Chapter 1

It was the darkest of nights. In the silence, Ethan Grayson's warm lips slid across my neck as I hugged him tightly. My heart was filled with joy but also bitterness. He was in a drunken daze. His breaths were labored, and his movements became more and more hurried. In the heat of the passion, I muttered his name. "Ethan…" "Ding!" The tension in the room was interrupted by a shrill ringing sound. Ethan and I turned around at the same time. The screen lit up with the word "Leah". A suffocating panic rose up within me. In the darkness, I couldn't see Ethan's expression. However, I could feel him moving. With courage from god knows where, I went all in. I lifted my head to kiss him. Yet, Ethan moved aside without hesitation. He got up to grab his phone. A woman's soft voice came through the earpiece. "Ethan." Just then, Ethan walked over to the window in large strides to answer the call. He didn't even have the time to turn on the lights. Under the moonlight, his expression was filled with a gentleness that he had never shown me before. All those feelings of love were instantly swept away. My cold heart was left with the feeling of being wronged, defeat, and despair. Finally, Ethan hung up the call. "Clack!" The blinding lights turned on. Ethan's brow furrowed. A cold expression was plastered on his face. "Did you pick up Leah Grant's call earlier?" Though he was asking, his tone was full of certainty. It was like he wanted me to fess up. I fell silent and smiled bitterly. "Yeah. Not only did I answer the call, but I also deleted the call history. I even got you drunk so that you wouldn't know she came back today." Upon hearing my confession, anger built up in Ethan's dark eyes. His expression sank like he couldn't be bothered with me. He picked up his clothes from the floor and made to leave. "Ethan!" I grasped the bedsheets tightly. Holding back tears, I asked, "Must you go visit your ex-girlfriend on our wedding anniversary?" Ethan stopped for a moment. "Leah needs me urgently. Evelyn Wiley, I'm letting you off the hook for today, but this is the last time," he said. Leah needed him? Then what about me? I shivered slightly in despair. "If you leave, I'm breaking up with you." Ethan's expression darkened as he couldn't hold it in anymore. "Whatever." Then, the door was slammed shut. I let go and lay down on the bed powerlessly. The tears I had been holding back finally flowed out. So, even this hard-fought marriage had to come to an end. It hurt to look at our wedding photos on the wall. I couldn't stay in this bedroom any longer. At a loss, I drove around the city aimlessly. I somehow made it to Ethan's and my high school unknowingly. A photo of our graduating class was still on the bulletin board. At the time, I did all I could to stand beside Ethan. Yet, when the shutter was pressed, his gaze was directed toward another woman. It seemed like it was already set in stone. I had liked Ethan ever since high school. Back then, he was the most handsome boy in school. He was excellent in his studies too. What's more, he came from a well-to-do family. He simply had it all. I racked my brain to find opportunities to get closer to him. I studied day and night to keep up with him. I knew his interests inside out just to please him. Yet, he had someone else in his heart. He never reciprocated my efforts the entire time. In university, Ethan and Leah began dating. I cried a lot. We drifted apart after some time until his family met with a crisis during graduation year. Judas Grayson, his father, fell seriously ill and was hospitalized. Leah had left the country too. Ethan was at his wits' end. I decided to abandon my studies to help him settle matters in his company and take care of his father. After all was said and done, Ethan asked what I wanted in return. My heart nearly leapt out of my chest seeing the man I liked for so long. "I want you to marry me." With him owing me a favor, I got what I wanted. However, he didn't love me. Our relationship grew apart after three years of marriage. His coldness and busyness seemed to be like a punishment for my underhanded methods. Still, I was unwilling to let go. I trudged through our marriage wholeheartedly. But now, Leah was back, and all my calculated efforts to make him stay meant nothing in the face of Leah's call. "Beep! Beep! Beep!" Notifications rapidly appeared on the phone. "I saw Leah and Ethan at the hospital!" "Are they getting back together?" "They ought to! That match made in heaven is finally getting back together!" "I thought I heard that Ethan was married?" "That's right. Apparently, the lady's the calculative type. She kept pestering him, but Ethan never mentioned it. Perhaps they've already broken up long ago." The messages in our classmates' group chat hurt to look at. I hung my head and cried in despair. Indeed, they were a match made in heaven. But I was just a mediocre housewife, a calculative woman in the eyes of others. Ethan wouldn't even bother mentioning his wife. My entire love life was just a huge joke. If only I hadn't fallen in love with Ethan back then… The strong lights from afar were blinding. A dark figure zipped by across the street. Instinctively, I yanked the steering wheel. The world spun around me, and what seemed like flames rose up. Who knows how long had passed when… Ring… A sharp ringing echoed in my ears, followed by the sound of nonstop chattering. I couldn't take it any longer. Rubbing my head, I snapped, "Shut up!" As I said that, the noise came to a stop. It felt like I had broken out of my shackles. I strained and opened my eyes. Before me was a pair of cold, jet-black eyes. His young, elegant gaze was familiar, but also foreign. Instinctively, I spoke. "Ethan?" I flashed back to when I drove off the cliff to avoid a cat. The sound of explosions was still audible. Did someone save me? The youngster before me furrowed his brow and straightened his lips. "Now what, Evelyn?" I was shocked to hear that cold voice. No. The youngster before me was wearing a school uniform. Though his gaze was cold, it had an air of arrogance and youthfulness to it. It wasn't that mature indifference he'd get later. Was this the Ethan I knew in high school? Dazed, I looked around. Just then, I noticed that Ethan and I were standing on a rostrum. Below us was a crowd of students. The headmaster stood to our side with a dark expression. A banner was hung up on a tree. It read, "St. Nicholas University 100 Days Pledge Anniversary Event". I pinched myself. The pain made a chill run down my spine and my heart practically shivered. Was I not dreaming? Had I been reborn? I had returned to seven years ago. Today was exactly 100 days to the college entrance exams. Today was also my 18th birthday. When Ethan was young, he was impatient toward me. However, it was more like an avoidance rather than the indifference after we got married. Noticing my silence, he furrowed his brow arrogantly. He said sternly, "Evelyn Wiley! This is the 100 Days Pledge Anniversary Event! The point here is to strive for our college entrance exams. It's to chase after our dreams! Whatever it is, say it after the exams are over!" That familiar dialogue jogged my memory. Indeed, to celebrate my coming of age, I was going to confess to Ethan on the Pledge Anniversary Event! I backed up three steps in fright. The mouthpiece in my hand rang sharply. I felt beyond awkward looking at Ethan.