2025-03-10 14:05:13Ethan stood awkwardly by the wall, Henry's sarcastic voice cutting through the room.
"Hey, Ethan, you forgot to shine my shoes again."
The laughter around the table erupted, but Henry didn’t even glance his way.
“How am I supposed to enjoy my birthday if you can’t even do the basics?”
Ethan forced a smile, though it felt tight and uncomfortable. "Sorry, Henry. I didn’t realize."
Helen, his mother-in-law, chimed in, sipping her wine with a superior smirk.
"Honestly, Ethan, how Sophia puts up with you is beyond me. You’ve been in this family for two years, and still, you can’t manage to do anything right."
Max seized the moment, not missing the chance to take his usual shot at Ethan.
"She must be a saint. I mean, being married to someone who can’t even hold down a decent job? No offense, Ethan, but what is it you do again? Oh, that’s right… nothing."
Heat crept up Ethan's face, and his hands clenched at his sides. No matter how hard he tried, he always felt like the outsider, the one who wasn’t good enough for Sophia or her family.
"I manage… different projects,” he mumbled.
Max rolled his eyes. "Different projects? Sounds like a fancy way of saying unemployed."
Laughter once again filled the room. Ethan shifted uncomfortably, his gaze flicking toward Sophia, who was silently slipping out of the room.
Helen leaned forward, her voice dripping with fake sympathy. "It’s just such a pity. Sophia could’ve had anyone, you know. She’s beautiful, smart… successful. But instead, she chose you. You're lucky, Ethan, really lucky. Not every woman would settle."
"I know," he said quietly, swallowing the bitterness rising in his throat.
"Do you?" Max shot back. "Because from where I’m sitting, it doesn’t seem like you do. You're just taking up space."
Ethan's fists balled under the table, but he forced himself to stay calm. There was no point in arguing with them. It was always the same, nothing he did would ever be enough.
He was just the burden, the man who wasn’t supposed to be there in the first place.
Henry raised his glass lazily, barely acknowledging Ethan.
"To my son-in-law, who does his best to fit in, even though we all know he never will."
The laughter grew louder, filling the room. Ethan tried to keep his face neutral, but it was getting harder.
After a while, Helen's sharp, condescending voice cut through the noise again.
"Oh, Ethan, why don’t you go check on Sophia? She’s probably tired of hiding from all of this. It might be nice for her to have a husband who actually looks after her, don’t you think?"
The laughter followed him as he stood up, grateful for an excuse to leave. His heart pounded in his chest, but not from anger he was exhausted. Tired of trying, tired of hoping they would see him differently. He headed down the hall, searching for Sophia, desperate for anything to remind him why he was putting up with all of this.
He passed by several empty rooms before hearing something from down the hall a voice, familiar, laughing. Sophia's voice. His stomach twisted as he quickened his pace, following the sound until he reached a half-open door at the end of the corridor.
Ethan froze.
Sophia was there, leaning into someone Brian, one of Max’s rich friends. Brian's hand gripped her waist, and their lips were locked together in a passionate kiss, the sight tearing Ethan's heart apart.
"Sophia?" His voice cracked.
They pulled apart, turning toward him. Sophia's eyes widened for a moment, but then her expression hardened. She didn’t look guilty or ashamed, just... annoyed.
"Ethan," she sighed, rolling her eyes. "What are you doing here?"
"What am I doing here?" Ethan's chest tightened as he stepped into the room. "What are you doing? With him?"
Brian smirked, straightening his jacket like nothing had happened. "Relax, man. You're making this a bigger deal than it is."
"Are you serious right now?" Blood rushed to Ethan's head. "You're kissing my wife, and you're telling me to relax?"
Sophia folded her arms, her eyes cold.
"Oh, don’t act all surprised, Ethan. What did you expect? You thought I was happy? Stuck with a failure like you?"
"A failure?" The word stung, deepening the ache inside. "I thought..."
"That's the problem," she interrupted, stepping closer, her eyes narrowing.
"You thought. You thought I actually cared. I married you because you were easy to control. A spineless man who does whatever he’s told. I never loved you, Ethan. Never."
The room spun around Ethan. His chest felt heavy, like someone had punched him in the gut. "You… you never loved me?"
She scoffed, shaking her head. "How could I? You're nothing. A man with no ambition, no drive. You can't even make it through a birthday party without embarrassing yourself. I was going to send the divorce papers anyway."
Brian stepped forward, his smirk turning into a sneer. "You should leave, man, before this gets ugly."
"Ugly?" Ethan’s fists clenched, his body shaking with rage. "You think you can just..."
Brian cut him off, stepping closer. "Yeah, I do. You want me to make you leave?"
Ethan stared at him, his pulse racing. For a moment, he considered hitting him, but what would it solve? They weren’t worth it.
Sophia crossed her arms again, her expression smug.
"You're pathetic, Ethan. You can’t even stand up for yourself. No wonder my family can’t stand you."
His heart shattered beyond repair, but there was no anger left, only a deep, numbing emptiness. "I loved you," he whispered. "I thought we had something real."
Sophia laughed cruelly. "You thought wrong."
He looked at her one last time, shaking his head. "You're not the person I thought you were."
Without waiting for a response, Ethan turned and walked out. Her laughter followed him down the hall, but he didn’t look back.
As he descended the stairs, the sound of the party grew louder. Helen spotted him first.
"Where are you off to in such a hurry, Ethan? Did you finally realize you're out of place here?"
Henry's booming voice followed from across the room.
"You better not be leaving, Ethan. It’s my birthday. You still haven't done your part."
Ethan kept walking, heading for the door. But Max blocked his path before he could make it out, grabbing his arm roughly and yanking him back.
"Are you stupid or something? Where do you think you’re going?"
