Chapter 2

2

Hearing my agreement, Ethan's tightly knitted brow slowly relaxed.

He walked straight into the bathroom, completely ignoring the fact that I, shivering and in pain, also needed to use it.

James knew he was in trouble with Ethan and quickly ushered me downstairs to the staff bathroom.

The medicated bath was out of the question now.

All I could do was try to rinse off the disinfectant with warm water.

The warm water felt good sliding over my skin, but no matter how much I rinsed, I couldn't wash away the sharp, disgusting smell.

Or the humiliation of being a fool for five years.

I took some allergy medicine, but later that night, I developed a high fever.

My whole body ached terribly.

In a daze, I dragged myself out of bed, intending to ask Ethan to take me to the hospital.

But he brushed me off, saying he had urgent business to deal with, and pushed past me out the door.

I stumbled, losing my balance, and bumped against the study door.

The door, always kept locked tight, swung open.

I stood there in the entrance to his secret inner sanctum, burning up, my vision blurry.

Countless photos of Sophia hit me like a physical blow, shattering the last remnants of my self-deception.

There were pictures of her from years ago, looking graceful in elegant dresses, all the way to recent ones showing her mature, seductive charm.

Every single photo was carefully framed.

Locked in glass cabinets were things she'd used: lipsticks, pearl earrings she'd worn, a half-finished glass of rose tea, the dried rim still marked with a faint lip print.

He'd even kept lingerie she'd worn, carefully preserved.

But the most glaring thing was the open diary on his desk.

[Sophia wore the black stockings I gave her today. She smiled and asked if they looked good. I almost lost my mind.]

[I touched Sophia's hand today when I passed her a glass of water. The warmth of her fingertips drove me crazy...]

[Why did she have to be Dad's wife? I want to kill him. I want to lock Sophia in the basement where only I can look at her...]

[Audrey touched my hand again. Disgusting! Only Sophia is allowed to touch me!]

The words felt like venomous snakes slithering into my eyes, making me want to claw them out.

I bit down hard on my lip, tasting blood in my mouth.

So, this was Ethan's "cleanliness" issue.

He wasn't disgusted by touch.

He was just disgusted by my touch.

Sophia could link arms with him whenever she wanted.

She could intimately adjust his tie.

She could even... get him worked up just by letting him hold her stockings.

But me?

Just touching the back of his hand was a crime.

My stomach churned, and I stumbled into the bathroom, dry heaving.

When I looked up, the woman in the mirror had a ghostly pale face and eyes swollen red like a demon's.

I used to be vibrant, full of life.

Now, look what loving this man had reduced me to.

My heart felt like ashes.

I called an Uber and went to the hospital.