Chapter 162
[ 498 words ]
Chapter 162:
As I slowly came back to myself, I pulled my dry lips into a faint smile. “Ethan, this joke isn’t funny at all. Are you really willing to say something like this just to keep a useful subordinate?”
“I’m not joking.” He suddenly drew me tighter into his arms, pressing me deeper against him.
The heat pouring from his body burned through my thin shirt and scorched my bare skin.
The kind of closeness that should have been intoxicating now only made me feel like I was suffocating.
“Lianne, look at me.” He bent his head until his forehead touched mine, his voice rough with strain. “I would never make this kind of thing into a joke. I admit it, I was blind before. I let this so-called sense of duty blind me. But these days, whenever I see you with other men, whenever I see how cold you are to me, this spot right here.”
He seized my hand and forced it against his chest, where his heartbeat was hammering wildly. “It hurts so badly here. I can’t bear to lose you.”
I gave another laugh.
“What’s so funny?” His brows knit together, and hurt flickered across his eyes.
“I’m laughing at how absurd you are.” I looked straight into his eyes and spoke each word slowly and clearly. “Ethan, if your so-called feelings mean keeping both me and Ivy around, if they mean telling me you love me while spending the night celebrating another woman’s birthday, then I don’t want those feelings. It makes me sick.”
“That was the last time!” he said in urgent explanation. “It was the last birthday I promised I’d spend with Ivy. I owe her.”
“That’s enough.” I cut him off, unwilling to listen to those old, stale stories anymore.
𝖲𝖺𝗏𝖾 𝗒𝗈𝗎𝗋 𝖿𝖺𝗏𝗈𝗋𝗂𝗍𝖾 𝗇𝗈𝗏𝖾𝗅𝗌 𝗈𝗇 𝗀𝖺𝗅𝗇𝗈𝗏𝖾𝗅𝗌.𝖼𝗈𝗆
I stared at him, trying to find even the slightest trace of deceit on that flawless face.
But he looked so earnest. The pain and regret in his eyes seemed on the verge of spilling over.
If he was pretending, then he deserved a prize.
“So what?” I asked coldly. “Are you telling me all this now because you’ve decided not to break our mate bond?”
Lianne’s POV:
Ethan gave a firm nod before he spoke. “I’ve already destroyed the Rejection. It doesn’t stand anymore. Lianne, I’m not letting you go. Not now, not ever.”
His words locked me in place, and my thoughts refused to settle.
For so many sleepless nights, I had asked the Moon Goddess for this very outcome.
I had always believed that if he ever turned back, if he ever said he loved me, nothing could make me happier.
Yet now that he stood here saying it, the feeling didn’t match what I had imagined.
Joy didn’t come. Relief didn’t follow. What stayed with me was only exhaustion and disbelief.
Something I had never even allowed myself to hope for had happened, yet it came in a way that felt wrong.
Noticing how I stood there without reacting, Ethan teased, “What is it? Did it leave you speechless because you’re too happy?”
.
.
.
If you find any errors (non-standard content, ads redirect, broken links, etc..), Please let us know so we can fix it as soon as possible.