Chapter 4

"What does that mean?!"

Chloe wanted to press further, but the cars behind us started honking loudly, forcing her to hit the gas.

Soon, we arrived at the Vance estate. Her parents were already waiting at the front door.

"Chloe, sweetheart! And Leo, you're here!"

Chloe’s mother, Eleanor, took Chloe's bag and greeted Leo with a massive grin. The three of them chatted happily as they walked into the house, leaving me standing alone by the car.

They weren't welcoming me.

I had known this for a long time, but being there forced me to face the harsh reality all over again.

Chloe's parents had never liked me. Since the day we married, they had never given me a warm look. No matter how much I tried to please them in the past, it was never enough.

Once, when I couldn't take it anymore, I complained to Chloe. But she just brushed it off.

"You're lucky to have married a girl like me. It's normal for them to be a little cold. Just deal with it. You're living with me, not them."

So, I dealt with it. I even felt grateful for her words back then.

How pathetic. I thought I was the luckiest man alive.

But Leo's arrival changed everything.

"Leo, dear, just sit down. You don't need to help!"

In the kitchen, Eleanor stopped Leo from picking up the dishes, her face practically glowing with affection. "You sweet boy, you're so thoughtful. You always try to help every time you come over. Unlike some people."

She shot a nasty glare in my direction. "Some people just sit there like statues, doing absolutely nothing."

If this were the past, I would have panicked, rushed into the kitchen to apologize, and started scrubbing dishes with a flushed face.

But today, I sat back, crossed my legs, and smiled.

"You're right, Eleanor. I wasn't born to be a servant. I don't do manual labor."

Eleanor froze, clearly shocked. She didn't expect the usually obedient Ethan to suddenly bite back. She opened her mouth to snap at me, but Chloe shot her a warning look, so she stayed quiet.

At the dinner table, Eleanor kept putting food on Leo’s plate. Even though Leo couldn't eat, he politely declined with a charming smile.

"Thank you, Eleanor. Your cooking looks lovely. However, my digestive system cannot process organic food yet, so I must politely decline."

Eleanor waved her hand dismissively. "Oh, it's fine, dear! Just hearing you say that makes me happy. Some people just stuff their faces without saying a single nice word."

She was targeting me again.

I put down my silver fork and laughed coldly.

"I’d love to compliment the food, Eleanor, but considering you know I have a life-threatening seafood allergy, and literally every single dish on this table is seafood, I’m not sure what I'm supposed to say."

Eleanor gasped. She looked at my empty plate and felt a brief flash of embarrassment, which she quickly masked with annoyance.

"You know Chloe loves seafood. Can't you just tolerate it for once? Or take an EpiPen?"

Tolerate. Always asking me to tolerate.

I used to do it because I was a simp. But Daniel's death taught me that staying silent gets you killed.

"Forget it. If any of you actually cared, you wouldn't serve me a plate of dry, stale bread every single time I come here. Do you think I like eating cardboard? No, I just don't have a choice."

Eleanor’s face flushed red with anger. She pointed a trembling finger at me, speechless.

"Ethan, you are being completely out of line!" Chloe slammed her fork down and screamed. "How dare you speak to my mother like that!"

I looked at her calmly. "She's your mother, Chloe. Not mine."

Chloe stared at me in disbelief. "What is that supposed to mean?"

My eyes grew cold and distant. "It means I'm done being the idiot husband of a woman who uses an AI robot to satisfy her sexual needs."

"And besides," I turned to look at Leo, whose face had gone completely dark, "this robot was custom-made to look exactly like your dead high school sweetheart, wasn't it?"