When He Cheated, I Connected To Young Him

Chapter 3

Yara slipped the old phone into her pocket and turned to face Ethan.

He stood in the doorway, eyes soft, arms full of roses, a slim gift box dangling from one hand. He leaned down and pressed a kiss to her forehead. "Baby, who were you on the phone with?"

Yara looked at him with cold eyes and said nothing.

Ethan set the roses down and opened the gift box. Inside was a deed of gift for a billion-dollar estate.

"Are you upset? I know you're angry that I haven't been around — you know how she is, always crying over everything. I had to spend a few days calming her down, that's all."

"Whatever she has, yours will be better. Don't be angry, okay?"

Yara looked up, her eyes flat with exhaustion. "Ethan, I'm tired. I don't want to keep performing in this little drama of yours."

Ethan tightened his grip on her hand, his voice steady and certain. "Baby, you are my life."

"As for Ava — she's nothing. Just a bit of fun."

"She just called me. Said you sent lawyers after her. Be good and call them off."

"And if I don't?" Yara pulled her hand free, forcing down the revulsion rising in her throat. "Or better yet — sign the divorce papers, and I'll drop the lawsuit."

Ethan's expression darkened. Something mean and dangerous moved behind his eyes. "Baby, why can't you understand how much I love you? I will never divorce you. Not ever."

"Then tell Ava to lawyer up," Yara said flatly.

Ethan picked up his phone, tapped the screen a few times, then looked at her. "Baby, I really didn't want to do this to you."

Yara's eyes dropped to his screen.

Her grandmother — hands and feet bound, struggling helplessly.

"You villains! You thieves! How dare you!"

Grandma had dementia. Her mind was that of a six-year-old.

Yara's heart seized. "Ethan," she breathed, disbelief cracking through her voice. "You're using my grandmother against me? Have you forgotten how good she was to you?"

Ethan's tone shifted to something that almost sounded reluctant. "I don't want this either. But you shouldn't have gone after Ava like that."

"When I get tired of her, I'll come back to you. You just have to wait."

On the screen, Grandma was suspended thirty feet in the air. Below her: a pool, cold and still.

"Baby, you have three seconds to decide. Drop the lawsuit, and I'll let her go. You know I have no patience."

Ethan settled back against the sofa, long legs crossed, eyes half-lidded and glacial.

Yara watched her grandmother shaking violently on the screen, crying out over and over — "Yara. Yara."

It felt like a knife driving into her chest, over and over with every cry.

Despair swallowed her whole.

"Ethan — she's the only family I have left. You know what she means to me."

Ethan leaned forward, taking her hand with a gentleness that made it worse. "Baby, Ava means a great deal to me too. So?"

He raised an eyebrow. Started counting.

"Three."

"Two."

Yara's eyes flooded red. A fist closed around her heart and squeezed. "Fine!" she choked out. "I'll drop the lawsuit!"

Ethan's mouth curved. He signaled to his man on the other end to release Grandma, then reached up and stroked the top of Yara's head. "Good girl. And pull those press stories too — when Ava cries, it breaks my heart."

Before the words had fully left his mouth, he leaned in to kiss her.

She turned her face away. "Don't touch me, Ethan. You make me sick."

Ethan laughed softly, a gleam of amusement moving through his captivating eyes. "Jealous, baby?"

"Don't worry. In my heart, you're the only one who matters."

Then his phone rang. "Mr. Ross — Ms. Harper has disappeared. We can't find her anywhere."

Ethan ended the call and rose to his feet, stepping into the shadows. The temperature in the room seemed to drop.

"Did you do it?"

Yara's red lips curved slightly. "No," she said, her voice cool. "I hadn't gotten around to it yet."

A split second later, Ethan's hand closed around her jaw — one hand, crushing, hard enough that her bones felt like they might give.

"Baby. I told you. Don't touch Ava."

"There are limits to how far you can push this."

A dull ache spread through Yara's chest. Without thinking, she curled her hands into fists, fingernails biting deep into her palms.

Once, Ethan had been this fierce in her defense.

Eight years ago, when rumors about what had happened to her at the Shelton house had spread across the entire city, Ethan had hunted down every single person who had spread the s********e he had strung up from aircraft and left dangling. Some he had thrown into the sea. Some he had simply run down with his car.

After that, no one ever spoke of it again. When people saw her, they could only manage a respectful "Ms. Wren."

And when he had wanted to marry her and the Ross elders had tried to block it, he had stood in front of her and said, "Yara is my life. Anyone who stands in the way of this marriage — I'll make sure they beg for death and can't find it."

Ethan's cold voice pulled her back.

"Baby, if you don't answer me, your grandmother won't last much longer."

Yara snapped her head toward his phone screen. Grandma had been hoisted up again, thrashing in the air with every scrap of strength she had left.

"Yara! Yara!"

Her grandmother's raw, ragged screaming tore through her like a blade — each cry landing somewhere vital.

Then the struggling stopped. Grandma went limp and fell unconscious.

"Ethan!" Yara's voice cracked. "If you have something against me, come at me directly! She's seventy years old — she can't take this!"

Her eyes burned.

Ethan leaned close, his warm breath grazing her ear. "How could I ever bring myself to hurt you?"

Then his phone rang. Ava.

"Ethan, I'm so scared..."

He was out the door before the sentence was finished, already on his way to her.

By the time Yara arrived, Grandma was still suspended in the air, swaying.

Yara immediately ordered her people to bring her down. When she saw that the old woman's clothes were soaked through — the indignity of it — something broke in her chest.

"Grandma. I'm sorry. I didn't protect you."

Grandma opened her eyes, her voice barely a thread. "Yara. Yara, you came."

"Where's Ethan? Where is he..."

Yara closed her eyes. When she spoke, her voice was measured and quiet, with something lethal underneath. "He's away on business."

She gave the order immediately — get Grandma to the hospital.

Then Ava sent a video.

In it, Ethan cradled Ava with infinite patience, his voice low and soothing. "Don't be scared, Ava. I'm be with you. Grandma got a little frightened tonight. I promise you — after this, Yara will never dare touch you again."