The Billionaire's Marriage Contract(67)

Ethan stopped pacing and tried to put his arm on her shoulder. “Amy, please, calm down.”

“Don’t tell me to calm down! This is exactly the same as before. You made a plan and didn’t tell me until you had already set it in motion, and I half want to believe you, but I can’t.” Amy was crying hard now, and breathing hard between her sentences. She just needed this to be over. She pushed Ethan’s hand off of her shoulder. “I had to hear about this from Callie. Christ, you told Vi before you told me! You tell everyone everything before you tell me. And I’m supposed to be your wife. You’re supposed to tell me everything first, not last. I’m such an idiot. You want to prove to me that you care? Then get out and leave me alone.”

“Maybe I should give you some time to think things through.”

“Go!” Amy shouted at him. “Get out.”

Ethan hung his head and walked toward the exit. “Amy, this is a mistake.”

“Just go,” she said between sniffles. When Ethan left the apartment, Amy collapsed against the island in the middle of the kitchen. Then she slid down onto the floor and sobbed. She ran her hands through her hair as she tried not to cry, but she couldn’t help herself. These tears were his fault, she thought. She hadn’t cried in years, and now she was a basket case, all because of him. She sat there, sobbing, unaware of the door opening down the hall or the approaching footsteps. She didn’t realize she wasn’t alone until Vi placed her hand on her shoulder.

“Boy troubles?” Vi asked.

Amy sniffled and mustered a fake smile for her aunt. “Come on, Vi. It’s time to go home.” She pushed herself back up onto her feet.

“But I rather like this home. Are you and Ethan having a fight?”

“Now.”

“Now what?”

“We’re leaving.”

“Oh. I had hoped you’d say you’d changed your mind, something along the lines of ‘now I see I love him‘ or ‘now I finally appreciate my aunt and will heed her wisdom.’” Vi sighed. “I guess I’ll get my things together so we can go back to that house with the stairs that are trying to kill me.”

Amy rubbed her face as she tried to wipe away the tears. “Vi, I know you like it here, but we have to go. I think my marriage just ended.”

“Already?” Vi asked. “I know you’re new to this dear, but spouses fight. Hell, in my time, I caused a few of those fights.”

Amy couldn’t help but laugh, but she let out a long sigh before speaking again. “Please don’t try to cheer me up, Vi. Not tonight. Come on. We’re going home.”





Chapter 24

After a long cab ride back to her place, Amy couldn’t sleep. Instead, she spent the night cleaning her house. As she went from room to room, she wondered how she had ever needed so much space. The size of the house was overwhelming. By the time the sun rose in the morning, she had worked her way down to the kitchen. She was just finishing wiping down the counters when Vi came down for breakfast. She had spent the past hour cleaning the ornate handles of each cabinet. By the end, she half wished her kitchen were as minimalist as Ethan’s. But she was just glad to be back in her home, where she was in control. If she wanted to change the handles, she could, and no one could tell her otherwise.

"Are you ready to tell me what happened? You dragged me across town in the middle of the night, and you’ve been stress cleaning ever since then. Talk to me, Amy.”

"I got angry with Ethan for never including me in his decisions and treating me like I needed his help, but the truth is I broke things off with him because I was losing myself. I didn't know who I was anymore. Tell me I'm not crazy for doing this. Have you ever felt that way?"

"Only after several strong drinks, but by that point it doesn't worry me much."

"Vi, I'm serious."

"So am I. You need to stop worrying about everything so much. Does he make you happy? Do you make him happy? In the end, that's all that matters. Did it ever occur to you that your husband might have lost himself too? If you ask me, Ethan was more worried about being your knight in shining armor than being himself."

"But that's not what I wanted."

"Maybe it's not what he wanted either. Besides, no one would ever mistake you for a hapless damsel in distress."

"Yeah, I'm too old for that."
#p#分页标题#e#
"No, you're too strong. You're too smart. That man had beautiful women throwing themselves at him for years, and yet he came to you. Why do you think that is?"

"Because he needed someone to impress Hank Harris."