Confronted by Serena Yardley’s questioning, Ethan Yardley felt guilty.
Although he hadn’t gotten a clear look at the ssage’s content, he knew it was from Vivian Lynch.
Unable to co up with an excuse, he said arrogantly, "Just go to sleep."
Seeing he was about to leave, Serena Yardley scrambled out of bed to block his path. She stood in the doorway, craning her neck to look up at him as she yelled angrily,
"You’re not going anywhere tonight! You’re going to stay here and explain yourself. Why did you delete that ssage? Who was it? Have you been cheating on ?"
Ethan Yardley forced himself to remain calm.
He pressed his lips into a thin line, his face devoid of expression. "Serena, don’t let your imagination run wild. I haven’t cheated on you. The ssage was confidential, so I couldn’t let you see it.
It’s getting late. You should get so rest."
He reached out to pull her aside.
But Serena Yardley refused to move, stubbornly blocking the doorway.
"You know it’s late, so what are you going out for? Ethan Yardley, I know you have soone on the side, even if you won’t admit it.
If you walk out that door tonight, don’t ever co back."
’She couldn’t believe he would actually cheat on her.’
’She refused to believe that all n were the sa, always having a wandering eye.’
’How could they do this?’
"Fine. I won’t go out. I’ll stay with you."
Ethan Yardley switched off his phone and sat back down on the bed.
Serena Yardley followed, standing in front of him and glaring fiercely.
But he didn’t dare to et her gaze and said in a low voice, "Go to sleep."
"Do you really think I can sleep right now?"
Tears welled in her eyes, and she felt a bit dazed.p>Ethan Yardley looked up at her, keeping his voice as low as possible. "Then what do you want?"
"What do you an, what do I want? You’re the one who’s cheating! You’re the one with soone else! You’re the one who betrayed ..."
"I’m not."
Ethan Yardley’s voice suddenly turned cold as he shot back, "Serena Yardley, you listen to . I have not cheated on you."
"Then why did soone ssage you in the middle of the night? And why were you so nervous that you deleted it instantly?"
"I told you, it was confidential."
"What kind of confidential information could your own wife not know about? Who are you kidding?"
Serena Yardley couldn’t take it anymore and scread at him, "Ethan Yardley, you’re not a man! You’re a coward who won’t own up to what he’s done!"
"Have you had enough?"
He shot to his feet, his tall fra looming over her, his presence utterly intimidating.
"Even if I, Ethan Yardley, were to cheat, would I need to be so secretive about it? There are so things I don’t want you to know until I’ve figured them out.
Serena Yardley, don’t beco like every other woman, all paranoid and suspicious. The mont you think I’ve wronged you, you start crying and making a scene.p>I don’t want to fight with you. Just go to sleep on your own."
He moved past her small, slender form and stord out, slamming the door behind him.
Serena Yardley, "..."
Her legs gave way, and she collapsed onto the carpet.
’So this is my fault now?’
’I’m the paranoid one?’
’He’s the one who won’t admit what he did, the one with a guilty conscience. What right did he have to turn around and yell at ?’
Frozen in place, tears stread from Serena Yardley’s eyes.
Her chest felt as if it were being ripped apart.
The pain felt terribly familiar, as if she had once been shattered by this sa agony because of him.
But she couldn’t rember what, exactly, he had done to cause her such misery.
Draped over the edge of the bed, she couldn’t stop the sobs from breaking free.
...
Ethan Yardley left the villa. Once he had driven so distance away, he pulled out his phone, turned it on, took Vivian Lynch’s number off his block list, and dialed.
The mont the call connected, before the other person could even speak, Ethan Yardley exploded in a seemingly unprompted rage.
"Why the hell are you ssaging in the middle of the night? Is there sothing that can’t be said during the day? Have you completely lost all sense of propriety?"
The man’s roar startled Vivian Lynch.
She sat on her bed, clutching her phone, hardly daring to breathe.
’She had just wanted to test him, to see if Mr. Yardley would co over if she said she wasn’t feeling well.’
’She’d hoped to use it as an opportunity to foster so intimacy with him, but who knew...’
"Listen to . From now on, do not contact unless it’s a matter of life and death. If you try to be clever again, don’t bla for getting nasty."
