Surveillance footage captured one night when Ethan had staggered back into the home he once shared. with Ashley–only to bolt out again at dawn.
As his memory finally caught up, everything came flooding back–he’d been on a business trip that night when someone drugged him. In that drugged haze, he’d driven over a hundred kilometers, straight to Ashleys’door.
Later, he’d left in a hurry after answering a call from Lila. She’d been injured, and his entire focus had shifted to her. Ashley had never spoken of that night–and so, in time,, so he simply… forgot.
“There was never another man. Ash loved me, and only me, from beginning to end…”
The clouds that had hung over him for days finally broke, leaving his chest startlingly light.
He immediately tried to call Ashley–but her number wouldn’t connect.
His assistant’s investigation only revealed that her last known location was the airport. After that, she had disappeared without a trace.
A familiar panic punched through him, the fear of losing her again tightening around his heart like a vice.
He gripped his phone tightly, forcing himself to stay calm.
In that moment, Ethan finally saw his heart for what it was.
He was in love with Ashley.
He loved Ashley Whitmore.
No longer denying it, Ethan didn’t hesitate to visit Lila at the hospital.
In just a few weeks, she had changed drastically. Her vitality was gone. She’d wasted away so much that
even the smallest hospital gown hung loose on her fragile frame–like a single gust could carry her off.
When she saw Ethan, there was no light in her eyes. She gave him a brief glance before turning away.
Right after the surgery, she’d still loved him.
She had cried for him, screamed for him, even tried to end her own life–but he never came.
Perhaps it was brushing that thin line between life and death that finally made her see the truth.
Ethan no longer loved her.
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Or maybe, be never truly had. Maybe all he ever gave her was indulgence, not love.
Lila. I’m sorry. We-”
“Let’s get divorced,” she cut him off quietly. For the first time, she spoke to him without a trace of whining
or tantrums. “Ethan, you sicken me. I want a divorce.”
Lila Bennett had always gotten whatever she wanted. And when she didn’t want something, no one could
force it on her.
She was proud and spoiled, but she wasn’t stupid.
Her obsession with Ethan only existed because he used to love and spoil her.
“Lila…” Ethan was stunned. He’d expected tears, protest, emotional breakdowns. He’d even come prepared
to handle her resistance.
If she refused, he’d been ready to lean on the Bennett family–dangling a hundred–billion–dollar project în
exchange for her signature.
He never imagined Lila would be the one to bring it up.
He reached out instinctively, but she pulled away, repulsed.
“Go. My lawyer will be in touch.”
She turned her head, unable to look at him even once more.
Ethan wasn’t offended. In fact, he was grateful for her understanding. He even gave the Bennett family an
additional 10% profit in their joint venture as a gesture of thanks.
That same month, the divorce was finalized.
Then Ethan focused all his energy–and every connection he had–on searching for Ashley.
He would scour the earth to find her.
Three years bled away in the blink of an eye.
He had combed every corner of the country. He had searched across continents.
But Ashley Whitmore was nowhere to be found.
Ethan spiraled into deeper and deeper regret. He drowned himself in work, in alcohol, in self–loathing.
He hated himself for taking so long to realize his own heart. Hated that he had misjudged Ashley. Hated
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himself most for using her to protect Lila.
As time passed, the pain only grew.
Every time that dried trail of blood across Cresthill Manor’s floor rose in his mind, he felt like ripping himself apart.
At his lowest, Ethan would resort to cutting his own skin. Only the sight of his own blood could bring the faintest scrap of peace.
Ashley loved him–loved him deeply.
She was always terrified of him getting hurt.
If she saw him bleeding, she would surely be heartbroken…
And maybe–just maybe–seeing it would make her forgive him.
Chapter 12
