MICHELLE FROZE in her stance, her eyes widened but never leaving Ethan’s gray eyes that were full of hatred. The way he looked at her was intense, as if he had been loathing her for ever; as if he had been waiting for their confrontation to happen so he could eat her whole. Every second passed, his breathing became sharper, and that totally weakened her."D—Don’t touch me!" She tried to pull her arm off his grip, but to no avail.Ethan held his arm even tighter. Their faces were only a few inches away. Michelle fought the urge to melt into his cool mint breath. He was damn enraged, yet his attractive features never failed to make her swoon, even in the worst situation."Come on, Michelle." Ethan tilted his head, staring down at her as if she was his long-lost nemesis. "What else would you like to say? Confess everything now while I’m still open for negotiations!""I—I just want a divorce! That’s it!" Michelle yelled at him."You want a divorce so you can allure other men freely, huh?
SHE WAS QUICK to storm out of the hotel like it was the most disgusting place she had ever stepped foot in.Michelle immediately went inside her car. The moment she felt alone, the faster her tears rolled down like a rapid river. She cried her heart out, one hand clutching her chest while the other one held the steering wheel so tightly as if it was her only anchor at the time.For normal married couples, it’s supposed to be that simple... until death, they’d do their part. Marriage happened because of the dream of two people who were madly in love. That was for their relationship to last forever.It was too late for Michelle to realize that she made the wrong decision to marry Ethan, even if it was just for a show. Their marriage was a sham to begin with until the situation got worse... as there was unrequited love involved.And now, here they were, hurting each other so deeply.Michelle’s heart bled not just for the way the situation had become, but more because she knew that Marsha
WHEN MICHELLE stepped out of his hotel suite, Ethan seemed to have already lost his mind and threw the wine glass off the wall, and its loud cracking sound echoed in the four-corner room.Rage and disappointment were the only emotions he could feel at the time. Just when he thought his wife would confess to hiding their child and allow him to claim his rights as a father, Michelle dismayed him once again. Worse, she was planning to file for divorce!Wasn’t she even considering Marsha’s welfare? Why did she have to be selfish? Those were the questions he wished he could answer, but he only ended up cursing so loudly in frustration. If only he could read what was in her head so he would know what she had been planning all this time...Michelle’s face as she cried flashed across his mind.He couldn’t figure out why guilt washed over him afterwards. After a minute of contemplation, he wanted to follow Michelle and apologize. However, he stopped in the doorway when his phone rang.It was t
SHE FELT her strength faded away. Her legs were wobbly and the next thing happened: she fell on the floor, unable to process what she had just found out.Ethan... Ethan was the man who saved her daughter, and the same man who had visited the hospital and probably paid the bill.Does he already know?Michelle desperately tried to clear her head so she could think straight, but this worst reality really made her dumbfounded, as if fate was trying to fuck her mind all over again."Mommy, are you alright?"She tried to gather her remaining strength. Her tears were about to fall at any moment, yet she blinked them away. Looking at Marsha, who was glancing back at her with her curious pair of gray eyes, Michelle became very worried."So... the man who owns this calling card is the same man who helped you when you went missing, sweetheart?"Marsha nodded in response. "Yes, mommy. He came into the hospital too."He must be crazy or something, Michelle thought as anger suddenly engulfed her ch
A HEAVY silence descended over the living room. Ethan exhaled as his eyes surveyed the house, as if he wanted to find something wrong and scold her afterwards. That was how Michelle felt as she slowly leaned her back against the countertop table, embracing herself while giving him a careful glance.A rhetorical question popped in her head—one that had been bothering her all night and kept her awake. How did Ethan find out that Marsha was his daughter?Ethan’s eyes landed on the portraits displayed on the TV cabinet. Those were the portraits of Marsha when she was still a newborn, when she turned one year old, and their photo that was taken in the flower shop—Marsha’s hands were full of soil, her hair was frantically a mess, yet her daughter looked beautiful as she smiled widely on the camera.Michelle saw how Ethan’s attention got focused on those portraits. Waves of guilt and fear engulfed her chest. She could see it from the corner of his marble gray eyes. He adored Marsha. That sta
"MICH, what the hell did you do? I missed you so much!"Michelle hugged her knees while facing the laptop. It had been six years, and she definitely missed her best friend. Megan looked very different now. She was sporting a wolf hairstyle that really suited her. She looked fresh and sexy in her wedding dress. Apparently, after six years, Megan had finally married Andrew.Michelle struggled to stop herself from crying. Now that there was a lot more to fear, Megan contacted her via email, requesting a video call, which she didn’t turn down. Relief flooded her as soon as she finally saw her best friend. She was her refuge, after all."I guess... congratulations on your wedding, Meg..." she said, sobbing and chuckling at the same time.Megan cried from the other line. "W—What happened, Mich? Where are you? Please... Please tell me before I lose my mind!"Michelle told her everything and didn’t even leave any details. If there was one person she trusted the most, it was Megan. Her tears p
THE WEATHER wasn’t good that day. It was pouring rain, and the cold wind brushed against her skin, making her feel even more nervous. Michelle got out of the car and looked at the five-star hotel in front of her. She swallowed the fear inside her throat.This was the day Marsha would meet her father. Michelle had no words to describe how she felt at the moment. Bullet sweat dripped on her back as she tried to collect her thoughts. She didn’t know how she would introduce Ethan to Marsha, and because of that, her body tensed, as if she was standing in the courtroom waiting to be judged for her mistakes."Wow!" Marsha shrieked in glee when she got out of the car. Her gray eyes twinkled as she looked at the towering hotel. "We’re going to meet Daddy here, mommy?""Yes," Michelle answered before clearing her throat. "Let’s get in, sweetheart."She held Marsha’s hand, but her daughter tugged at the hem of her white skirt, making her look down at her curiously."How do I look, mommy? Do you
THEY HAD the first family lunch. Marsha was very happy and she couldn’t stop telling her daddy so many stories, like she wanted him to get to know her more and to catch up on all the happenings in her life.Michelle’s lips formed a small smile as she looked over at them—a father and daughter who were having a good time and not minding the rest of the world. They were so close, as if Ethan had never been away for so long.At some point, the thorns inside her chest were removed. Michelle thought Marsha would hate them, especially Ethan, but no... she accepted the truth wholeheartedly and was happy that her savior "big man" and her daddy were just the same man.She gazed at Ethan, who laughed heartily at Marsha’s joke. Ever since they got married back in the United States, she had never seen him so happy until today. She must admit that she assumed a lot of things about him. Part of it was not accepting Marsha as his daughter or throwing them away. But right now, what she saw was a man r