Chapter 5

Chloe Parker POV

There was no sound on the other end of the line.

After a long while, Ryan Carter said in a low voice, “I know.”

“He knows too.”

“Chloe...”

“Don’t call me Chloe.” I interrupted him. “He and I are already over.”

Ryan Carter was rendered speechless, and after a long pause, he finally said, “Ethan has you in his heart. He owes Olivia Bennett too much, and when she left so suddenly back then, he never really let go. Now that she’s divorced and has come back with a child, he can’t just watch and do nothing.”

I listened very calmly. “So he should take care of her.”

Ryan Carter let out a breath of relief. “It’s good that you can understand.”

“I can understand,” I said. “And I should leave too.”

Ryan Carter froze. “What do you mean?”

I did not explain and hung up directly.

I got up and went to the study, opened the computer, and finished writing the handover sheet for the work I was responsible for. Ethan Lancaster had never liked me tiring myself out too much, saying that the Parker family and the Lancaster family did not need my little salary, and that after marriage, I could work if I wanted to, or stay home and grow flowers if I did not.

Back then, I thought it was nice to be taken care of.

Looking at it now, the care he spoke of was sometimes a gilded cage. Bit by bit, I gave up my own path, and what I got in return was not peace of mind, but his ability to bring someone else into my home whenever he wanted.

At dawn, my phone popped up with Olivia Bennett’s new post.

This time, it was a photo from the preschool center. A little girl was sitting on a soft mat building blocks, and Ethan Lancaster was half-kneeling beside her with a temporary parent badge on his chest. Olivia Bennett captioned it: Some doors are opened for you without you even having to ask.

Someone commented below: Is that her dad? His side profile is so handsome.

Olivia Bennett did not deny it and only replied with a smiling face.

I turned off my phone, and a faint taste of rust rose in my throat.

I remembered a long time ago, when Ethan Lancaster first brought me to meet his friends. Someone had drunk too much and said half-jokingly, “Chloe Parker, don’t take this too seriously. If the woman in Ethan’s heart comes back, things will get awkward for you.”

Ethan Lancaster frowned and scolded that person at the time. “Don’t talk nonsense.”

I thought he was defending me.

Thinking about it now, what he had defended was only the Lancaster family’s reputation.

Early the next morning, Ethan Lancaster finally came back.

When he saw the suitcase in the living room, his face instantly darkened. “Where are you going?”

I had already changed my clothes. My body was still weak, and I could not stand very steadily, but my voice was very clear. “Back to my own apartment.”

Ethan Lancaster pressed his brow, and a crease formed between his eyebrows. “Chloe Parker, don’t use this method to make a scene with me. The villa was originally given to you.”

“Then why was my photo wall taken down?”

He avoided my gaze. “Olivia Bennett’s documents are a mess, so she’s temporarily borrowing this place to store some things.”

“When she needs it, you give it to her.” I raised my eyes to look at him. “I also need a place without her name in it.”

Some of the patience in Ethan Lancaster’s eyes faded. “She’s not doing well right now. You’ve always been understanding, so why won’t you take a step back this time?”

When I heard his words, I suddenly found them laughable.

I was understanding, so I did not push for marriage after three years of engagement. I was understanding, so I pretended not to see it when he stayed with Olivia Bennett. I was understanding, so even after I had just lost my child, I had to make way for his guilt toward her.

I pulled up the suitcase handle. “Ethan Lancaster, I’m not here to discuss this with you.”

Ethan Lancaster reached out and gripped the handle. “I don’t agree.”

I looked at his hand, my tone cold. “There are already too many things you don’t agree with now.”