Three Years of Silence, regret in His Eyes at Divorce

02

Ethan Cole came out of the bathroom and got into bed.

Lily Hart could smell his unique scent, with a faint hint of tobacco. They lay quietly on either side of the bed, with a cold barrier seemingly between them.

"Are you asleep?" Lily Hart tried to break the silence.

"Be quiet." He sounded a little irritated.

Lily Hart turned away and closed her eyes.

When she woke up, Ethan Cole was already gone.

After getting up and washing up, she went to the living room and found Ethan Cole fully dressed and sitting at the dining table, browsing the real-time stock market.

He lifted his eyes from the laptop, looked at Lily Hart, and asked, "Mrs. Johnson is not here. Where did she go?"

Lily Hart went to the kitchen and replied, "I dismissed her."

He seemed dissatisfied with this response, "Why?"

Lily explained, "I didn't like her gossiping."

Ethan Cole, who was about to speak, closed his mouth and continued browsing the website.

Lily quickly prepared two sandwiches for breakfast, then sat opposite Ethan Cole at the dining table.

"What's this?" He frowned, his tone disapproving.

"I made it in a hurry. You can heat it up if you want." Lily said softly.

Ethan Cole glanced at the simple sandwich on his plate. "This is all you can make for breakfast?"

Lily was a little taken aback by his reaction. He rarely complained about her cooking.

She opened her mouth to apologize, but at that moment, a calico cat peeked out from behind the sofa. Its eyes locked onto the dining table, and it slowly approached, rubbing itself against Lily Hart's leg as it purred.

Ethan Cole indeed frowned, "Where did this stray cat come from?"

His tone was full of disdain, which made Lily Hart uncomfortable. She walked over, picked up the cat, and muttered, "I gave birth to it."

Ethan Cole smirked upon hearing this: "Then you should apply for the Nobel Prize."

Lily quickly placed the cat back in the room, and when she came out, Ethan Cole was already wearing his coat, ready to leave.

"Do you hear me? Get rid of it before I return." Ethan said.

Lily Hart remained silent. The large villa could easily accommodate a few kittens, so she couldn't understand why Ethan was so determined to get rid of them. Despite his wealth, his heart seemed cruel. Ethan caught her expression in the mirror and asked, "What are you cursing me for now?"

"Who would dare curse you?" Lily replied. "I'll keep them contained, disinfect the house daily, and find them new homes soon."

She hurriedly packed a sandwich for the road as Ethan remarked, "If you can't stand it, you can live somewhere else. You always have multiple places to stay."

Ethan chuckled, "Haven't seen you in six months, and your temper has grown. You're kicking me out right after I return."

Lily stayed silent, changing her shoes. She dressed comfortably for work, with tight jeans accentuating her legs. Ethan, buttoning his suit, glanced at her and asked, "What did you want to say last night?"

She replied in a hurry , "I'm rushing to work. We'll talk when I get back."

Ethan watched her leave, frowning slightly. "What's the rush?"

She didn't respond, dashing out of the door to her car parked outside. She drove away, disappearing around the corner. Ethan shook his head and walked to the garage to choose his car.

Lily Hart spent a busy morning at the hospital. She finished her clinic work only by 2 PM, and after eating a quick lunch in the cafeteria, she received a call from her mother-in-law.

"Margaret." Lily greeted her.

"Come home." Margaret Cole requested.

"I won't be back until late tonight." Lily replied, feeling a bit heavy-hearted.

"Whatever. Come home after work." Margaret hung up without further ado.

Lily Hart, who was about to eat, lost her appetite.

She looked out the window and sighed, watching the leaves sway in the breeze. The trees in the hospital garden had yet to shed their leaves, the orange foliage still vibrant despite the gradual chill in the air.

After work in the afternoon, her driver, Mr. Smith, came to pick her up, and Lily Hart got into the car. The estate, styled like a classical garden, was nearly a century old. Lily Hart knew it well; she had grown up there.

After her parents were killed, she spent a few years in foster care before being taken in by the Cole family. Though it was called an adoption, it was more like a sponsorship. If you could use a pyramid to represent the social hierarchy of New York City, the Cole family would be at the very top, an echelon that ordinary people could never reach.

As an orphan, being taken in by the Cole family was already an extraordinary stroke of luck, But, in an unexpected twist of fate, she married the second son of the Cole family, Ethan Cole.

Lily parked her car in the underground garage and headed inside. She changed her shoes in the foyer and went to the living room to wait for her mother-in-law. Margaret Cole descended the stairs, her noble face expressing dissatisfaction.

"Lily, I don't understand what you mean by dismissing Mrs. Johnson." Margaret Cole began her questioning.

Lily said, "She was gossiping about my relationship problems with Ethan. It's not proper for a housekeeper to do so."

Margaret raised her eyebrows. "She was just a housekeeper. Don't you think you're overreacting?"

"Mother, you wouldn't want a housekeeper who gossips about her employers, would you?" Lily replied calmly.

"I didn't mean that. What I meant was, are you incapable of managing even a housekeeper? Margaret criticized Lily harshly.

Lily lowered her head, feeling a surge of sadness. It had been six months since she married Richard, but Margaret still couldn't accept her. She often criticized Lily, picking on every little thing she did. Margaret believed that Richard should marry someone from an equally prominent family, someone who could bring benefits to the Cole family. She didn't think Lily was good enough for Richard.

"You can be a mess if you want, but now that Ethan's back, you can't cook or handle the housework. Are you planning to wait for him to come home and take care of you?"

Lily thought to herself, it's not like she hadn't taken care of him before. But she didn't dare say that in front of Margaret Cole.