Chapter 3

I sighed and touched his face.

“Ethan, we can still be friends.”

“But I love you.”

“What about Claire?”

He tightened the arm around my waist even more and kissed me.

“I hate her, and from now on, I only want Lily.”

After that night passed, the Carter family accepted me as their daughter-in-law.

People in our circle all said behind my back that I was shameless and manipulative, that the Bennett family had nearly gone bankrupt, and that I had forced myself on Ethan to revive Bennett Group.

They were all waiting.

They were waiting for me to get divorced and become a joke.

But over the past five years, Ethan and I had only grown better and more loving.

Until I saw the way he looked at Claire at this moment.

My heart suddenly tightened with pain.

“How ridiculous, I, Ethan Carter, never pick up trash.”

Ethan’s words instantly froze the smile on Claire’s face.

Ethan’s words made the private room fall completely silent.

He took my hand and laced his fingers with mine.

“Let me introduce her.”

“This is my wife, Lily Bennett.”

“If anyone uses those old stories to disgust her again, don’t blame me for turning on you.”

“I married Lily because I love her, and who hasn’t met one or two toxic women when they were young? Don’t open your mouths and throw dirt on my wife for no reason.”

His tone shifted, carrying blatant mockery.

“As for Ms. Summers, did going abroad leave you with nothing but this? So what if you started a company? Do you even have assets over ten million? Do you even have ten employees under you?”

Claire could no longer smile at all.

But Ethan took my hand and softened his voice.

“Honey, I told you I didn’t want to come, so what was the point of seeing these people?”

“You’re not wrong,” I answered softly.

“Whoever you scold deserves it.”

The entire room fell into silence, and the class reunion was basically over.

The classmates who had been gossiping earlier came over to apologize before leaving and wished us happiness.

Claire sat in her seat with her head lowered and did not move.

But when Ethan stepped out of the private room, he still turned his head back once.

Regret and sorrow made that woman look much more haggard in just a few hours.

I clearly felt Ethan’s hand tighten around my waist.

Then he turned his gaze forward, acted as if nothing had happened, and got into the car with me with a smile.

But after we got home, I still felt a little uneasy when I thought about what had happened.

I put down my bag, and my voice was hoarse.

“Ethan, if you want to get back together with Claire, we can get di—”

Before I could finish, he suddenly pushed me down onto the sofa, gripped the side of my neck, and leaned in.

His fingers sealed my lips, then moved down along my collarbone, and paired with his cold, restrained face, my breath immediately caught.

“What nonsense are you talking about…”

He moved close to me, his breath warm.

“Can I carry you back to the bedroom? I want you.”

After he said that, he kissed me.

We tangled all the way to the bedroom.

For one moment, I almost forgot all the unpleasantness, and just as the corners of my lips lifted into a smile, Ethan’s phone suddenly rang.

I answered it instinctively.

Soft breathing came from the other end of the line, and Claire’s voice carried drunkenness and broken sobs.

“Ethan… couldn’t you have waited for me a little longer? It’s only been five years…”

“You called me toxic, but you don’t know at all… the only person I’ve ever loved is you.”

I was silent for a moment before speaking.

“Claire, it’s three in the morning.”

“My husband just fell asleep from exhaustion, so do you need me to wake him up?”

The other side went instantly quiet, then the call was abruptly hung up.

My expression turned serious for once, and I frowned tightly as I looked at the sleeping Ethan beside me.

His lashes trembled lightly, and his lips pressed into a straight line, as if he was having a nightmare.

I lay down, curled into his arms, stopped thinking about it, and closed my eyes wearily.

But after sleeping for less than two hours, I woke up.

I instinctively reached for the person beside me, only to find the bed empty.