บททั้งหมดของ My Husband's Father Wants Me: บทที่ 31 - บทที่ 40

Ethan's POV The leather chair felt like a bed of nails, but I forced myself to sit straight, slamming my palms down onto the mahogany conference table. The sharp crack echoed through the boardroom, snapping every single executive to attention. "It's been over twelve hours, and the news is still trending at the top of every feed," I growled, my voice dropping an octave as I glared down the table. "What on earth do I even pay you for?" Mr. Hanson, the head of Public Relations, shrank back into his seat, nervously adjusting his glasses. He looked entirely out of options. "Mr. Sterling, we have been deploying every standard suppression protocol since dawn, but nothing is yielding results. It's... it's as if an invisible hand is working behind the scenes to keep the story pinned at the top." "A hand?" I scoffed, leaning forward. "You're telling me a localized marital scandal can't be buried by the most expensive PR team in Pearl City because of an invisible 'hand'?" "The stock p

"No... I... I'm not staying with them," I stuttered out, feeling like a little kid caught with her hand stuck deep inside a cookie jar. "I'm staying somewhere else.""Oh?" Tessa drawled, her tone dripping with suspicion. "And where, exactly, is 'somewhere else'? You only stutter like that when you're flustered or hiding something, Arabella. Spill it."I winced, squeezing my eyes shut. "I... I..."Before I could talk myself out of it, I blurted the whole story out in a single, breathless exhale—conveniently omitting the part where Damian had confessed his feelings."Your *father-in-law*?!" Tessa shrieked so loudly I had to pull the receiver an inch away from my ear."Yeah," I admitted softly."He just casually handed you the keys to a high-end penthouse so you could 'think and figure things out' away from Ethan?" She sounded entirely unconvinced by my watered-down narrative."Yeah," I repeated weakly."Why do I get the feeling you're leaving out a massive piece of this puzzle?"I raise

Ethan's POV 2 hours ago… I stormed out of the conference room in a foul mood, with Robert, my personal assistant, practically jogging to keep up behind me. The absolute last thing I wanted to do was swallow my pride and coax Arabella. The last thing I wanted was to put on a pathetic act and pretend I cared. Unfortunately, I knew I had to do whatever it took to drag the company back on track—if only to prove to my father that I was more than capable of taking over the entire Sterling Empire. Being the CEO of Sterling Couture and Cosmetics was supposed to be my trial run. Over the past five years, I had elevated SCC to unprecedented heights through my own brilliant vision and foresight. But I had to admit one calculated truth: because SCC was a luxury brand catering strictly to high-society women, I needed a soft, elegant woman by my side. I needed the public to see a devoted family man and Arabella was beautiful, polished, socially connected, loyal, and obviously in love wit

Arabella’s POV 36"Arabella?"The sudden call of my name broke through the fog in my mind as I rushed through the hospital lobby. I stopped in my tracks, turning to find a familiar face standing near the elevators."Alex? What are you doing here?" I asked, completely caught off guard.It had been over a year since I last spoke to my childhood friend. After marrying Ethan, I had slowly severed ties with him because Ethan constantly reminded me of a wife's duty to "maintain appropriate boundaries with the opposite sex.""I'm here visiting a colleague who was admitted yesterday," Alex explained, searching my face with genuine concern."Oh," I breathed out, trying to stabilize my erratic pulse. "I came to see my mother. She's on the third floor.""Your mother? Is she—""She's fine," I interrupted quickly, desperate to keep the chaotic details of my life from spilling over in the middle of a hospital lobby."Oh, okay, good," Alex nodded politely. "My colleague is actually on the third flo

"A kiss from you?" I scoffed, forcing a cold, mocking laugh to coat the sickening dread in my throat. "The only thing I felt when your lips touched mine was disgust. Don't touch me with the same mouth you use on your mistress. It’s filthy."Ethan’s eyes flared, his pupils dilating with pure rage."Filthy?" he repeated, his voice dropping into a lethal hiss. "Are you honestly telling me you never want me to touch you again?"I stared at him as if he had completely lost his mind. "Why on earth would I want you anywhere near me?! Our marriage is dead, Ethan! I want a divorce," I hissed, leaning closer, every word laced with poison. "When are you going to get that through your thick, narcissistic skull?"Ethan stared at me for a beat before throwing his head back in a harsh, cruel bark of laughter."Do you seriously think I wanted to kiss you? Do you think I have ever genuinely wanted to sleep with you?" he sneered, leaning in until his dark eyes pinned me to the spot. "In our three yea