Her pitiful act tugged at Ethan’s heartstrings. He knelt beside her, worried and tender, completely ignoring the blood on my forehead and the red marks across my cheek.
“Where does it hurt? I’ll call a doctor for you right now.”
“I’ll have them prescribe the best medicine—you’ll recover quickly, I promise.”
Sophia leaned into his arms, but her eyes flicked toward me with a smug smile.
“No need, Mr. Cole… It’s my fault. I shouldn’t have upset Lily. She’s just in a bad mood lately. Once she vents, she’ll be fine. I’m okay.”
“She’s in a bad mood, so she gets to shove people?” Ethan snapped, his eyes sharp as ice.
“When did you become so vicious, Lily Evans?”
Vicious? My fingers brushed the warm blood on my temple. Three years of marriage—managing his company’s affairs, caring for his sick mother, even pawning my inheritance jewelry during his failed startup—and in his eyes, I was nothing but a cruel woman.
“I didn’t push her.”
I forced my voice steady, though the pain had already numbed me.
“There are security cameras outside this office. Check the footage and you’ll know.”
Sophia’s face went pale. She clung tighter to Ethan’s sleeve.
“Mr. Cole, I forgive Lily. Let’s just forget about today, okay?”
“Digging up camera footage is too much trouble. Why would I lie to you?”
Ethan stood over me, towering with authority. “Lily Evans, regardless of what the cameras show, you still hurt someone. Apologize to Sophia.”
Watching him twist right and wrong, I felt my heart growing cold.
“Ethan Cole, do you really refuse to see the truth?”
“I know exactly what’s going on. Sophia is such a delicate girl—how could she possibly lie about this?
You, on the other hand, have never liked her. Pushing her is exactly the kind of thing you’d do.”
Looking at the man I’d loved for five years and married for three, I felt only disgust.
But for the sake of leaving quickly, I chose to compromise.
“I’m sorry.”
Only then did Ethan seem satisfied. He helped Sophia to her feet and walked her out.
I leaned against the coffee table for a long time until the wound on my forehead finally began to scab over.
Three hours later, my phone buzzed with a message: “Dear Mr. Cole, your Ocean-view Suite has been successfully reserved.”
At the same time, the company chat group announced the year-end bonuses.
Beside my name, a glaring zero appeared.