The doorbell rang, and Ethan answered the door. "Took you long enough, Seth."Seth had already changed into a clean suit. His gold-rimmed glasses had been wiped clean, too. Last night, he'd pushed it into Maisie's body.Seth smiled. "I got caught in some traffic on the way."Maisie was still rooted to the spot when he entered the house. He nodded at her in greeting. "Hi, Maisie."She was briefly taken aback but soon smiled. "Seth."Ethan led Seth to the couch and told Maisie, "Mais, make Seth a cup of coffee."Maisie felt disgusted when she heard him call her that. It was an affectionate nickname he'd used when they were madly in love, but it now made her feel like a snake had slithered all over her. She felt cold, icky, and uncomfortable."Mais?"She scowled. "Can you mind your words? Don't call me that."Ethan chuckled. "Fine. Could you please make Seth a cup of coffee, Ms. Stone?"Maisie didn't want to spare either of the men another glance. She was no match for one of the
Maisie's legs started giving way after she'd stood in the kitchen for a while. She didn't know how long Seth had gone without a woman, but he'd been rough with her last night. Her thighs were trembling until now.She cursed him silently, feeling like a fool. She thought she'd served herself to him on a silver platter. Honestly, she knew now why Ethan and Seth were relatives. Seth was a fake gentleman, while Ethan was a genuine asshole. They were both bastards!She was still covered in Seth's saliva, and she felt icky. Throwing caution to the wind, she stormed out of the kitchen and headed to the bathroom.Seth and Ethan jolted at the noise. Seth said, "She must be angry."Ethan said, "She might be mad at you, you know?"Seth curled his lip. "Oh?""It's not every day that I'm at home, yet you had to come and disrupt us.""So, should I go?""Nah. You're already here, anyway. I'll buy you lunch," Ethan said.…Maisie took a nice, long bath. She soaked in the warm water until her
Maisie said, "It's unnecessary. It'll dry faster with the wind blowing.""Go dry it," Seth said."I won't."Ethan looked at her with her hair cascading over her shoulders and her face free of makeup. His gaze turned a little more gentle as he said, "You look better like this."Maisie looked annoyed. "Well, it's all your fault for being such a successful businessman, Mr. Ford. If I were to leave the house looking like this every day, the media would probably make you out to be a frugal man who refuses to buy his wife something nice to wear."He rubbed his nose without saying anything.In truth, Maisie and Ethan's love story was a little like something out of a romance drama. During their school days, she'd been a good girl, and he'd been a bad boy. After graduation, they'd been a perfect couple who had supported each other through the difficulties of starting a business.When Ethan had just graduated from college, he'd developed a game with a few of his coursemates. How many fres
Maisie looked Ethan in the eye for a long while. They'd known each other since they were 14 years old, and they were now almost 30. He'd been there for half of her life.Ethan's appearance hadn't changed much from the arrogant teenager he'd been to the elite businessman he was now. His features had become more chiseled, but Maisie could still see the face of the young man who had loved her more than life itself.Yes. She couldn't bear to part with him. It felt like Ethan was a part of her heart, mind, and soul. Now, she had to tear him away."Ethan." She cocked her head. She was smiling, but her gaze was filled with sorrow. "Are you hoping that I'll call him over or not?"His roguish smile faded a little. Maisie continued, "I know you want a divorce so you can marry Felicia."Ethan lowered his head. It was hard to tell what he was thinking. He didn't admit or deny it."It's not that I'm refusing to let you go—I just want an answer. Why does it have to be Felicia?"…Seth chos
Seth had asked Maisie why she could tolerate all of Ethan's past flings but not Felicia. It was because she couldn't understand it.Ethan's past flings had included sexy and innocent women, but he'd never been serious about them. As long as he didn't want to marry them, she could force herself to bear with them.Felicia was different, though. She was Maisie's twin sister.This was what Maisie couldn't understand. She and Felicia looked identical. Why was it that Ethan insisted on having Felicia?She was disgusted by the sight of Ethan and Felicia being affectionate with each other before her. Suddenly, a glass of juice appeared before her. "You should drink this. Don't drink any alcohol."Maisie laughed derisively. "Your cousin-in-law has changed, Seth. Why do you keep trying to boss me around?"He pursed his lips and took her whiskey glass away."Give that to me." She held out a hand.He didn't move.She repeated, "Give it to me."Seth watched her for a while before nodding.
