Ethan looked at his empty hand, his eyes darkening as he strode after Natalie. \u201cNatalie!\u201d He caught up to her by the car, grabbing her wrist. \u201cQuit it! Today\u2019s our third anniversary. There\u2019s a party at the old estate, with a bunch of guests invited. You\u2019re coming with me.\u201d Wedding anniversary? Natalie looked as if she\u2019d just heard something utterly ridiculous, a broken curve tugging at her lips. He\u2019d just dragged her out of hell, and now he expected her to play the perfect wife at some party? Before she could answer, Ethan forced her into the car. Back at the old family estate, the place was ablaze with lights, glasses clinking everywhere. During the gift-giving, Ethan presented Natalie with several sets of priceless jewelry in front of all the guests, instantly sparking a chorus of envious whispers. \u201cMr. Fletcher really dotes on his wife!\u201d \u201cRight? Who would\u2019ve guessed someone as cold as Mr. Fletcher could ever be wrapped around someone\u2019s finger?\u201d \u201cMs. Bennett comes from a great family, and she\u2019s gorgeous\u2014one in a million. Sure, her temper\u2019s a little fierce, but it\u2019s got bite! Unlike that Ms. Grant\u2014no background, and her husband\u2019s a joke. You really can\u2019t compare\u2026\u201d The gossip drifted around Natalie. She sat, emotionless, as if they were talking about someone else. In the corner, Vivian\u2019s face fell as she listened to it all. She glared at Natalie, furious, then spun on her heel and left the banquet hall. Natalie didn\u2019t care. Just then, a server accidentally spilled wine on her dress, so she stood up and went back to her room to change. After slipping into a fresh dress and heading downstairs, she suddenly froze. The slick marble steps were coated with a layer of clear oil. If she hadn\u2019t been careful just now\u2026 The consequences would\u2019ve been unthinkable. A chill shot through her, quickly turning to rage. She immediately sent someone to investigate! The answer came back quickly\u2014it was Vivian who\u2019d ordered it done! Natalie\u2019s face turned to ice. She marched straight to confront Vivian. She was just about to push open Vivian\u2019s door when she heard a hushed phone call inside: \u201c\u2026If they didn\u2019t want people comparing me to Natalie, I wouldn\u2019t have to do this! I want her to fall down those stairs and end up crippled! Let\u2019s see how proud she is then! Let\u2019s see if Ethan would still want a cripple!\u201d Natalie couldn\u2019t hold back anymore. She threw the door open. Vivian\u2019s eyes went wide with fear, but Natalie was faster\u2014her hand lashed out in a brutal slap. \u201cVivian, you are truly vicious!\u201d Without giving Vivian a chance to react, Natalie\u2019s eyes fell on a decorative cane leaning in the corner. She grabbed it and, putting all her strength into it, brought it down hard on Vivian\u2019s legs. \u201cAh\u2014!\u201d Vivian\u2019s scream tore through the room. A sharp crack came from her bones. \u201cNatalie, you\u2019re insane! You actually hit me?! Ethan will never forgive you!\u201d Vivian shrieked, her face twisted in pain. Natalie\u2019s eyes were icy. With a swift kick, she sent Vivian crashing through the open balcony doors. \u201cSplash\u2014!\u201d Vivian crashed into the icy pool below, water exploding everywhere. \u201cHelp\u2026 help\u2026\u201d She thrashed in the water, but with her leg broken, she couldn\u2019t swim at all. The banquet hall was instantly thrown into chaos! Soon, people fished Vivian out, dragging her onto the ground like a half-dead fish\u2014soaked and pathetic. Ethan rushed over at the commotion, his expression instantly turning dark as thunder. He looked first at Vivian\u2014dripping, shivering, crying like a child\u2014then his gaze cut sharply to Natalie, still standing calm and collected at the top of the stairs. \u201cNatalie! Was this your doing?!\u201d His voice was low and angry. Vivian instantly grabbed at his pant leg, sobbing, \u201cBrother\u2026 I don\u2019t know what I did to upset Natalie, but she stormed in, broke my leg, and kicked me into the pool\u2026 She must still hate me for the time you sent her to the police station\u2026\u201d Ethan turned a frosty look on Natalie. \u201cIs what she says true?\u201d Natalie met his gaze, voice steady and clear. \u201cThat\u2019s not true. The reason I went after her is because\u2014\u201d \u201cThat\u2019s enough!\u201d Ethan snapped, cutting her off. He didn\u2019t care to hear any explanations. \u201cNo matter what she said or did to you, you can\u2019t use such cruel methods! And it\u2019s always been you stirring up trouble, not her! With your family\u2019s name and my support, do you think you can do anything you want? That you can just bully people at will?!\u201d Seeing the distrust and bias in his eyes, hearing his upside-down accusations, Natalie felt as if a thousand needles stabbed into her heart at once, the pain making it almost impossible to breathe. What was the point of talking anymore? In his eyes, she was always wrong, and Vivian would always be right. She tugged her lips into a bleak, desolate smile. \u201cEthan, believe whatever you want.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Ethan looked at his empty hand, his eyes darkening as he strode after Natalie. \u201cNatalie!\u201d He caught up to her […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"site-sidebar-layout":"default","site-content-layout":"","ast-site-content-layout":"default","site-content-style":"default","site-sidebar-style":"default","ast-global-header-display":"","ast-banner-title-visibility":"","ast-main-header-display":"","ast-hfb-above-header-display":"","ast-hfb-below-header-display":"","ast-hfb-mobile-header-display":"","site-post-title":"","ast-breadcrumbs-content":"","ast-featured-img":"","footer-sml-layout":"","ast-disable-related-posts":"","theme-transparent-header-meta":"","adv-header-id-meta":"","stick-header-meta":"","header-above-stick-meta":"","header-main-stick-meta":"","header-below-stick-meta":"","astra-migrate-meta-layouts":"default","ast-page-background-enabled":"default","ast-page-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"ast-content-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-4)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-4)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-4)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"footnotes":""},"categories":[28],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-20173","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-woke-up-and-left-the-cage-of-my-marriage"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/20173","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=20173"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/20173\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=20173"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=20173"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=20173"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}