He Replaced Me in Three Days So I Replaced Him in One Night Chapter 05

He Replaced Me in Three Days So I Replaced Him in One Night Chapter 05

“Finn!” Ethan’s voice was a guttural roar, raw with a possessiveness that bordered on deranged.

“You touch her, and I swear I’ll drag us both straight to hell.”

Finn’s hand settled on my shoulder, “She’s the one who came after me, isn’t she, Clara?”

“Yeah.”

Finn led the way, whistling a tuneless melody. The crowd parted before us like the Red Sea, too

intimidated to do anything but stare.

It was only at the elevators that Ethan’s men, their courage fortified by their boss’s visible fury,

finally stepped into our path.

Finn turned around- his impatience vanished, replaced by a smirk as he looked at Lila.

“Works for me. How about this: I give Clara back to you, and you hand her over to me. Ethan, you can’t hog all the good things, can you?”

Lila’s fingers twisted in Ethan’s sleeve, her eyes brimming.

Without even looking at her, Ethan shoved her roughly toward Finn. A silent torrent of tears tracked

down her cheeks.

The moment Finn’s hand started to rise, Ethan snapped her back against his chest with a

possessive jerk.

He glared at his men, gritting his teeth, “Let them go.”

As we left, we heard Ethan bark an order, “Use every resource the Hale family has-lock down

every hotel in the city!”

Finn never intended to take me to a hotel. Instead, he drove me back to the Foster residence.

Ethan wasn’t entirely wrong-

the thrill of being with someone young was undeniable.

I left the Foster residence by afternoon.

I booked the next international flight, planning to travel for a year or so.

But plans changed. I was back in a month.

Not because circumstances shifted-

but because I was pregnant.

As I exited the airport, a Hale family car was waiting outside.

A bodyguard gestured for me to enter, “Miss Clara, someone wants to see you.”

They flanked me- I had no choice but to get in.

The door closed with a soft thud, sealing me in. It took a moment for my eyes to adjust to the dim interior.

The person waiting for me wasn’t Ethan. It was Lila One month had carved shadows under her eyes and dulled their once-luminous sparkle. She looked drained.

“Clara, you’re finally back.”

“Aren’t you curious how he’s been while you were gone?”

I checked my watch, “I don’t have time for small talk.”

I reached for the door handle, but she grabbed my arm urgently.

“He got into a car accident. He just woke up.”

“He’s been a mess this month. He misses you so much, Clara- come see him with me?”

It sounded like a question, but Lila didn’t slow the car.

Foreign medical care could only do so much. I’d returned to confirm my pregnancy anyway.

Figuring it was on the way, I said nothing.

When we reached the hospital, Ethan was no longer in his room.

Lila panicked.

She accosted a nurse. “Room 88. The patient-where is he?” She stopped a doctor, her hands sketching a height in the air.

“Tall, ankle bandage, have you seen him?” Her phone was already at her ear, dialing, redialing.

Each time, the same infuriating busy signal.

I went downstairs for a blood test.

The results didn’t take long.

Holding the lab report confirming five weeks of pregnancy, my hands grew cold.

Sitting in the hallway, I stared at Finn’s number- but never dialed.

Lila came skidding to a halt in front of me, slightly breathless. “I found him. He’s at Finn Foster’s birthday party. At the Foster villa.” I folded the report once, twice, and slipped it into my bag.

My movements were deliberate, calm. “Then that’s where we’re going.” The swiftness of my agreement clearly caught her off guard.

The drive took ten minutes.

Before we even entered the villa, we heard laughter inside.

A large pool sat in front of the house.

The man she’d been looking for was right in the middle of it.

Blindfolded, Ethan chased young girls around the pool.

Blood seeped through the bandage on his ankle.

“Ethan!”

Lila ran over. Ethan pulled off the blindfold- it was a woman’s lingerie.

Annoyed at the interruption, Ethan scowled.

“What are you doing here?”

His gaze then landed on me.

Raising an eyebrow, he asked tauntingly, “Showing up right after you’re back- isn’t that a bit

desperate?”

Ethan lifted Lila’s chin, “Did she bully you again?”

Lila shook her head, trying to explain, but Ethan wasn’t listening.

He snatched up a half-empty bottle of whiskey and started toward me, his injured ankle making his

gait an awkward, rolling limp. “No calls.

No texts. Just a nice, clean disappearing act. Very mature, Clara.” Every word was edged with a

bitter, sarcastic anger.

Lila stood between us, mediating, “Clara, he just misses you. He thought about you every day while

you were gone.”

I smiled, “Is that true? Tell her yourself.”

Ethan stared into my eyes, seemingly relenting, “Fine. I missed you.”

I laughed coldly, looking at him straight, “You’re disgusting.”

With that, I walked inside.

Ethan chased after me, grabbing my arm, “Clara, you win this cold war.”

I laughed in frustration, yanking my arm free.

Ethan didn’t get angry. Instead, he grabbed my hand and slammed a card into it.

“No need for this hostility. Here’s a bridal shop card go try dresses anytime. We can still have the

weddi…”

I snapped the card in half before he finished.

“I came back for Finn.”

Ethan ran a hand through his hair, laughing bitterly, Cut the act.”

I repeated, “I’m here for Finn.”

“Stop lying! I’m trying to talk to you like an adult- do you have to make this so miserable? What do

you even have with Finn? Nothing happened between you! That night, I locked down eighty percent

of the city’s hotels. I checked the other twenty- no record of you two. Finn went straight back to

the Foster residence after the party. Don’t tell me you went with him.”

Ethan grew more agitated by the second.

He grabbed a nearby waiter, “Go on- ask him where Finn is. See if he even acknowledges you!”

Ethan planted his hands on his hips, his face turning blue with rage.

I didn’t understand his anger.

Lost in his own delusions, he ranted on, “Even Finn has standards. He wouldn’t just take anyone.”

“Do you think I’m that terrible?”

My sudden question caught Ethan off guard.

He hesitated for only a second before blurting, “Yes! Why wouldn’t I? Isn’t this embarrassing for

you- begging for attention like this?”

I’d suspected he felt that way, but hearing it out loud still stung.

Enough.

Why dwell on the past?

I took a step toward the villa interior.

Ethan shifted, deliberately blocking my way.

His stance made it clear: he was the gatekeeper, and he wasn’t moving. “Clara. Enough of the

performance.”

I stopped, looking at him coldly. After a long pause asked, “How do you know I didn’t go home

with him?”

“You had my men fetched the second you landed-trying to intimidate Lila? You followed her to

the hospital, thinking I wouldn’t find out? The nurses called me the minute you arrived. Now you’re

chasing me here.”

Ethan pulled on a jacket, grinning, “Embarrassed? Still trying to play tough?”

I looked at him, helpless.

I knew arguing was useless.

I didn’t even know where Finn was- but if he was here, Ethan would never let me reach him.

I turned to leave.

A lazy drawl came from afar,

“Looking for me?”

I froze, turning around.

Finn was leaning against the eaves- he’d clearly been there a while.

“You knew I’d come.”

“I did. Your lab results were on my desk the second you left the hospital.”

Finn nodded toward the crowd, “Let her through.”

The crowded space suddenly parted.

Ethan frowned, clearly irritated,

“What are you two talking about?”

He spoke hastily, “Are you sick?”

Finn descended the steps, “Tell him why you went to the hospital.”