Too Late to Beg, Ex-Husband Chapter 04

Too Late to Beg, Ex-Husband Chapter 04 You’re Such an Idiot

Ean did not notice anything wrong with Stella.

After treating her cheek, he carried the first-aid kit upstairs. “I’m taking a shower. Come up when you’re done down here.”

Stella did not answer. She picked up her phone and deleted the photo she had posted minutes earlier.

Her smile vanished. After one last look at the ring, she removed it and returned it to the jewelry box exactly as she had found it.

She no longer had the heart to ask Ethan what was going on.

No matter how she asked, there was only one answer.

Stella owed the Evans family, especially Cynthia. Anything Stella received should come with a matching gift for Cynthia, supposedly to honor Jason’s memory.

For years, those words had silenced every complaint and swallowed every hurt. The moment someone invoked that debt, Stella lost the right to say anything at all.

Stella sat blankly on the couch.

Usually, laughter from a variety show distracted her. Ethan had turned off the television, leaving the living room unbearably quiet.

As soon as the house grew quiet, Stella’s thoughts became a mess.

She remembered Jason.

The Hawthornes and Evans were longtime family friends. Ethan and Jason were inseparable, while Cynthia and Stella were three years younger. All four had practically grown up together.

Stella was the butler’s daughter, but her father, Leonard Sutton, adored her. As head steward, he earned in a month what many ordinary workers made in a year. So Stella had never lacked money growing up.

She and Ethan had bickered since childhood. Everyone feared the Hawthorne heir except Stella, who challenged him daily and once made him cry from sheer frustration.

Of course, Ethan refused to admit it once he grew up.

Over time, Stella also grew close to the Evans siblings, who visited the Hawthorne estate so frequently that they felt almost like family.

Jason was an exceptionally good person. Though he came from a wealthy family, he was never arrogant. He remained gentle and easygoing, always smiling warmly at Stella and treating her like another younger sister.

Like Cynthia, Stella called him Jason.

As children, Cynthia and Stella were never best friends, but they joked, teased each other, and did not really dislike one another.

Stella could not pinpoint when Cynthia’s hostility toward her had begun to deepen.

It was probably after they started high school.

During Stella and Cynthia’s freshman year, Ethan and Jason graduated. The girls secretly attended their graduation party. and Cynthia was nervous the entire way there.

“What are you afraid of?” Stella asked. “Jason is too gentle to scold us. If Ethan gives you trouble, I’ll give it right back to him.”

Cynthia said, “I’m going to confess my feelings today.”

Stella stared at her in confusion. “Confessing to whom? What are you talking about?”

“Ethan,” Cynthia admitted, her face turning bright red. “I’ve loved him since we were children.”

Stella froze. She could not name the feeling. She only felt low, as though something were lodged in her chest.

Part of Stella did not want Cynthia to be hurt, because that would make her sad too.

Yet imagining Ethan becoming Cynthia’s boyfriend hurt far more than Stella wanted to admit.

In that moment, Stella finally understood that what she felt for Ethan was entirely different from what she felt for Jason.

Cynthia went to Ethan with a love letter. When she returned in tears, she told Stella, “We’re not friends anymore. I hate you.”

Confused, Stella rushed out to find Ethan and demanded to know what he had said to Cynthia.

Ethan frowned. “Do you even know what Cynthia came to tell me?” he asked.

Stella protested, “No matter what she said, you still shouldn’t have hurt her.”

Ethan’s face flushed with anger when he saw Stella determined to defend Cynthia,

At last, Ethan snapped, “Stella, you’re a complete idiot.”

Ethan had called her an idiot during countless childhood arguments, but that was the only time Stella believed he truly meant it.

Stella got angry too. She had no idea why Cynthia had ended their friendship or why Ethan had suddenly stopped speaking to her.

Jason eventually found her. “Stella, this may sound selfish, but Cynthia is my sister. Our family spoiled her, so please don’t stay angry with her.”

I don’t know why she suddenly stopped talking to me,” Stella said. After a pause, she added, “Ethan did the same thing.”

Jason was silent for a moment, then he said, “Cynthia confessed her feelings to Ethan.”

Stella replied, “I know.”

Jason said, “Ethan told Cynthia that the person he actually likes is you.”

Stella slowly raised her lowered eyes and stared at Jason, blinking as the meaning of his words finally settled in.

Jason kept his gentle smile. Seeing her confusion and embarrassment, he only rested a reassuring hand on her head.

Jason said, “You’re still young, Stella. Promise me you’ll wait until graduation before discussing this with Ethan. He promised not to interfere with your studies until then.”

Stella slowly flushed.

On her fifteenth birthday, Stella wrote a sentence in her diary.

She wrote that her heart felt like an orchard blooming overnight, every branch suddenly covered with Ethan’s name.

By the time Stella graduated, Ethan was studying abroad. He called to ask which university she had chosen.

Stella said sulkily, “Anywhere but an American university.”

era-moment of silence, Ethan said, “I’ll be back next year.

“Why should I care when you’re coming back?” Stella shot back.

Ethan pressed her, his voice quieter now. “You really don’t care when I come home?”

Stella stubbornly refused to soften. “Not even a little.”

Ethan said, “Stella, you’re an idiot.” Then, he hung up.

Furious, Stella typed an entire screen of insults in their chat, only to find that she’d been blocked.

Ethan had blocked her first again. He always insulted her by phone, blocked her before she could retaliate, then unblocked/ her two days later after her anger had faded.

To everyone else, Ethan, the Hawthorne heir, was elegant and untouchable. With Stella, Ethan was shamelessly childish and impossible.