CHAPTER 6

Ethan’s POV

As I left the house with my signature on the divorce papers, I felt a strange weight lift off my shoulders. This was the clean break I’d been waiting for. The chance to be with Sarian, the woman I’d always wanted. Thoughts of her filled my mind as I drove towards the hospital, the memory of our time together before she left for California replayed in my head. I couldn't deny that I'd always loved her. Sophia, well, she was introduced into my life by my father. Our marriage had been more about business and less about love, the love was there but just less.

I parked the car and headed straight to Sarian’s hospital room. This was my chance to rebuild what we had lost. But as I approached her door, I noticed it was slightly ajar. I paused, and that was when I heard voices.

“ Don't be so greedy,” Sarian replied, her tone sharp and not at all like someone bedridden. “ Now that your plan has worked,” a voice said. I recognise it as the doctors’.

Before I could hear anything else, my phone buzzed in my pocket. It was Luca , my stepbrother. We didn’t talk often, especially since things with Sophia started falling apart, but I picked up anyway.

“ Hey, Luca ,” I answered, trying to keep my voice calm, though my mind was racing.

“ How's Sophia feeling now?” Luca asked, his voice filled with concern.

“Feeling?” I echoed, confusion washing over me. “ What do you mean?”

Luca’s tone shifted, more direct. “ Or I guess you don't know. After all, you haven't been giving her much attention, have you?”

My grip tightened on the car key I held. “What don't I know, Luca ?”

“ Sophia isn't feeling too well. Ethan, I picked her up from the hospital earlier. She didn't look good. You should check on her.”

His words hit me like a punch to the gut. I remembered Sophia telling me she wasn’t feeling well and that she couldn’t donate blood. But I hadn’t listened. I pushed her. For Sarian.

As I stood outside Sarian’s hospital room, my heart pounded in my chest. Her sharp words echoed in my mind, and the doctor's voice …. What were they talking about? I wanted to burst in, demand answers, but Bright’s call had thrown me completely off balance.

I had pushed her aside, focused on Sarian, my first love. But now, hearing that Sophia had been in the hospital and that I hadn't even known made a cold dread settle over me.

The weight of it crashed into me all at once. She’d been in the hospital. Collapsed. And I didn’t even know. I was too caught up in Sarian’s world to notice that the woman I had made vows to was breaking apart.

“Luca ,” I said, my voice low, rough, “where is she now?”

“At home,” he answered, more gently this time. “But Ethan… she didn’t look good. She looked like someone who’s been through hell.”

Guilt crept down my spine. I forced her to give blood for Vanessa, not even considering her condition. What have I done?

“I'll go check on her,” I muttered, though every instinct told me to stay and confront Sarian . But Luca’s words haunted me, and I knew I couldn't ignore them.

I ended the call, standing there in the quiet hallway.

I turned away from Sarian’s door, the sound of her and the doctor still whispering behind me, but I couldn't stay.

I rushed back to the house, my house pounding in my chest, hoping to find her there. As I opened the door, the eerie silence of the place hit me like a wave. I stepped inside, my eyes scanning the empty hallway.

“ Sophia ?” I called out, but there was no response.

I headed straight for the bedroom, my mind racing. When I entered everything was still in place. Her clothes were still hanging neatly in the closet, her shoes arranged perfectly by the door. Her perfume lingered faintly in the air, as if she had just been here moments ago. But she wasn't. The bed was made untouched.

I stood there frozen staring at the room that once felt so full of life, but now felt abandoned. She had left. But not in the way I had expected. I thought I'd find her here, maybe crying or angry, but this? This felt different. It felt final.

A sinking feeling settled in my stomach as I turned and made my way to the sitting room. That's when I saw it. The divorce papers. They were right where I had left them. Only the time, her signature was there, boldly staring back at me.

She had signed them. Without hesitation.

Next to the papers were the two cards I had left for her. One was for her petty self, a cruel token I'd given her. The other way for donating blood, blood I had forced her to give to Sarian . Both cards, left untouched, like they meant nothing. Like I meant nothing.

She didn't want anything to do with me. Not my cards. Not my apologies. Not my excuse.

I sank into the chairs, staring at the divorce papers, her name neatly written beneath mine. It felt like a punch to the gut. This was real. This was happening. I had been so unsure that Sophia would fight back, that she'd protest, that she'd try to cling to what little we had left. But she hasn't.

Instead, she walked away. She had chosen to leave it all behind me, the house, everything.

My mind drifted back to Bright’s words. Sophia’s not feeling too well. Ethan. He was right. I hadn't given her any attention, hadn't noticed the signs. I'd been so consumed with Sarian, wrapped up in my feelings for her, that I hadn't realised how disconnected I'd become from Sophia . But now, staring at those signed divorce papers, I couldn't bring myself to feel much guilt. After all, Sarian was my first love. She was the woman I had always wanted, the one I had dreamed of being with before everything else got in the way.

I still loved her. That hadn't changed. Sophia….well, she was never to be part of my life, not like Sarian. She had been introduced to me by my father, a marriage of convenience, not of love. And now that the papers were signed, maybe it was for the best. Maybe we could all move on.

As I sat there, I thought back to what I had overheard in Sarian’s hospital room. The sharp tone in her voice as she spoke to the doctor had rattled me at first. The words “ plan” and “greedy” had gnawed at me, but maybe I had misunderstood. Maybe it was nothing. Sarian had always been a strong, independent woman, and I knew she could come off harsh when she was frustrated.

I shook off the doubt creeping into my mind. I couldn't allow myself to second-guess everything, not now. Sarian was the woman I had loved for years before Sophia came into my life, the one I had been willing to sacrifice for. I'd forced Sophia to donate blood for her, hadn't I? That wasn't something you did for someone you didn't care about.

No, I couldn't be wrong about this. I had done what needed to be done to make things right with Sarian, and now, with Sophia out of the picture, we could finally have the life we were meant to have, or just maybe.

I stood up, straightened my jacket, and tried to shake off the unease lingering in the air. I needed to go back to the hospital, to see Sarian, to confirm that everything was going according to plan. I would talk to her, clarify what I overheard, and we would move forward, just as we always wanted.

Whatever happened with Sophia I know she'll be fine, I'd deal with that later. Right now, Sarian was the priority.