Chapter 11

I didn't want to hear his excuses, but Ethan didn't care.

He held my face firmly in both hands, forcing me to look at him. I had no choice but to listen.

"That day, when I heard someone had fallen into the water, my first instinct was to make sure you were safe. But they said it was Olivia, so I felt relieved. She's like a granddaughter to my grandfather, so I jumped in to save her. I didn't know you were in the water too…"

Just like that, with a few carefully chosen words, he erased all his guilt.

I stared at him, clearly not buying a word. Ethan fell silent for a moment, his expression unreadable.

"You don't believe me, do you?"

"Why should I?" I shot back coldly. "Everyone saw it. You didn't even hesitate before diving in for her. You didn't even look for me. And after Zack pulled me out, you acted like I was nothing."

"Ethan, I'm not blind. I saw it. I felt it. You couldn't have cared less."

His Adam's apple moved as he swallowed hard. Then he wrapped his arms around me, this time, gently. No desperation, no force. Just a quiet kind of pain, like he was afraid I'd shatter if he held on too tight.

"Babe… I wasn't being cold. I was furious. You almost died."

His voice was low, shaking just a little. "If anything had happened to you… I might've killed someone."

I shook my head. "If you truly cared, you'd let me go. Sign the papers. Let me be free."

"Anything but that," he said hoarsely. "That's the only thing I won't do."

He leaned in close, his voice barely above a whisper. "Wait until you remember. Then we'll talk about divorce."

"You really think once I remember everything, I won't want to leave you?" I frowned, disgusted.

Ethan didn't answer. But the look in his eyes said it all, yes, that's exactly what he thought.

I let out a dry laugh. "That's not gonna happen. If fate made me forget, maybe that was mercy. Maybe it's my second chance to leave you behind."

Because I didn't want to go back. Not to the girl I used to be at twenty-five.

So Ethan had no choice but to back off, at least for now.

Things were peaceful for a few days. But then, to my surprise, Olivia showed up.

"Aria. We need to talk."

She looked worn out, messy hair, dark circles under her eyes. She was waiting for me outside my office building, clearly not caring about appearances anymore.

I sighed. "Say whatever you came to say. Make it quick."

She let out a bitter laugh. "Feeling proud of yourself? Ethan just cut ties with the James family. Completely. Now everyone knows we've lost our backing."

I blinked, surprised, but kept my tone flat. "And what does that have to do with me? Shouldn't you be asking him that?"

"But he said he won't help me anymore! That has to be your doing, you told him something, didn't you?"

I crossed my arms. "I thought you were here to apologize. Guess I was giving you too much credit. If all you care about is your own benefit, then we're done talking."

I turned to leave, but Olivia suddenly yelled behind me:

"Aria! How can a nobody like you be his wife? Why you? What makes you better than me?!"

I froze mid-step.

Her words pierced straight through me like a needle to the brain. My ears started ringing.

I'd heard those words before.

Right after I married Ethan, his rich friends all mocked me. Said I was a nobody. Olivia, back then, acted sweet. Friendly. Gave me so-called advice.

Advice that always led to me embarrassing myself.

Those memories began surfacing, fuzzy, incomplete, but real. I saw glimpses of my past self: anxious, timid, constantly doubting whether I was good enough. Constantly afraid Ethan would leave me.

Those moments flashed through my mind like a broken reel of film.

"I can apologize," Olivia said, catching up to me, voice suddenly soft. "But please, just talk to Ethan for me, "

"Get lost!"

I jerked my arm out of her grasp, my eyes burning. "I don't care what happens between you and Ethan. I don't want anything to do with either of you. Stay away from me!"

I turned to go, and slammed right into a firm chest.

"Why do we always walk in on scenes like this, huh Ethan?"

It was Zack. His usual teasing tone made me want to scream.

Before I could move, Ethan was already pulling me into his arms, holding me tightly.

He gave Zack a cold glare. "Stay away from her."

Zack raised his hands in mock surrender. "Whoa, I didn't touch her. You're the one going all caveman again."

Then he turned to Olivia, who was still standing off to the side looking miserable.

"Why is it you always cause drama for Aria when no one's watching?"

"She's the one causing drama for me!" Olivia snapped.

Her gaze flicked to Ethan, softening immediately. "Ethan… no matter what happened, we grew up together. We were childhood sweethearts. That whole thing, it was just a misunderstanding. Can't you forgive me?"