Chapter 4

Hearing him trash my mother,

I snapped like an enraged lioness.

I lunged at him, swinging my fists blindly.

"Shut up! Don't you dare talk about my mother!"

"Those two bitches put her in the ground!

They stole my life! They ruined everything!"

Smack.

He hit me so hard I went down.

The glass table split my forehead open.

Warm blood trickled down my cheek.

Fear and regret flooded his eyes.

He rushed forward to help me up.

"Oh my god, Ella... I'm so sorry.

I was just so mad. I didn't mean to.

I'll take you to the hospital right now.

You're going to be okay, just don't panic."

His terrified eyes made me gasp.

For a second, he was my Ethan again.

After my mom died, my life in that blended family was hell.

My father couldn't care less about me.

Chloe and her mother made it their mission to break me.

In those dark days, Ethan was my only lifeline.

He once brought a baseball bat to my house to scare them off.

He took months of grounding without a single complaint.

Remembering all that... I wanted to give him one last chance.

I looked up at him, begging.

"Ethan... please. Just don't be with Chloe. Okay?"

Ethan flinched.

He opened his mouth to speak.

But the phone buzzed at the worst moment.

A familiar voice came through the speaker:

"Ethan! My mom found out about us!

She's cutting off my cards and kicking me out!

You have to come save me!"