An Open Marriage Agreement That He Suddenly Refused To Honor Chapter 16

An Open Marriage Agreement That He Suddenly Refused To Honor Chapter 16

When I got off work, Ethan’s car was already parked by the curb.

I thought for a moment, then got in.

“I fired her,” he broke the heavy silence in the car.

I I sighed softly, “You finally let her go. I thought you were genuinely fond of her.”

Ethan curled his lips into a cold smirk.

“Fond isn’t the right word. She was just a little distraction I kept around.”

“Yet you defended her stubbornly every time I confronted you?”

The words were barely out before I understood.

Ethan hadn’t stood up for Chloe out of affection. He’d simply thought my outbursts posed no real threat.

I could only lock myself at home, grieving like a neglected wife for days, but I’d never actually leave him.

Now that he saw I was dead set on divorce, fear finally settled in.

Ethan lit a cigarette, smoke swirling thickly inside the confined car.

He leaned back in the seat, his eyes hidden behind the hazy mist, unreadable.

“Lila, we’ve weathered good times and bad together. There’s no need to end things like this.

I might fool around with other women, but none could ever take your place. We’re different to each other,

aren’t we?”

“Ethan, you’re utterly shameless,” I said calmly.

“So what?” He exhaled a cloud of smoke, a mocking glint in his eyes as if ridiculing my naivety.

“All men are the same, Lila.

I meant to stay faithful to you at first, but temptation’s impossible to resist.

Women throw themselves at me nonstop. I can turn one down, two down-but dozens, hundreds?”

He glanced sideways, a faint cold light glinting behind his gold-rimmed lenses.

“Do you really think that young man will be any different?

Lila, I’m a man. I know how we think. In the end, every man is cut from the same mold.”

I leaned back against the seat and spoke quietly.

“No, Ethan.

Don’t ever compare yourself to him. You’re not worthy.”

Ethan froze for a split second, then squeezed the cigarette so hard it snapped between his fingers.

“What did you say?”

I looked straight at him, my expression completely blank.

“There’s a line between a human and a brute. Humans have the self-control to restrain their impulses.

If you chase every fleeting desire like a rutting hound, what makes you any better than an animal?

I want a decent man who can stay loyal to a marriage-not a beast.”

Ethan stayed silent for a long time.

He only jolted back to reality when the burning cigarette butt singed his fingers.

“What if I promise I’ll never go near another woman again?”

He kept his head lowered, unable to meet my gaze.

“We’ve shared so many years.

I’ll admit it-I really can’t bear to lose you.

I’ll change, I swear. Just give us one more chance.”

It felt surreal hearing such words from him.

For years, he’d kept drilling the same excuses into my head.

“This is just how men are.”

“Work social calls demand trivial flirtations, nothing serious.”

“They’ll never threaten your position, so why overreact?”

He’d been dead certain I’d never leave, so he’d never bothered to care about my feelings.

His words would replay in my mind night after sleepless night, a form of self-torture that left my heart raw

and bleeding.

Now he was telling me he wanted to settle down for good.

I believed he meant every word in that moment.

He was a man too proud to lie outright. Sometimes, I even wished he would lie to me, if only to spare me the stark, pathetic reality.

My phone buzzed with a message.

I opened it; it was Jasper.

“We’re having my graduation dinner tomorrow. Everyone’s bringing their partners… will you come as mine?”

A smile crept onto my lips unconsciously.

Jasper was always looking for ways to make our relationship public, especially after that night on the

mountain. He could hardly contain himself, wanting to be by my side every hour of the day.

He was handsome, outstanding, surrounded by countless beautiful young women wherever he went.

And yet he only had eyes for me… making me fall deeper for him each day.

I pushed open the car door and smiled at Ethan.

“I’ll pass. I’ve already found the one I want to stay with.”