“Ava? What are you doing?” Ethan looks down at me, amusement dancing in his eyes. I have to lower my gaze to hide my embarrassment.“Oh I was just passing by,” I wave my hand and raise my voice to sound nonchalant. I sounded anything but at ease.“Were you listening?” He raised his brows in a teasin
--The next day, Ethan and I got dressed up to go to the orphanage. We were a little overdressed, in my opinion, but not so overdressed to look like we were showing off for the pictures. Mars wanted them to seem as impromptu as possible.I spent most of the night before baking dozens of cookies to h
I stared between Ethan and Baron, they were sizing each other up. No one said anything, except for the photographer who was chattering away about retrying the picture.“No, no!” He tsked, “Readers want some spice, not cheeky kisses!”Ethan looked back at me, a question in his eyes. I nodded, not sur
-- Ethan filled our social schedule to the brim at the request of Mars. With each new interview, party, or red carpet event the amount of paparazzi that hounded us doubled and tripled.I was followed to the orphanage by a crazy man asking me for pictures and autographs, so Ethan started insisting
“Ava I’m so sorry!” Olivia grabbed a blanket that was sitting on the sofa in Ethan’s office, and used it to cover her chest and waist.I stare back at her, mouth slacked and eyes wide.I couldn’t say anything, there was nothing to say.“Please, this isn’t what it looks like!” She pleaded with me to
Kylie came back with a plate of samples. She had a pleased look on her face.“I made sure no one knew they were samples for you so they are the same stuff we’re handing out to customers,” She winked. “For quality assurance.”I smiled gratefully at Kylie. Like I said, she was good.I spent a few hour
Ethan’s words rang out over and over in my head.I don’t like it when you disappear.He sets me down in the seat of the car and leans over me to buckle me in. I can smell his cologne, the fresh and woodsy scent he likes to wear. A thin silver chain dangles from around his neck. How come I’d never no
“It's a TV dinner,” I said proudly, “Steak in a box!”Ethan looked at me skeptically, but I assured him it would be worth it. I placed the meals in the microwave and put them in for the needed time. Three minutes later, we had a full plate of Salisbury steak, potatoes, and broccoli. None of which we
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