How fast the night changes

Walton's mansion

Ethan felt so delighted when he found out that Ava had left after signing the divorce papers, and that he was finally free from the marriage that his father had tied him into. He could finally make a final decision by planning a future with the woman he had always wanted.

His head butler had informed him of the information minutes after they realized that Ava was gone, and confirmed that she dropped the divorce paper.

He had expected her to throw more tantrums and refuse to divorce him easily, but he was quite surprised to see that she made up her mind overnight and left even without the money he offered.

'Had she been waiting for it too?' his mind subconsciously wondered, which followed a loud scoff when the thought that she actually rejected his money occurred to him.

Ethan stood in front of the mirror longer than he usually did, looking at himself conceitedly through the mirror with a smug stretch on both sides of his lips.

Sauntering to the other side of the room, his hand grabbed the most luxurious wristwatch from the revolving rack at the other end of his room, and began to clasp it slowly around his wrist while grinning.

His lover was flying from Paris to the country after a long four months of non-ending modeling projects that she had signed for. They were finally going to be together after so long, and he had planned the most grand welcome for her arrival. He could finally have his good days.

Ethan made his way down the stairs minutes later, at the usual time for a schedule of a light breakfast before he left for the company.

He walked into the dining room ready to take his seat at the huge dining table of a luxurious interior, and his brows arched in surprise at what he discovered as disappointment was immediately inscribed all over his face.

The table where they usually set his breakfast every morning was empty, which had never happened before except on special orders. Wondering what might have occurred, he phoned his head butler, George instantly, who dashed as fast as he could from where he was to attend to his boss.

"Was there a special order to not make breakfast today?" He asked calmly, trying really hard to contain his anger and put on a straight face when he was literally just glad a few minutes ago.

"Sir.. the… Mrs. Wa," George stuttered for seconds while trying to construct his sentence, wondering if he was still permitted to address Ava as his wife. "The maids seem to not know what to do, sir. Mrs. Walton has always been the one to fix your breakfasts."

Ethan's eyebrows furrowed the moment he heard what his assistant said, wondering if he was trying to be ridiculously funny in such a situation. It didn't seem like he was joking though.

"Ava has been making breakfast?" He asked in surprise, because that was probably the first time he was hearing of it. He couldn't paint the picture in his head, of ever seeing her in the kitchen to prepare meals for him.

"How…..? Since when….?" Ethan suddenly struggled with the right words to use at that particular moment, or the right questions to ask in regards to the curiosity that found him.

"Ever since, sir," George answered the question slowly, still unsure if that was the right way to answer his boss. He left shortly afterwards, when Ethan signaled that he could leave.

He was still so puzzled by the fact that Ava had been preparing his breakfast, because she had never for once mentioned it to him before.

He also began to wonder what else had been going on in his house without his knowledge, as he ambled out of the dining room only to meet his mother standing outside in his living room.

"What are you doing here, mother?" He asked grumpily as his face hardened, wondering what she came to do so early in his house. It was almost like she was living with him with the way she frequented the house so often.

"I've miss……."

"Not that cheap excuse," he cut in coldly.

"Okay, fine. I've finally taken your vehement advice. I am leaving for Italy this evening. Your Aunt Dali has invited me over, and also your father is still angry with me," she informed him, hoping that he would be pleased with her final decision to stay away from him.

"Finally doing it at the very wrong time," he let out under a heavy breath. "I and Ava are now divorced," he told her.

"What? What… are you saying? You have divorced that girl? Are you serious?" Everett, who couldn't contain her shock and excitement at the same time began to splutter a lot of questions.

She knew that her son wasn't the type to bluff, but she wanted to confirm over again to be sure. It was something that she had always wanted to happen, because she had never liked Ava right from time.

However, he didn't give her an answer as his eyebrows narrowed even more. She turned her eyes away from his and faked a cough to the other side of the room, before turning back to him with a grin stretched on across her lips.

