about? I just feel bad that you work so hard. You should rest."

Ethan frowned.

He felt something was off.

But he couldn't say what was off.

We hadn't had marital relations in a long time. Daisy was so clingy, she'd long since made him push me aside.

He had finally come back to me.

But I didn't want him.

How could he not feel something was off?

I knew Ethan still loved me.

Because I knew him, I knew what he was like when he loved someone.

It's just that now, he separated love and the body very clearly.

He loved me, but that didn't stop him from sleeping around outside, seeking thrills.

A seventeen-year-old boy could sincerely say he loved me.

The twenty-seven-year-old Ethan could also say he loved me.

But the Ethan of now was no longer the Ethan of before.

Trying hard to ignore the strange feeling in his heart.

He hugged me, gently pressing his face against the back of my neck.

"Babe, you're so good."

Then, by the light of the lamp, he noticed the hickey on the back of my neck.

"What's this?"

He shot up suddenly, brows furrowed, face dark, staring intently at that mark.

I reached up and touched it.

I remembered—it was from the day Barry said he wanted to repay me.

At first he had acted like he was being forced into it, but then he got too into it and sucked one out.

I lied with a straight face: "Mosquito bite. The pest control hasn't been very good lately."