Ethan's expression shifted. He pushed Felicia away and shot to his feet, dragging Maisie to him. "What the hell are you doing, Maisie?"She struggled to break free. "It hurts. Let me go…""You'd better make yourself clear. What the hell do you mean?"Maisie laughed again. "You wanted me to introduce you to my new man, so I did. Now, you're mad. You're so hard to please, Ethan…"Ethan's expression changed drastically, and he dragged Maisie out with him. Jeremy hurriedly said, "Don't be like this, Ethan. Maisie can't handle your strength…"Ethan stopped and turned to look at him. "I'll settle the score with you later."Jeremy was baffled. "What in the world is going on with you two? Why are you being so weird?"He wanted to run after them to get some answers, but Seth stopped him. He asked, "Have they gotten into a fight, Seth?""Yeah, so don't go over. Let them handle this themselves.""Ethan doesn't look right, though. I've never seen him like that before. It's scary."Seth
Maisie remembered that her first sexual experience with Ethan hadn't taken the normal route. It had happened after the class party they'd had after sitting for their college entrance exams.She couldn't hold her liquor, so half a beer had been enough to knock her out. She'd slumped on the table and started muttering gibberish. The teacher knew she and Ethan were an item, so she'd called Ethan over and said, "Take good care of her."Ethan had walked slowly while carrying Maisie home. She wasn't completely out of it, so she remembered that the moon that night had been bright. Both sides of the roads had nice-smelling flowers planted there, and they smelled even nicer when mingled with the smell of Ethan's sweat.His back was broad, and she clung to him like a koala, swinging her legs to the beat of his footsteps. She murmured, "Ethan…"He walked slowly, not seeming to be in a rush to get home. "Yeah?""It'd be nice if we could keep walking like this.""I'd die of exhaustion, then
Maisie smiled, looking down at Ethan with a smug expression. "Don't ask. It's for your own good.""Did you really hook up with another man last night?""Yup!" Maisie laughed out loud and said, "He's better than you."Ethan fell silent."Ethan, you know, even after all these years together, you've never once made me have an orgasm. But he did, all night long," Maisie continued, her voice getting more excited."You're useless, Ethan. If I'd known how much more the world has to offer, I'd have tried it sooner instead of settling on you. If I hadn't slept with another man, I wouldn't have known that there's someone better out there."Maisie added, "Have you given Felicia an orgasm before? I bet she probably faked it, too. My sister and I are both pretty good actresses."While Ethan was rendered speechless, Maisie unbuttoned her shirt slowly and showed him the hickeys on her body. "It's not just my chest. Here, here, and here…"She pointed between her legs. "There, too. Want to take
Ethan wrote a letter for Maisie. The letter read, "Maisie, you may never read this letter, but I want to write it anyway. Consider this a letter for myself. "Maisie, Seth told me that if he were the one who approached you when you were at your lowest point that night 15 years ago, things would have turned out differently for the three of us."I thought long and hard about that. He was right. Things would have been different. You would've fallen for him and led a good life with him. "You wouldn't have to endure the hardships of being poor. You wouldn't even have to cook. Most importantly, you wouldn't have to feel the pain of being betrayed by the man you loved."If I could rewind time, I would still choose to be the first one to get to you. "Maisie, I couldn't possibly give up on what we had. The 15 years we spent together felt like a dream to me."I was like a man dying from thirst who found an oasis. Even though I knew the oasis would thrive even more in another man's hand
Felicia could never forget that day. Both she and Ethan thought Maisie would choose to get a divorce out of anger once she saw the intimate pictures of her and Ethan.Then, she would probably cut ties with Ethan forever. Maisie didn't do any of that. She was pregnant at the time. She went up to the balcony and jumped down.Felicia felt like Ethan's soul had left his body when he heard the news. He rushed to the hospital like a demented man. But he didn't go in. He hid behind a trash can next to a staircase in a corner. He clenched his teeth as he cried. Then, he muttered, "Everything's okay as long as he's here…"Felicia looked at the tall man standing outside the ICU. He had a striking presence and appeared very mature and composed. His features also resembled Ethan's a little. Felicia later found out that the man was named Seth Shaw and that he was Ethan's cousin.Ethan told her, "When my first attempt at starting my own business failed, I had wanted her to go with Seth. He
Just to make sure there were no mistakes, Seth went to the Ford residence and brought some stuff that Ethan's parents had used. That way, the police would be able to extract their DNA and compare it with the body. The coroner said, "We've already ruled out the possibility of homicide. This won't be a criminal case."Seth nodded. "Did you find any traces of alcohol in the body? Could it have been drunk driving? Or maybe the poor visibility at night that caused him not to see the lake?"The coroner said, "There weren't any traces of alcohol. Based on our deductions, the time of death should be around three days ago in the afternoon. The lighting should be sufficient enough. So, there was no way he could've missed it.""Then… an accident?""It's probably a suicide."Seth was at a loss for words. "We found a significant amount of sleeping pills in his system. Other than that, there's also a lot of half-burnt coal in the car. "The gaps in the car doors were tightly sealed with
