A Proposal In Need..

~~Scarlette~~

I Don’t Love You Anymore.

Each word was sharp and deliberate. He’d said it to my face, but it’s my heart that wouldn’t stop throbbing.

It hurt so much I was sure I was dying.

My breath hitched.

Slowly, I pulled my hands back from his grasp and stumbled back as I wiped my face with the back of my hand and brushed the tears away.

At that moment, something inside me broke. Not the kind that leaves you shattered, but the kind that hardens you forever.

I laughed bitterly. “You’re insane, Ethan. After all these years, after everything I gave you, everything I sacrificed….”

“Oh God. Not that line, Scarlette.” Ethan whined, and behind him, Emelia rolled her eyes.

“It makes you look pitiful, trust me.”

“You are throwing me away like trash…” My voice dipped low. “How do you expect anyone to even look at me again? What would people say?”

A lazy smirk formed on Ethan’s lip.

“I don’t give a damn. You’re already worthless. Used up. Don’t even dream of getting married again. You are a woman. No one wants leftovers. Believe me—”

“I’ll marry her.”

We all froze.

I turned, my heart skipping.

What the hell are you saying…Liam?” Mother’s face turned ugly as the man stepped into the light, giving a complete body to the voice that had just spoken.

Liam.

Embarrassment washed over me. Liam was rarely home. What was he even doing here? And most importantly? How much of that had he seen or heard?

“Have you lost your mind? Marry her? A woman your brother is rejecting and divorcing?”

Liam stepped past her like she wasn't even there. And I fought for air as he stopped… In front of me.

His dark eyes were calm, but they were focused on me—not the mess around us.

“Scarlette,” he said softly.

My eyes went wide. How did he know my name?!

“Sign the divorce papers. And marry me instead.”

I thought my ears had been playing tricks on me the first time. Was this a game or a fucking twisted joke? It must be both.

Liam’s relationship with the family was sour and had a huge thing to do with the fact that he was not easily manipulated by his mother unlike Ethan.

Again, despite being the youngest of the Newton brothers, he did not depend on the family’s business and money for survival, which was the major bone of contention between the two brothers.

While Ethan was stuck under his mother’s control, Liam had proven his competence from an early age and had single-handedly built the most successful stock trading company in the country from scratch. That's the little I know about him, since I rarely ever notice him.

Therefore, it was no surprise that My husba—Ethan had always been jealous of Liam. And on many occasions in the past years, I’ve had to deal with Ethan’s fragile self-esteem.

My brain scrambled as I peered up at Liam to meet his gaze still locked on me.

Divorcing Ethan and agreeing to marry his brother…wasn’t something I ever imagined—not in a million lifetimes.

But remaining in this house… in this family… and destroying every single person who looked down on me? That… that was a temptation I could taste.

“Do you even understand what you just said?” My voice came out shaky. I took a small step back, but he didn’t move. He just kept looking at me.

“The society… your family… Ethan—” I swallowed hard, my throat burning. “I won’t just be your nephew’s ex-wife, Liam. I’m older than you. People will talk. They’ll shame you.”

My eyes stung, and I knew if I didn’t fucking stop trembling, I would be mopping my tears from the ground.

I hated that I still cared what anyone thought, but I always had. It was a weakness I had to get rid of.

Liam took a step closer. His earlier stoic voice came out softer, but firm. “Who cares, Scarlette?”

I blinked.

“You’ve been good to everyone here.” He said, his jaw clenching. “No one deserves you. Not Ethan. Not this family. If they don’t want you…” He moved even closer, his face inches from mine, eyes burning with something I couldn’t name.

“I want you. As my wife.”

Hell. We rarely even spoke to each other. This man didn’t even know me well enough to ask for something as huge as this. Another Marriage!

I couldn’t speak.

My heart pounded so loud in my ears that it filled the silence between us.

He wasn’t joking. He meant every damn word he’d said.

And for the first time in years, I didn’t know whether to cry… or just run.

I stared at the man in front of me, offering me another proposal when the last one left me a broken mess.

No one here knows. No one knows what I gave up.

I didn’t marry Ethan because he was rich. I married him because I thought that he saw me. Because for once, someone had chosen me. Not for what I could give, but for who I was.

I’d given him everything. My time, my youth… my body, my heart, even when it ached with hope that never came. When the doctors said the problem was mine, I bore the shame in silence. I swallowed every bitter look from his mother, and her comments about my womb being too tired…or too empty.

I’d smiled like a fool through it all. For Ethan.

And Emelia… my sister. I took her in when she had no one. I paid for her school. I got her a job. I stood by her when our parents called her a disgrace. I made Ethan give her a chance in the company. I trusted her.

How stupid of me.

Now here I was, standing in the same house that caused me so much distress. And yet… this stranger. No. His brother, Liam was still waiting in front of me.

“I want you. As my wife.”

“Liam, what the fuck do you think you’re doing?!” Ethan looked like he’d been slapped. I could smell the panic emitting from him.

Liam didn’t blink. His eyes, still holding mine in place.

“Scarlette. What are you waiting for?” He asked again.

I reached into my bag and pulled out a pen.

Without pausing to think, I scribbled my signature on the divorce papers and flung them at Ethan and Emelia’s feet.

Then I turned to Liam.

“Let’s get married,” I said, offering him my hand.

He didn’t let me wait or say it twice before his eyes darkened and his big hand covered mine, delicately.

I must be insane or entirely mad at this point but it no longer mattered which it was.

I will stay in this mansion as the ex-wife of the first Newton son… and the wife of second son.

Just when I was about to walk away, a hand grabbed my arm roughly and I flinched at the sudden pain.

“You’ve gone insane! This.... this is wrong! All of it is damn wrong!” Ethan barked behind me, his voice was shaking, and deep creases of frustrated anger tainted his forehead. His eyes were wide with surprise. That I’d signed the papers he wanted me to sign? Or that I’d agreed to marry his brother?

I didn’t care which it was.

Liam sent him a cold glare, and Ethan’s hand on mine went still and dropped off without a second beat.

“Oh?” I purred, arching my brow. “Now it’s wrong?”

He looked at me like I’d betrayed him. The audacity! He betrayed me first. They all did.

“Why?” I asked with a cruel little smirk playing on my lips. “You can bring in another woman. Call her your wife. Divorce me like I’m trash. But I can’t do the same? I can’t marry your brother?”

Ethan’s jaw clenched, but I saw a flicker of panic enter his eyes.

“You know what’s really insane, Ethan?” I tilted my head. “That you still think you have a say in my life after what you did. That you think I should crawl away quietly and just take the hit.”

He stepped forward, his eyes dark, fists clenched.

“This family will never accept you again. Not after this. You’ve ruined yourself.”

My laugh surprised even me. And I held onto Liam’s taller figure for support as I bent over, laughing.

“No. You ruined me.”

Ethan’s eyes went wide. As if shocked by my words. I wondered what was so fucking surprising when I’d said nothing but the truth, but I didn’t care if it was guilt or anger anymore.

I took a deep breath.

“It’s settled, Ethan. I signed your damn divorce. You can have Emelia. I’m marrying Liam. So whatever you think, whatever you feel—keep it to yourself. I’m done listening.”

And with that, I turned and climbed the stairs. Behind me, I heard Emelia calling his name. I didn’t care what I had done or was about doing.

I wasn’t the discarded wife anymore.