Ethan heard my scream and burst into my bedroom. He was wearing only pajama pants without a shirt. He had a bat in his hand, ready to fight someone.“Ava!” He shouted as he looked around, eyes squinting in the darkness of my room. “Are you okay?”“No!” The words caught in my throat and I thrust the
Everyone thinks that Ethan is being manipulated by me, that I’m some master manipulator that can bewitch good men.I spent the next two days in my bed. Ethan eventually came in and asked me to get up.“I don’t want to,” I murmured, cheeks hurting from the excessive crying I’d been doing lately.“Ava
“What do you mean?” Ethan stood up and with long strides approached Mars anxiously.“I saw it being spread in the comments under an article. People are demanding you be eliminated as a choice.” Mars’ eyes were wide and bloodshot. His red hair stuck up in the places where he kept running his hands th
“Listen,” Ethan ran a hand through his slicked back hair. “The more we’re quiet, the guiltier we seem. We go out, we refuse to discuss the situation other than denying it. We don't let them rattle us-”Ethan turned and took both my hands in his, catching my eye and holding my gaze. His eyes were war
My knees hit the pavement beneath me. The skirt of my dress was short enough that it didn’t cover my skin from getting scraped up on the impact. Blood and dirt coated my knees.Feeling more helpless than I had in a long time, I openly wept on the corner of the street. I couldn’t understand it. Why w
“I’ll make things better for you, one way or another.” He whispered to me as he picked me up and carried me to the car. I told him I could walk, but he didn’t want to listen. Once I was placed in the front seat, he reached across me to buckle me up as well. His fingers brushed against my thigh, ting
“What do you want?” Dora crossed her hands over her chest and leaned against the doorframe. “Ethan finally dumped you and you’re here to beg for a job?”“No I-” I tried to speak but Dora cut me off.“Don’t care then,” She placed her hand on the back of the door in an attempt to slam it in my face. B
Ethan’s PovI woke up to an empty bed. Most days started the same, but I distinctly remember falling asleep with Ava huddled in my arms.I turned over. The soft, floral scent from her perfume permeated the pillows and blankets that surrounded me. Ava, though, was gone. I sat still and listened to t
Ethan’s face morphed into one of ecstasy and despair mixed together. He had found me, he found his son, but he missed the first three years of his son’s life. He missed his birth, my pregnancy, he never got to pick the name.Part of me felt guilty for hiding him away all these years, but I knew in m
It’s been three years since I saw Ethan. Three years since that night when I escaped Andrew. Three years since I found out I was pregnant with Ethan’s son.I named him James.My mother and I had run ‘Wonder Dough’ bakery ever since we escaped. It was flourishing within the new city that we inhabited
I bit my lip, hearing Ethan’s voice was enough to cause my heart to skip a beat.“If you do not back down, I will take one of Ava’s fingers for every failed business deal you cause me,” Andrew growled. I took a step away from the door, still listening. My breathing became ragged.“Why do I care?” Et
Running away from Ethan that night was one of the hardest things I’d ever had to do. Only followed by having to pretend to be madly in love with Baron.After I left Ethan in the bathroom, I went back to Baron and wrapped my arms around him. The same arms that were previously around Ethan’s shoulder
Barging into the bathroom, I let the tears of stress and heartache flow freely down my face. I gripped the marble countertop and let my head fall as I sobbed. I didn’t know how much longer I could take this.“Ava?” Ethan’s voice echoed in the empty bathroom.I quickly wiped my eyes and turned to see
Baron told me he loved me. He said he always had, even when he knew I was with Ethan. He said he loved me, and I didn’t say it back.I couldn’t even stomach the idea of loving someone like Baron back.“Baron said he loves me,” I told Andrew one night over dinner. My mother took dinner in her room, s
Even if it also broke mine.“Ethan,” I gave Andrew a sideways glance, “I can’t go back with you.”“Why?” Ethan pleaded, “What happened that made you leave me?”I furrowed my brow and cocked my head to the side. As if he didn’t know? He acted as though he didn’t ignore me for a week and immediately r
Ethan’s Point of View- Ava leaving was one of the worst things to happen in my life. The day I went to work extra early, I came home to an empty house.Ava and I hadn’t been talking, but I was always hyper-aware of where she was in the house, what she was doing, whether she was taking care of herse
Ethan left after I told him who my father was. He wanted nothing to do with me, or he needed time to think it over. I didn’t know, he didn’t say anything.I didn’t see him for days. He avoided me every chance he got, and it tore apart my heart each time I woke up to an empty bed. He started sleeping