She Taught Him How To Love: He Used It To Destroy Me Chapter 09

She Taught Him How To Love: He Used It To Destroy Me Chapter 09

Vanessa shot up.

“The medical records came from Ethan!”

Ethan’s face turned pale.

“Refusing to send the money and pushing Ivy to break down at the hospital-that was your plan!”

he shouted.

“And framing Ivy as the original mastermind-that was your team’s doing too!”

Both of their voices rose higher.

The brand representative slammed the table.

“Everything you’ve just said has been recorded,” he announced.

The room fell silent.

I pulled out my mom’s final voice message.

The moment Ethan saw her contact photo, he lurched to his feet.

“Don’t play it.”

I didn’t stop.

“E…than.”

“You promised Mom…”

“Don’t… don’t leave Ivy.”

Then Ethan’s reply followed.

“If Ivy doesn’t issue a public apology today, I’m not marrying her,” he said.

“And please don’t use your health to guilt-trip me on her behalf anymore.”

Sent at:

[7:43 p.m.]

Three minutes later, my mom had her second bleed.

Ethan’s lips lost all color.

“Ivy, I was just trying to get her to calm down back then,” he said.

“You stayed by her hospital bed,” I said.

“You ate the cookies she made for you.”

“You took the money from her house sale.”

I looked at him.

“She begged you not to abandon me with her last breath,” I said.

“And you used the thing I feared most to punish her.”

Ethan stumbled off the stage.

Security reached out to stop him.

“I didn’t want your mom to die,” he said.

“I really didn’t.”

I nodded.

“You stood up once,” I said.

“Then you heard three million dollars-and sat back down.”

Ethan froze.

Below the main screen, brand termination notices scrolled past one by one.

Vanessa shoved the planning documents toward Ethan.

Ethan slapped the backend records in front of her.

Neither of them would touch what the other had pushed.

The vindication my mom had waited her whole life for had finally come.

But she couldn’t hear it anymore.

I set the mic down and turned to leave.

Behind me, Ethan kept calling my name.

I didn’t look back.

After the press conference, the platforms suspended the related accounts and courses.

The brands dropped their claims against me.

It took four months to recover the two hundred eighty thousand dollars.

Ethan sold his studio, his car, and most of his equipment to cover the principal and interest.

He was waiting for me outside the bank.

Unshaven.

His shirt-the one he used to press until every crease was gone-hung wrinkled against his skin.

“The money’s all paid back,” he said, holding out the receipt.

“The rest of the proceeds will go toward compensation and Stroke patient care.”

I took the receipt and handed it to Cora.

“This is what you owed anyway,” I said.

Ethan’s eyes went red.

“I know it won’t bring your mom back,” he said.

“I just finally understand what I did wrong.”

“Vanessa’s methods-at first, they really made me feel like we could be better.”

“You locked me out,” I said.

“You disappeared at our Engagement Party.”

“You posted the critical condition notice.”

“And when the nurse told you my mom was dead, you sat back down in front of the camera.”

Ethan lowered his head.

After a long silence, he asked, “What do I have to do for you to forgive me?”

“You can do anything you want,” I said.

“But I won’t forgive you.”

His head snapped up.

“Seven years,” he said.

“You’re really not going to give me a single chance?”

I thought about the Oatmeal with Brown Sugar I never got to drink.

About how he remembered to get my mom Pumpkin Bread every year.

About four years ago, when he slept by my mom’s hospital bed for two nights.

But every time it really mattered, he put me and my mom last.

“You know exactly how to be good to someone,” I said.

“That’s exactly why I can’t forgive you.”