ETHAN OPENED the door to his study room and led Charlie Finley to enter inside. His eyes could not leave the old man. He gritted his teeth with barely controlled anger. He did not like how he behaved towards his wife. In fact, it was unacceptable."Damn that girl. I can’t believe I’ve gotten a daughter like her..." Charlie murmured, but it was not low enough for Ethan to hear.Before he closed the door, he noticed Michelle, who was still in the living room. She was staring over at him with a look of worry painted on her face. Ethan did not want her to feel that way, and so he nodded his head, making her feel that he could do something about the situation. After that, he closed the door and faced the only person that always made his wife so anxious."I feel so sorry that I let you marry my wench daughter." Charlie groaned as he sat on the leather couch.Ethan’s palm twitched at what the old man said. He watched him closely, and did not see any remorse in his drunken face. Inhaling shar
MICHELLE STRUGGLED to keep her emotions under control while she waited for her husband and father to come out of the study room. She kept walking back and forth, and biting her nails while a lot of what-ifs whirled around her head."Your father seems a big mess." She heard the familiar voice of the housekeeper, who she did not notice was already watching her from the stairs.Turning to Priscilla, she raised an eyebrow and said, "What did you just say?"Priscilla walked towards her, arms crossed against her chest. Michelle could not help but be insulted by the way the housekeeper eyed her. It was humiliating, and it was adding to the anxiety spiking inside her chest."I bet he came here to ask for money from Mr. Steinfield," Priscilla added as she stood in front of her. "By his looks, I know what he is up for.""Can you please stop sticking your nose in my business?" Her voice was low and deep, yet it was filled with the utmost anger.Priscil
IF MICHELLE had to describe her marriage, three words came to her mind. Strange. Beautiful. Exciting.It had been weeks since her father visited their home, and over those past few weeks, she must confess that everything was going well with her reel relationship with Ethan.They got along so perfectly, it was more like friends... with benefits.From the thought that her life would turn into a mess after marrying a ruthless CEO, Ethan proved her wrong and has been patient and understanding with her all throughout. There may be instances when he’d act like a grumpy old man towards her, but she couldn’t discredit his efforts in making their relationship work.She must admit that, from a mere stranger who she had a one-night stand with, Ethan became her trusted person, although there were times she couldn’t understand why she felt strange things toward the man.He does something that makes her heart flutter, thud fast and most of the
MEGAN GAVE her a teasing look. Michelle could only roll her eyes as she finished another bottle of beer. The sting feeling went through her mouth down to her lungs, and it made her feel so hot all over."Ahhh!" She exhaled into her satisfaction and then wiped her mouth. "This is life!"She raised both of her hands in the air, but then she felt as if her world was spinning, making her lay down on the couch while she hugged the empty bottle of beer. Megan laughed at her sight. Michelle was clearly drunk, and so was she. Sitting on the cold floor, while half of her body was leaning on the couch, Megan could not help but tease her best friend."Thirty minutes have passed. Do you think he will come or not?" she asked.Michelle pouted her lips. Her eyelids felt so heavy that she could no longer open her eyes properly. Sighing, she shook her head to answer Megan’s question."Ethan will not come. He’s busy with Ashley," she said dryly.M
ETHAN slowly jerked his head to the side; his dark gaze could not leave the drunken face of his wife. She was so drunk that it made his palms twitch. She was drunk as fuck, and he wanted to yell at her for drinking so much, but whenever he looked at her dreamy cat eyes, he got caught off guard.His eyes dropped to the table where there were many empty bottles of beer. His jaw instantly clenched at the sight of it.Megan giggled and said, "I apologize. We just had a lot of things to catch up on and downed everything like water. Go ahead and take her. She’s been waiting for you.""I—I’m not waiting for him," Michelle snorted. Her voice could hardly be understood. "I know he’s enjoying spending time with Ashley, so I didn’t expect it, OK?"A ghost of an amused smile escaped his lips. Seeing his wife acting this way after a stressful day at work made him feel relieved for some unknown reason. He couldn’t stop looking at her
MICHELLE blinked awake at the throbbing pain in her head. When she opened her eyes, the familiar ceiling welcomed her sight. As she sat upright, her hand massaged the side of her head that was hurting."Shit, I will never drink a beer again..." she murmured as she winced.Her eyes surveyed the four corners of her bedroom. She could not recall how she got home in one piece. As she tried to remember what happened last night, the door opened, and then Ethan entered the room holding a cup of something.Michelle could not help but check him out. He was a walking temptation, dressed in a gray bathrobe that flowed down the floor, with a smell of aftershave and a cool body wash, and a drooling charisma that she could hardly ignore. She sucked in a breath as his pair of marble gray eyes locked onto her, making her feel a morning shiver down her spine."Drink this," Ethan ordered and handed her the cup.She then realized it was ginger lemon tea. Taking the c
LIKEABLE... Michelle could hardly erase that word from her head. Even after hours had already passed since she had had a conversation with Ethan, his words completely puzzled her.Needless to say, she wanted to know if he found her likeable somehow. She knew it was ridiculous of her, to know and hope that somehow he had that kind of impression of her, and she felt crazed that a simple word made her think deeply."Scrap that, Mich," she said to herself as she lay down on her bed.In the middle of pondering, her phone chimed, signaling a new text message she had received. She rolled over the bed to pick up her phone on the side table and figured out it was a bank notification stating that Megan had just wired five hundred dollars to her bank account. The side of her lips curled into a smirk. That amount just added to her savings.Another text message came in. This time, it was from Megan.Megan:I sent you the money, naughty girl. You won! I t
ETHAN’S STUDY room was big enough for a large group, yet Michelle found it small for the three of them—she, Ethan, and his ex-girlfriend. With Ashley around, she felt like she was being suffocated, and did not have much space to move.Still, she remained seated on the couch as she watched them work on their project. While Ethan was talking casually to the woman and seemingly handling the situation as pure business, Ashley could not seem to behave properly. The way she tapped Ethan in the arm as she showered him praise for his bright ideas and chuckled seductively to get his attention made Michelle burn inside."The nerve of this woman..." she mumbled, massaging the side of her head while leaning her back on the couch, with pouted lips and eyes like a surveillance camera.Although Ethan gave Michelle a look that was telling her to take a chill pill, she only rolled her eyes and continued gawking at them from the corner. Just in case Ashley does someth