Chapter 3

I returned to the private room. The moment I saw Leo’s face—which looked seventy percent like Ethan's—my heart finally settled.

Leo handed me my phone. "Dad just called on SnapChat. He said he’s coming to pick us up."

My heart skipped a beat. I knew I couldn't hide it from him anymore.

Inside the SUV, Ethan sat next to me in complete silence. The atmosphere was incredibly tense.

I knew he was waiting for an explanation, so I mumbled softly, "Nothing happened between us. I shut him down."

Ethan finally turned to look at me.

I thought he was going to snap, but he only let out a soft, tired sigh.

That night, he held me tightly in his arms.

He kept asking me in a low voice, "Are you going back to him?"

I patiently reassured him over and over, "No, Ethan. I am your wife now."

Later, after he exhausted me, I drifted into a deep sleep.

That night, I dreamed of the worst year of my life, right after I lost my first baby.

The Sterling family had found me and sent me to London for college to get away from everything.

Life abroad wasn't easy, and because I felt I had broken my father's heart, I didn't dare ask him for much money.

During a rainy night in a bad neighborhood, a mugger pulled a gun on me. It was Ethan who threw himself in front of me and took the bullet.

I stayed by his bedside in the hospital for two weeks before he finally woke up.

At that moment, I cried like a baby.

I didn't know how I could ever repay him. I just went to the hospital every single day after my classes to take care of him.

On the afternoon he was finally discharged, he turned to look at me.

"Vivian, do you really want to pay me back?"

I looked at him and nodded.

He gave a soft, charming smile.

"Then marry me. I really need a wife right now."

So we got our marriage license. We became partners, and that partnership had lasted for six beautiful years.

At the breakfast table the next morning, Ethan suddenly spoke up while cutting his steak.

"Once our company's restructuring is finalized, Foster Industries will be the first one I destroy."

I looked up in surprise, realizing he was incredibly jealous.

But Foster Industries was the biggest player in the city. If Ethan went after them so aggressively right after returning, it would make future local partnerships very difficult.

I told Ethan my concerns.

Instead of arguing, Ethan gestured to his assistant, who immediately placed a thick folder on the table.

I opened it and found detailed reports of Foster Industries' illegal operations and corporate espionage over the past few years.

It turned out that after I left, Marcus had actively tried to ruin my family's business.

My fingers turned white clutching the papers. Ethan smiled faintly.

"I guess being your husband isn't enough to make you hate him. But this should do it."

I rolled my eyes at him, my tone turning deadly serious.

"Leave Foster Industries to me. I want to ruin him myself."