Ethan stared at him, his jaw clenched. "Let go of me, Max."
Max scoffed, refusing to release him. "You don’t get to leave yet. You need to help clear the tables. You know, pull your weight for once."
Ethan pulled his arm free, his voice low. "I’m done."
Max blinked, momentarily taken aback, then his expression twisted into a sneer.
"What did you say?"
"I said, I'm done." Ethan shouted, pushed Max aside, turned away and headed straight for the door, ignoring the shouts behind him, the insults thrown like daggers.
"Yeah, keep walking, you useless idiot!" Max called out in embrassment.
"You think Sophia's the only one who's sick of you? We all are." He said drinking five more shots of wine.
Ethan didn’t turn back. Let them say what they wanted. None of it mattered anymore. This was over.
His hands trembled slightly as he reached for his phone and texted his driver:
"Pick me up. Now.”
***
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The maid rushed out of Sophia's room in tears. She had slapped her and drained her with the smoothie she made for her.This is the fourth time she has made the smoothie, and she still thinks it's bad. It's the same method she has been using to make her smoothie all these years.She's not a new maid, and she knows it's not about the smoothie but her mood. Something is wrong with her and whenever this happens, she will take it out on the maids.It's always like that, but it just never happened to her before all these years, but today she was the unfortunate one.She dried her tears and started making another smoothie for her. It took a few minutes and she was done.She put it in the fridge and quickly went to take her shower, making sure she was looking clean before taking it to her room again.The maid keeps praying silently that this time she would be calm and just take the smoothie, letting her leave.This was her fifth time, and she already felt hell unleashed on her. She didn't wan
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“Are you sure you want to reschedule this?” The new business partner asked over the line.Ethan was on the edge, deciding if he wanted to step back or move forward.“I would like to keep my identity hidden, which, of course, I know shouldn't be a problem, right? "If you want to go for someone better, we both know it would be through email signature and the same procedure except you have a reason you choose us in the first place”, Ethan explained.He went silent for a while and Ethan felt he had lost the contract this time around, but it's better to be vigilant about his identity for now.“I will email you, I hope it will be nice doing business with you” He finally said something and Ethan closed his eyes, breathing out his worries.“You won't have a problem with us,” Ethan assured him.“Okay”. With that he hung up.Ethan looked at Liam and wondered why he'd all worked up before. Was he worried we would lose the contract? Each time he acts suspicious it turns out to be nothing.Ethan w
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Ethan dropped his pen after a stressful day of signing documents, going through paperwork and making calls at the same time checking the status of the media.He called Zara early on to know how she was doing, and he felt better that no one had canceled any of her deals.She said her show was going well, and he had switched her to video call to be sure she was not lying to him.He had pulled some strings to make sure no company would sign Sophia with what she had just done. He might have messed with him and used him, but he's not going to watch her use Zara too.He didn't know how he had fallen for her and didn't see her for who she was, but he's glad he is no longer married to her.He stands on his feet and puts on his suit. Liam walks in, “Everything is ready sir”. He hands over the mask to Ethan.He put it on and they both walked out of his office together, taking the normal elevator. He just wanted to use this news to shove down Sophia trending online.Men rush out to protect his w
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The door burst open and Sophia almost fell from the sudden outburst. “How dare you!” Henry was foaming in anger.“How dare me what?” Sophia acts ignorant when she's aware of what her father is talking about.“You mess with Zara Bennett? Are you crazy? Do you think she's Ethan? That you could use and dumb however you like? The media is blowing up in your favor, and you think it's okay?” Henry couldn't believe how careless his daughter could be.“I didn't do anything! "It's not like I'm the one controlling people to be against here, they just see something better and want it.” She shrugs.“Don’t tell me that! "I know you did this and, trust me, you really don't know what you're doing to yourself. If her family takes this up with us, we will be buried underground like we never exist at all.” Henry feels frustrated about what she did.It's already done and there's nothing I can do about it. Measures have already been taken, but it's not going to end like that.One thing he learned about t
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Sophia giggles as she finally achieves her aim, she swings her hips in cycles and sits down enjoying the rest of the wine.Brian soon walks in. Sophia had already texted him her location. “You look beautiful, my love.” Brian was amazed at how beautiful she suddenly looked tonight.“Of course I’m and guess what? She said that my fashion sense is great. "I mean look at me, I didn’t even put too much effort into it.” She stood up, turning around for him to see.Brian was unable to say anything. He wondered how he was able to have her as his own because she was just too beautiful. “You look stunning and believe me, right now, I think you’re more beautiful than Miss Zara.”“Oh my goodness, you make me already feel like what I had planned will go well”, Sophia giggles.“What did you plan?” Brian frowns and takes his seat. He could still smell the scent of another person there, and he wanted to believe it belonged to Miss Zara.“Don’t worry, I might be compared to Miss Zara soon, and I will
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“What do you want me to do now?” Zara was on the phone with Ethan.“I don’t know, just find an excuse to leave there early, and I felt stupid having gifted her that necklace now”, Ethan replied over the line.“I can’t do that. "She's like a fan to me and I don't want her causing scandal for me. "I don't trust that bitch. "She can do nonsense and tries to mess with me,” Zara confessed.“Look dear, she is not going to do anything, okay? "Just calm down and talk to her normally and if she asks how you know me, then tell her we just happened to be sitting at the same table that day, and I was a fan too,” Ethan suggested.“Gosh, I don't like this! You know how bad I’m at keeping things in. My facial expression always fails, and I might just end up slapping her” Zara signs.“Don’t do that if you don’t want your career in a trash bin because of her, she’s not worth it, and you know that, right?” Ethan switches the call to a video call.“Where are you?” I’m at the office going through files.
