Chapter 6

Summer Lynn POV

I moved out of the master bedroom and into a guest room.

I no longer asked Ethan what time he'd be home.

Even when Cherry occasionally walked around the living room wearing Ethan's shirt, I just ignored it.

This complete indifference seemed to provoke Ethan.

One evening, Ethan pushed open the guest room door.

I was sitting by the window reading.

Hearing the sound, I didn't even lift an eyelid.

Ethan walked over and placed an invitation on the small table in front of me.

His tone was cold. "My friends are having a party tonight to celebrate Cherry's gallery securing a location. Come with me."

My gaze finally moved from the book pages and landed on that invitation.

For five years, Ethan had never brought me to meet his friends.

His friends looked down on me as a substitute, and he never felt it necessary to have me attend.

But today, he wanted to bring me along.

"I'm not going." My voice held no emotion.

Ethan's brow furrowed almost imperceptibly.

He looked at me, his eyes gradually growing cold.

"Summer, stop making a scene." His voice was heavy. "You need to attend the party tonight."

He still wanted to control me like before.

Over these five years, whenever he used this tone, no matter how wronged I felt, I would immediately comply, afraid of making him unhappy.

I looked at him for a few seconds.

I didn't have the energy to endure his cold violence anymore.

"Fine."

I stood up.

I casually grabbed a high-necked long-sleeved shirt and put it on, covering the hideous burn scars on my back.

Half an hour later, I arrived at the private room.

Ethan pushed open the door and led me inside.

The lively conversation in the room instantly went quiet for a moment.

In the center of the sofa, Cherry wore a beautiful white dress, surrounded by several friends chatting.

Seeing me, Cherry's smile stiffened for a moment, then she happily came forward.

"Summer, you came." A flash of mockery crossed Cherry's eyes as she deliberately stood at Ethan's side.

I paid no attention and walked straight to the most secluded corner of the room to sit down.

Ethan was pulled to sit in the center of the crowd.

Cherry naturally sat close beside him.

During the meal, everyone gathered around Cherry.

A few deliberately lowered mocking remarks occasionally drifted over from the sofa area, carrying undisguised malice.

"Cherry and Ethan really look like the perfect married couple. Some people use dirty tricks to become substitutes, but they still can't compare to Cherry."

I sat quietly in the corner, as if all of this had nothing to do with me.

The music in the room was very loud. I was sitting on his left side.

My left ear had complete nerve death from that fire five years ago. I couldn't hear anything from it.

In such a noisy environment, sounds coming from my left were, to me, an area of complete dead silence.

In the corner, I kept my head down looking at my phone, motionless.

For some reason, the people in the room gradually stopped talking. The atmosphere became awkward.

Suddenly, Ethan strode over and pulled me up from the sofa.

"I'm talking to you. Can't you hear me?"

Ethan looked at me, his tone carrying displeasure and coldness.

I was caught off guard and stumbled from being pulled.

I was forced to raise my head and meet Ethan's ice-cold eyes.

If this were before, I would have desperately explained. I would have told him through red eyes that I really couldn't hear.

But now, I looked at him and calmly spoke.

"Yes."

I looked into his eyes, my voice devoid of any emotion.

"I can't hear."

Ethan froze for an instant.

Then his eyes turned completely cold.

"Stop acting in front of me."

He released my hand.

I rubbed my aching wrist where he'd gripped it, turned around without hesitation, and walked straight out of the private room.

I didn't want to stay in this place anymore.