The Day I Stopped Forgiving Him

Chapter 3

He sat down on the sofa, taking in the decor. When his gaze fell on the family portrait on the wall, he suddenly froze.

Because in the original photo of the three of us, his part was now missing.

Ethan felt a surge of irritation.

As he turned to vent his anger, he noticed the wound on my head.

A flicker of guilt crossed his eyes. He reached out to touch me, but I stood up and stepped away.

Ethan's hand froze in midair. His eyes were dark and unreadable.

I didn't fuss over him like I used to. I casually pointed to a guest room. "You can sleep there, or go back to your own home."

With that, I turned and walked into the bedroom.

But just as I was closing the door, Ethan squeezed in.

His hot body pressed against me eagerly, ignoring my resistance —as if I were still the old Scarlett who would give him whatever he wanted.

But I shoved him away hard and slapped him across the face.

Ethan was stunned by the slap. He was about to explode with anger, but in the next second, he grabbed my wrist and asked, "Why did you take off your ring?"

Our wedding rings were just ordinary silver bands. We were poor back then, but I still wore mine with joy.

After he made it big, Ethan bought me a bunch of diamond rings —almost out of spite. But I never wore them. He knew what that silver ring meant to me.

In ten years of marriage, no matter what happened, I never took it off.

But now, I had quietly taken it off.

Ethan's heart pounded. He felt a panic he'd never known before. "Let's go get the certificate back tomorrow."

I coldly pulled my hand away.

'My mother was gone. I had custody of my daughter. He couldn't threaten me anymore.'

"Just leave."

Ethan stood frozen, hardly believing his ears. "What do you mean?"

I stepped back, keeping my distance, and said calmly, "Exactly what you think it means."

The room was silent for a few seconds. Then Ethan's eyes suddenly darkened. In that moment, everything clicked.

His voice trembling, he said, "You did this on purpose, didn't you? You used our marriage to force me to break up with Chloe!"

'I almost laughed. Did he really think I still cared about him?'

But my silence, in his eyes, was an admission.

Ethan said "good" three times in a row, pointed at my head, and snarled, "I'll wait for you to come begging me in regret!"

With that, his face pale with rage, he slammed the door and left.

The bang woke my daughter. She stumbled out, groggy.

I scooped her up and gently rocked her back to sleep.

Looking at her peaceful little face, my heart was filled with nothing but contentment.

The next morning, because of the parent-teacher meeting, I got up extra early.

As I walked into the classroom with my daughter, I saw Ethan and Chloe sitting with her daughter —Coco.

The three of them stood close together, like a real family.

For seven whole years —my daughter's entire life —Ethan had never once come to a parent-teacher meeting.

Behind her back, people called her a fatherless child, but she was always mature about it and never said a word.

But seeing this scene, my daughter could no longer fool herself. With tears in her eyes, she lowered her head and ran off.

Ethan's face showed guilt. Just as he started to get up and go after her, Chloe blocked him.

I froze for a moment, my heart pounding painfully, then turned and chased after her.

But just as I rounded the corner, Chloe and her best friend caught up with me.

She slapped me across the face and said scornfully, "Scarlett, have some self-respect. Since you're divorced, stop using the kid to blackmail Eth!"

The others immediately chimed in:

"Yeah, the older one's shameless, and the little one follows suit —putting on a fake crying act."

"What do you call that? Like mother, like daughter! Hahahaha!"

"Shut up!"