The Way He Spoke To Her
909 Words
Mina’s POV
The phone kept vibrating in my hand.
Ethan ❤️
That stupid little heart beside his name suddenly felt humiliating.
I should’ve deleted it months ago.
But part of me kept holding onto memories of the man he used to pretend to be.
Or maybe—
the man I wanted him to be.
“You don’t have to answer,” Adrian said quietly.
I looked up in surprise.
A few seconds ago he told me to pick up.
Now his expression looked darker.
More controlled.
Like he suddenly regretted the idea.
The phone rang again.
And again.
Ethan never handled being ignored well.
I inhaled shakily before pressing accept.
“…Hello?”
Silence.
Then Ethan laughed softly through the speaker.
“There’s my girl.”
My chest tightened painfully at the familiar voice.
Not because I missed him.
Because once upon a time, hearing him sounded like comfort.
Now it sounded like damage.
“You disappeared,” I whispered.
Ethan sighed dramatically.
“Can we not start with this again?”
I stared at the floor silently.
That response alone told me everything.
No apology.
No guilt.
Just annoyance.
Like my pain inconvenienced him.
Adrian leaned quietly against the kitchen counter nearby, arms crossed while listening carefully.
His face remained unreadable.
“I had debt collectors outside my apartment, Ethan.”
“You handled it, didn’t you?”
The coldness in his tone stunned me.
I remembered crying alone after the electricity got cut off last month because I couldn’t pay the bills he left behind.
Meanwhile Ethan sounded irritated I even brought it up.
“You promised you’d pay me back,” I whispered.
“And I will eventually.”
Eventually.
That word again.
Ethan always loved vague promises.
“Where are you?” he suddenly asked.
My grip tightened around the phone.
“Why?”
“Because I went to your apartment.”
Fear crawled instantly through my stomach.
“You what?”
“You weren’t there.”
His voice sharpened slightly.
“So where are you, Mina?”
I looked toward Adrian instinctively.
Big mistake.
Ethan noticed the silence immediately.
“…You’re with someone.”
Not a question.
A realization.
“No,” I lied too quickly.
Ethan laughed softly.
“Baby, you breathe differently when you lie.”
My face burned with humiliation.
Adrian’s jaw tightened.
Then Ethan spoke again—
more possessively this time.
“Who is he?”
The atmosphere inside the penthouse shifted dangerously.
I didn’t answer.
“Put him on the phone.”
“No.”
“Mina.”
His voice lowered sharply.
The warning in it felt familiar.
I hated that my body still reacted automatically to his tone.
Years of emotional manipulation did that to people.
Adrian noticed immediately.
And something in his expression darkened.
“You still tense up when he changes his voice,” Adrian said quietly.
Ethan heard him.
Silence filled the call instantly.
Then—
“…Who the f**k is that?”
Adrian walked toward me slowly.
Calm.
Controlled.
Terrifying.
Without breaking eye contact with me, he gently took the phone from my hand.
“Adrian—”
Too late.
He lifted the phone to his ear.
“Who are you?” Ethan snapped immediately.
Adrian’s expression remained emotionless.
“The better question,” he said calmly,
“is why you’re still calling someone who clearly wants nothing to do with you.”
I froze.
Ethan laughed bitterly through the speaker.
“Mina’s dramatic when she’s angry.”
“She’ll calm down.”
Adrian’s eyes sharpened dangerously.
“She isn’t angry.”
A pause.
“She’s exhausted.”
The silence afterward felt suffocating.
Then Ethan chuckled softly.
“You’re f*****g her already, aren’t you?”
My stomach twisted violently.
Adrian’s expression didn’t change.
But somehow—
that made him scarier.
“You abandoned her with debt collectors while sleeping with other women,” Adrian said quietly.
“You don’t get to ask questions anymore.”
Ethan snapped instantly.
“You don’t know s**t about our relationship.”
“I know enough.”
“You rich assholes always thinks money makes you important.”
Adrian smiled faintly.
“No.”
His voice lowered coldly.
“But it does make solving problems easier.”
Something about those words made my heartbeat quicken.
Not from attraction.
From fear.
Because Adrian sounded calm—
but beneath that calmness lived something dangerous enough to destroy people.
Ethan seemed to realize it too.
The silence between them turned sharp.
Hostile.
Then Ethan suddenly laughed again.
Mocking.
Cruel.
“Mina always comes back eventually.”
My chest tightened painfully.
Because once—
he was right.
After every fight.
Every betrayal.
Every lie.
I returned.
Adrian slowly looked at me then.
Not judging.
Not mocking.
Just watching quietly.
And somehow that hurt more.
Ethan’s voice softened again.
Manipulative.
Familiar.
“Baby,” he murmured,
“you know nobody understands you like I do.”
Before I could stop him—
Adrian spoke.
“No.”
His eyes remained locked on mine.
“You only understand how to hurt her.”
Silence.
Then Ethan’s voice turned ice cold.
“…Give the phone back to Mina.”
Adrian smiled slightly.
“No.”
And for the first time since meeting Adrian Vale—
I realized he enjoyed provoking Ethan.
Not because he was jealous.
But because he genuinely despised him.
That should’ve scared me.
Instead—
something inside my chest felt strangely protected.
- Writer