Without waiting for a reply, Ethan Yardley hung up, blocked her number, and deleted it again.
He angrily slamd a hand on the steering wheel, overco with frustration.
He spent the entire night sitting in his car.
Rembering that there was a pregnant woman at ho, he drove back at daybreak and went to the bedroom to see her.
Serena Yardley was curled up in bed, biting her fingers and staring blankly into space.
Seeing that she was awake, Ethan Yardley stood by the bed and said,
"I’ll arrange for your leave from school. Don’t go back for a while. Just stay ho and rest."
Serena Yardley ignored him.
Seeing that she was physically all right, Ethan Yardley turned and went to freshen up.
After freshening up, he went downstairs to eat and instructed Mrs. Miller, "Take good care of Serena. Don’t let her leave the house for a while."
Mrs. Miller was confused. "Not even to school?"
"No."
After a few quick bites, Ethan Yardley got up and left.
When it was well into the morning and Miss Serena still hadn’t co downstairs, Mrs. Miller prepared so breakfast and brought it up to her.
Seeing the young woman still lying in bed, Mrs. Miller asked with concern,
"Miss Serena, you should get up and eat sothing before you go back to sleep. It’s better for the baby."
Serena Yardley shook her head and rolled over, avoiding Mrs. Miller’s gaze. She didn’t want to get up.
Mrs. Miller tried again. "What is it? Did you have a fight with Mr. Yardley?"
Serena Yardley said nothing.
Mrs. Miller tried to comfort her. "I don’t know what happened between you two, but if you stay angry and unhappy, it won’t be good for the baby.
Be a dear and get up to eat sothing."
Mrs. Miller reached out to help her sit up.
Serena Yardley obediently sat up, took the bowl from Mrs. Miller, and began to eat, unable to stop the sorrowful tears from falling.
It broke Mrs. Miller’s heart to watch. She quickly dabbed at the tears. "Oh, my dear Miss Serena, what’s happened? Why are you crying so hard?"
Serena Yardley kept her head down, trying to stifle her emotions. In a hoarse voice, she said, "Mrs. Miller, he has soone else."
Mrs. Miller was stunned. "You’re saying Mr. Yardley has another woman on the side?"
"Yes."
"How can that be? Mr. Yardley isn’t the kind of man to ss around."
Serena Yardley sobbed. "It’s true. Last night, the woman ssaged him, and I happened to see it.
He felt guilty and deleted it. Plus, lately, he always leaves after I’m asleep and often doesn’t co back to the room at all."
’All the facts proved she wasn’t wrongly accusing him.’
’He was cheating on her.’
’And he was so brazen about it! Did he really think that she, Serena Yardley, would just pretend not to notice that he had another woman?’
’No way. She would absolutely not endure this humiliation.’
"Oh, heavens. What is to be done?"
Mrs. Miller was utterly shocked.
Serena Yardley forced herself to calm down. She finished the food in a few bites and said to Mrs. Miller,
"You can leave now. I need to think things over on my own."
’She needed ti to figure out what to do.’
’She couldn’t just sit around and wait for disaster. She couldn’t let that man lead her by the nose any longer.’
...
When Ethan Yardley returned ho that evening, he learned that Serena Yardley hadn’t left her room all day.
He went to the room to check on her.
Just as he reached the bedroom door, he heard her on the phone with soone.
"Then I’ll have to trouble you, Lawyer Campbell. I’ll find evidence of his affair as soon as possible and give it to you. Once I have proof, can I file for divorce even if he doesn’t agree to it?"
"Okay, I understand."
"Thank you, Lawyer Campbell."
After hanging up, Serena Yardley called Julian Thorne, still unaware of the man standing in the doorway.
When the call connected, she asked, "Julian, you’re well-connected. Could you help find a private investigator?"
Julian Thorne sounded suspicious. "What do you need a private investigator for?"
"It’s nothing, I just want to look into sothing. Do you know anyone?"
"I do. I’ll send you their contact information."
"Great. Thank you, Julian."
She hung up. Just as she was about to contact the private investigator, a man’s cold voice suddenly spoke from behind her.
"Serena Yardley, what do you think you’re doing?"
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