Coco passed away six months after Maisie got married to Seth. Although Maisie had been preparing herself for that moment, she still felt as if the memories of the past 15 years of her life were gone along with Coco. She contacted a pet cremation center and went to Shelkin City alone. She scattered Coco's ashes under the tree where she and Ethan first met her. "Maisie. You're Maisie, right?"Maisie recognized the woman before her. "Mrs. Smith."Over a decade had passed. Her former landlady, Maria Wade, was holding the hands of her grandson who was around five years old. Maria asked with a smile, "Are you here for a stay?"Maisie shook her head. "No. I'm just visiting.""Your boyfriend came to stay for a bit a while back. I was wondering why you hadn't come with him. I tried to ask him, but he wouldn't tell me.""He came to stay here?""Yeah. He stayed for over six months. He only moved out last month. You didn't know about that?""We've broken up."Maria sighed. "Is that
Macy never saw Ethan again from that day onward. Her calls never went through, and she couldn't even see him when she went to his office. Macy couldn't accept this outcome. How could the man who said he loved her a moment ago leave her without the slightest hint of hesitation the next moment? She was only 18 years old. She couldn't figure out what was going on. Was the love of the rich really so fickle? She didn't understand when Ethan claimed to love her. She still couldn't comprehend it after he left.One of the advantages of being young was the determination to get to the bottom of things. Finally, she managed to run into Jeremy near the entrance of Ford Group. She had met Jeremy twice before. She knew he was a close friend of Ethan and his business partner. He was also her only shot at finding Ethan at that point. "Mr. Lloyd!"Jeremy stopped in his tracks. "Do I know you?""Did you forget about me? I'm Macy."Jeremy was taken aback. "Maisie?"Macy thought Jeremy had
Macy opened her eyes. She was a little confused. Why was the man who treated her like his most precious treasure a while ago suddenly so cold toward her?She thought she had done something wrong. So, she quickly held his arm and swung it playfully. "Mr. Ford, thank you for celebrating my birthday with me. This is the happiest birthday I've ever had."Looking into the distance, Ethan asked, "What made you feel happy?""Because you prepared a fireworks show just for me. It's even grander than the ones seen in theme parks. I bet the whole city saw the fireworks!""And that made you happy?""Of course!" Macy rested her head on Ethan's shoulder and said, "Thank you, Mr. Ford.""It's not me who you have to thank.""Then, who should I thank?"Who should she thank? The image of him and Maisie envisioning their future in the basement of Shelkin City appeared in his mind. …Back then, he was still a young man who had nothing. He held Maisie in his arms and rested his chin on her flu
Seth talked to Maisie about Waylon's request when he went home. That night, Maisie had trouble sleeping. Seth felt terrible for her and regretted telling her about Waylon's request. He felt like he should've come up with an excuse to turn Waylon down. He wrapped his arms around Maisie's waist and pulled her closer. "You don't have to think about it anymore. I'll turn him down tomorrow.""That's not it. I think I hear someone calling for me."Seth held his breath and listened for a moment. "I don't hear anything.""I'm confused, too. It's like I hear someone calling my name as soon as I close my eyes."Seth thought about Felicia. "Could something have happened to Felicia?"Maisie had no idea. She figured that Felicia was probably fine since she was with Ethan.Seth picked up her phone and placed it before her. "Why don't you give her a call if you're worried?"Maisie didn't move. "Are you still angry at her?"Maisie shook her head. "We're twins. I could never stay angry at
Seth was extremely pleased when he got to work the next day. Even the cleaning lady could tell. "Mr. Shaw, you look very happy. Did you win another case?"Seth cleared his throat. He wanted to say that he was very pleased with the effects of the beef and lentil soup he had the night before, but he couldn't say that out loud. So, he shook the pink-colored bag he was carrying. "My wife made lunch for me."The cleaning lady understood immediately. "Your wife must be a great cook.""Yeah. She's great.""You've changed since you got married, Mr. Shaw. You worked overtime until it was so late last night. Your wife must've felt so bad for you, right?"For some reason, her words made Seth feel a sense of serenity. "That's right. She felt so bad for me that she made a whole feast for me. It was a magnificent spread!""Oh, really?""Yeah. She wanted me to eat my fill, so she made all sorts of tasty dishes."Someone tapped him on the shoulder before he could finish talking. Waylon
After the wedding, Maisie's life was relatively comfortable. Apart from Francis occasionally asking when they planned to have kids, Maisie felt that marrying Seth wasn't a bad decision. He was a mature man, so he was emotionally stable, attentive, and gentle. Besides his rather intense needs in the bedroom, she was the one wearing the pants for most of their relationship. Seth rarely voiced any objections.Seth had told Maisie he was planning to buy a new marital home and renovate it to her liking. After all, his current apartment was decorated in a minimalist black-and-white style, which wasn't exactly warm and cozy. The small apartment Maisie was renting was a bit out of the way, plus the bed was too small.It seemed that Maisie still had her guard up. Her bedroom still only had a single bed that was just over three feet wide.Fortunately, they were both slim. Even though it was cramped, Seth didn't mind holding her close as they slept. But after a while, Seth started to