He Gave My Dream to Another Woman? I Took It Back with Interest! Chapter 02

He Gave My Dream to Another Woman? I Took It Back with Interest! Chapter 02

By the time I got home, my clothes were already soaked through from the rain.

Ethan and Natalie were sitting on the couch watching the big-screen TV, chatting and laughing as they discussed the show. Lily was off to the side, playing with her toys.

Neither of them had taken off their shoes, and a wide patch of dark brown rainwater stained the couch beneath them.

When Ethan saw me standing there in a miserable state, he visibly panicked. He jumped to his feet, hurried into the bathroom, and came back with a dry towel, reaching out to wipe me down.

I took a step back.

His hand froze in midair for a second before he softened his voice and tried to comfort me.

“Why didn’t you wait for me to come get you in this weather? I was just telling Natalie that if you still weren’t back soon, I was going to go look for you.”

“That’s right, Claire,” Natalie chimed in, though the smugness in her voice was impossible to miss. “Lily and I got stuck at work too. If Ethan hadn’t gotten there in time, we would’ve ended up just like you.”

She had every reason to sound pleased.

He was my husband, yet when the storm came, the first person he rushed to pick up was her. I had not even crossed his mind.

No wonder she looked so satisfied.

I lifted my head, forcing back the sting in my eyes, then took the towel and casually dried myself off.

“It’s fine. The rain started halfway home, and there was nowhere to call from.”

Ethan seemed surprised by how calm I was. He studied my face for a moment, then frowned.

“Are you upset?”

“Claire, I only picked Natalie up because she was on the way. Can you not make a scene out of this?”

“And besides, you did owe Natalie to begin with. If it weren’t for you, she wouldn’t be raising a child alone at such a young age. She’s your sister. If we can help her, we should.”

Owe her? I let out a cold laugh.

She had cried, begged, and insisted on marrying Ryan back then, and now the fact that she was a widow was somehow my fault?

Did they really think that as long as they kept repeating that excuse, I would go on backing down forever?

I glanced at Natalie, who still looked full of quiet triumph, and spoke in an even tone.

“Mom and Dad told you at the time they could find you someone better. You were the one who insisted on marrying Ryan. You even ruined your own reputation by drugging him.”

“Otherwise, why would he have voluntarily requested a transfer to some remote post? Now that he died in service, that’s my fault too?”

“You getting lost had nothing to do with me either. The day you came back, I moved straight into the school dorms. I would really love to know what exactly I supposedly owe you.”

“Besides, wasn’t Ethan already giving you his entire paycheck every month? You were even the one living in the apartment assigned to him, and I never once made an issue of it.”

Natalie’s expression stiffened. She clearly had not expected me to say it so plainly.

Her eyes immediately filled with tears. Then she turned to Ethan and parted her lips as if she could barely force the words out.

“I didn’t get Ryan killed…”

The moment Ethan saw her cry, he instinctively turned toward her and started to step forward. But when he noticed me standing there, watching him coldly, he stopped himself midway.

Seeing Natalie look so wronged seemed to tear at him. He rounded on me instead.

“I never thought you could be this cruel. No one wanted Ryan’s accident to happen. Natalie was a victim too. How can you blame her for that?”

I was so angry I actually laughed.

Had Ethan already forgotten what he himself had just said?

He was the one who had thrown the blame onto me first, but now that I had merely stated the facts, the two of them suddenly could not handle it?

Natalie’s eyes were red.

“Forget it, Ethan. I never should have come back. If I hadn’t, then Claire would’ve been the one who married Ryan…”

As she spoke, tears streamed down her face. Clenching her jaw, she picked up the bewildered Lily and started toward the door.

“Natalie!”

Ethan called out in panic. He rushed forward, grabbed her by the arm, then shot me a reproachful look.

“Couldn’t you just say less for once? It’s pouring outside. Where exactly do you expect her to go?”

I curled my lips into a faint, cold smile. “And how did you think I got home?”