He Came Back Ten Years Too Late Chapter 03

He Came Back Ten Years Too Late Chapter 03

For a moment, the baby seemed to put me back on top.

Even when I told Ethan to send Cassidy away

and never let her appear in front of me again,

he agreed.

But my chest still felt horribly empty.

Standing inside our home, I felt traces of Ethan and Cassidy’s affair everywhere.

With nowhere else to go, I spent night after night at my mother’s bedside, where she remained unconscious.

Ethan came to find me with a wedding dress.

But there was no warmth in his eyes.

He gave a cold laugh.

“Jasmine Carter, isn’t this exactly what you wanted?”

Every guest came to the wedding.

Everyone except my father.

The same father who had once teared up at the thought of me getting married and said he couldn’t bear to let me go

now hated me for forcing his other daughter out of his life.

After the wedding, my morning sickness became severe.

I had no choice but to take an extended leave and recover at home.

My life shrank to a dull circuit between home and the hospital.

Then one day, I went to the institute to pick up some files.

Instead, I heard my father’s indulgent voice from inside the office.

“Cassidy, don’t worry about settling in here. I bribed the cook at Jasmine’s place to tamper with her meals. She’s been feeling terribly sick and unwell every single day. She won’t have the energy to come over.”

I went completely still, too shocked to react.

Then Ethan’s voice followed.

“It’s good that you want to get ahead, but the baby is still tiny. Don’t push yourself too hard.”

As he spoke, the man wiped the smeared lipstick from her mouth.

I stared at the wedding band on his finger. It felt as if someone had carved my heart out.

So Cassidy had never been sent away.

Even my debilitating morning sickness

was something he and my father had caused on purpose, just to get back at me on Cassidy’s behalf.

I stormed in and made a scene.

But this time, Ethan didn’t even try to calm me down.

He held Cassidy against his chest.

His expression was pure impatience when he looked at me.

“It’s only a job. Be reasonable. You owe her this.”

But what exactly did I owe Cassidy?

She’d destroyed my family.

She’d taken my position at work.

She’d even stolen the man I loved.

Wasn’t I the one who was supposed to be in pain?

Resentment took root and spread through my chest like a weed.

I collected every piece of evidence proving his affair and Cassidy’s replacement of me at work.

But the evidence folder

was thrown back in my face barely two hours after I mailed it.

On top of it sat a hospital bill.

Ethan clamped a hand around my chin, his eyes cold and detached.

“Jazz, you need to learn when to back down.”

“Even if you won’t think about yourself, think about your mother.”

“Who else is going to keep paying for her care if I stop?”

When I thought of my mother, still unconscious in that hospital bed,

I gave in.

From that day on, Ethan went everywhere with Cassidy without the slightest attempt to hide it.

He took her to see the Northern Lights and soak in hot springs.

Everything he’d once done with me, he did again with Cassidy.

But on the day they got married,

my mother woke up.

She stumbled into the church and happened to see me on my knees,

picking up Cassidy’s fallen bouquet.

My cheap bridesmaid dress was splattered with bright, colorful frosting.

From the guests’ pitying and mocking remarks,

my mother learned everything.

Her face went white. Without saying a word, she turned and went back to the hospital.

But late that night, she left me one final message.

[Jasmine, I can’t hold you back any longer. You deserve to be free.]