"Does that mean I can still stay now?" She implored calmly, while trying to act all sweet.

"No. You can't!" His sharp and witty reply came out immediately. And he turned away from her sight instantly, the moment his deep blue eyes flashed at his wristwatch.

Regardless of how chaotic the morning had been, he had to be in the company as the CEO right in time.

`~`•`~`

The day was already going well with Ethan, who was patiently anticipating his girlfriend's arrival until his assistant informed him of the latest information.

Apparently, his girlfriend sent an email that her flight was delayed due to some personal reasons, and it was going to take her four more days before she returned.

The efforts that had been put into the plans for her welcoming party just went into the mud, which put the billionaire in a bad mood towards the end of the day. They had to cancel every reservation too.

He just evaluated and signed the necessary documents at work, and decided to go home earlier than he usually did at night.

After a strenuous and tough day, the car arrived at the mansion at the speculated hour and pulled in front of the mansion. Jesse, his assistant, came out from the car and ran to open the door, as Ethan stepped out of the car and entered through the main door into the house.

Several minutes later, Jesse left for his house, and George came to welcome Ethan and also informed him that his dinner had been served.

However, when Ethan came down to eat minutes later, his mood changed so abruptly when he took the first bite of the three-course meal. It was not to his liking at all.

Immediately, he phoned George, who dashed down to the dining room instantly. The butler didn't know how to placate his boss who seemed so pissed because of the food, and explained apologetically in twisted words that it was prepared by the chef, who normally cooked the food for everyone else in the house.

Ethan paused for a while at the elaboration that George had just given, as he began to wonder in his heart when he had suddenly become so keen about food.

Years ago, he was diagnosed with mild anorexia that couldn't allow him to eat even if he tried, and he secretly depended on supplements and drugs to get better. It was really a tough time for him because he had to hide it, as well as running the family companies effectively without any problem.

For some reason, he was just realizing the fact that he didn't even notice when he started eating well, and stopped using the medicines that he had been taking for a long time too. He had become so conscious of his feeding ever since, and couldn't afford to miss meals anymore the way he usually did.

However, missing two important meals in a roll because of Ava's absence, was something he didn't like at all.

"There would be nothing of such in this house from now on," Ethan instructed swiftly the moment he made up his mind, as he turned to look around the corners of the dining room like he was looking for something.

"Compile a list of professional chefs that are well qualified, and I would employ from the shortlist, anyone that can do the job perfectly. And for the room that my ex-wife just moved out from, clear everything inside out and leave it bare. Inform the operators too about deleting her biometrics from the security entry," Ethan paused to think for a few seconds as he ambled out of the dining room, "By tomorrow we are changing every interior design of the mansion. Also, submit a compiled list with the information of the best interior decorators."

The head butler, who always had a portable note and pen attached to his uniform, quickly brought them out to take down notes of every instruction that had been passed to him from Ethan.

Shortly after, he mobilized the cleaning maids on duty to clear out everything in Ava's room. As they worked from clearing the dresser and bed, to the dressing room, George supervised them thoroughly while making out the lists he had been asked to put together.

However, some notes caught his attention as they were about to be put out, and it turned out that there were numerous drawings on the sketchpad when he flipped it open.

And for some reason, he decided to show them to the billionaire, who had returned to his room and resorted to drinking instead of accepting the gesture of getting another dinner made for him.

Ethan had tried calling Anna but her number wasn't going through, and neither was she replying to her texts or emails. He was still in a foul mood amidst drinking, until he heard a ring at his door which had him wondering who it could be.

George bowed as soon as he entered before presenting the notes to him, after he knocked on the door and heard the order that he could come inside.

Ethan flipped through it for a few minutes looking through the huge images scribbled on the books, and also read the contents of what was written in the books. His eyebrows began to furrow by the minute the more he read, as his gaze fell back to George.

"All these belong to Ava?" He asked incredulously.