Remember That Hurt

Chapter 2 Things between them have always been kinda...

　　Curled up at the end of the bed, Anna's once-bright eyes had lost their spark. Hugging her knees, her dry eyes couldn't shed another tear.

　　She forced herself to pull it together and put on a loose, plain white dress.

　　Downstairs in the living room, Ethan was sipping his coffee when he saw her coming down slowly. A flicker of surprise crossed his face—yeah, he had to admit, the old man's taste wasn't too bad. With that face, taking her out wouldn't be embarrassing in the slightest.

　　But then his gaze darkened. She had nothing on except the wedding ring. No earrings, no necklace, not even a bracelet.

　　What the hell was this supposed to mean? Was she trying to make it look like he, Ethan, couldn't even afford to buy his wife a few decent accessories? Make him a joke in their social circle?

　　"Is something wrong?" Anna asked nervously, seeing his cold look.

　　Ethan snapped, "Where are all the pieces of jewelry I gave you?"

　　Anna froze, her expression stiff. It took her a while before she answered, "I'm just not used to wearing those... this is enough for me."

　　She gently touched the ring on her finger, forcing a soft smile.

　　Ethan's eyes flickered again. But with time running short, he let it go—at least for now.

　　Still, something felt off. The next day, Ethan had Brandon Sullivan look into it.

　　"Mr. Donovan, I checked. There was a transfer of one million from Mrs. Donovan's account recently."

　　"It's Miss Fitzpatrick," Ethan cut in sharply.

　　Brandon froze, breaking into a cold sweat. Damn it. How could he forget this marriage wasn't something their boss agreed to willingly?

　　Thinking about it—Ethan, so brilliant and proud, being forced into marriage with someone he didn't even care about—it had to sting.

　　"Right. Sorry. So, Miss Fitzpatrick went to a pawn shop last month. Sold off quite a few items."

　　A million dollars? Ethan tapped the edge of the file, his face grim.

　　No wonder she acted so weird that day. He'd actually thought she genuinely cared about that wedding band. Turns out, she just didn't want him to notice everything else was gone.

　　"Did you figure out where the money went?" Ethan rubbed his temples, trying not to let her mess with his head."Uh, about that…" Brandon hesitated.

　　Ethan shot him a sharp glance.

　　Brandon cleared his throat. "That account's being used by someone named Toby Harrison."

　　"Toby?" Ethan repeated, the name drawing a blank.

　　"I looked into it. Lately, Miss Fitzpatrick's been in frequent contact with this guy. Turns out, they were college classmates. And from what I've heard... things between them have always been kinda... sketchy." Brandon bit the bullet and laid everything bare.

　　He couldn't help but shoot a sympathetic look at his boss. Right now, Ethan practically had a metaphorical neon green light blinking over his head.

　　Ethan's expression went dark in an instant. He could tolerate her pretending to be sweet, even her obsession with money. Hell, he could marry her just to keep his grandfather happy. But what he wouldn't put up with was the thought of the woman warming his bed cozying up with another man.

　　This wasn't just about ego—it cut into the pride of a man like him, proud and accomplished.

　　Bang!

　　The bedroom door slammed open. Anna flinched, eyes darting to Ethan's stormy face. Every instinct screamed that this wasn't going to end well.

　　"Ethan, what's—" she tried to keep her tone neutral and stood up quickly.

　　"Shut it. Who said you could call me that?" he snapped, striding forward and slapping her across the face. Just watching her fake calm made his skin crawl, and his fury exploded.

　　Eyes blazing red with rage, he grabbed Anna by the throat and slammed her back against the wall.

　　"Anna, you disgusting woman—how dare you use the Donovan family's money to support some other guy?!"

　　His voice dripped with venom. In that moment, Ethan looked like he wanted to tear her apart.

　　When had he, Ethan, ever been played like this?

　　Coughing hard, Anna's face turned red, ears ringing. Her wide eyes searched his face, clearly panicked, trying to understand—but his accusations left her completely confused. Her eyes welled up as tears threatened to spill.

　　Ethan glanced away, jaw tight. Damn her. As infuriating as she was, every time he met those eyes, he felt like he was being sucked in.

　　He inhaled sharply, trying to rein it in.

　　"You've got five minutes. Pack your stuff and get out of the Garden Villa."

　　Anna froze, utterly baffled. "Wait, what?"