That was where Victor’s father’s office was.
Taking the elevator up, I found my way to the rooftop.
Ethan stood at the edge, looking over the city’s endless sea of lights.
Three years had passed.
His frame had grown broader, his presence stronger.
No longer the skinny, cowering boy from before.
No longer the pitiful child who used to curl up and cry.
Dressed in a tailored suit, his long legs straight and powerful-
A criminal in a suit, truly.
Hearing my footsteps, Ethan turned around, grinning wildly.
I asked, “Why here?”
Ethan smirked.
‘Jennie, the Gorman Group went bankrupt. I did it.”
His expression was smug, waiting for my praise.
was speechless.
‘I stopped caring about Victor ages ago. Why are you still fixated on him?”
Ethan leaned in, voice low and dangerous.
‘I hold grudges, Jennie. Didn’t you notice?”
‘Besides, he’s still pining for you. Does he deserve that?”
‘I want him gone from your world. Buried so deep in the mud, he can’t even look up at you.”
I had long known this boy never let things go.
“And also, I was jealous.”
Chapter 11
I blinked.
“Every day he spent with you drove me insane.”
“Why did he get your love so easily?”
“I wanted it so badly, but I could never have it. And he–he didn’t even treasure it!”
Ethan’s voice turned hoarse.
“And Jennie, you never keep your promises to me.”
I frowned. “What promise?”
His eyes reddened.
“You forgot?”
“Of course. You never put me in your heart.”
“Everything you said to me was just to coax a child.”
I awkwardly scratched my nose.
Lifting the cake in my hands, I tried to change the subject.
“Isn’t it your birthday? I bought you a cake.”
But Ethan wasn’t letting this go.
Clutching a sketchbook tightly, his voice was strained.
“Jennie, when I was at my lowest, you promised me-”
“That if I could draw my mother perfectly, you’d give me whatever I wanted most.”
“Now I’m here to collect.”
His voice was steady. Resolute.
“Jennie, I want you.”
The last three words were a declaration of war.
I wanted to say, That was ages ago! You still remember?
But meeting his burning gaze, I fell silent.
A single tear slipped from the corner of his eye.
And burned into my heart.
८
Panic flared inside me. “Don’t cry. It’s not a big deal.”
Ethan’s eyes darkened. “Not a big deal?”
I was speechless.
I didn’t know how to handle him like this.
Didn’t know what to do.
Then I remembered I still owed him a kiss.
So I stood on tiptoe and kissed the corner of his eye, trying to soothe him.
“Don’t cry, okay?”
Ethan pointed to his other eye.
“This side too.”
I sighed but complied, pressing a soft kiss to his right eye.
‘Satisfied now?”
Ethan gritted his teeth.
‘Not enough.”
threw my hands up. “Then what do you want?”
Ethan handed me a contract.
‘I swallowed the Gorman Group, but I can’t eat it alone. Let’s eat it together.”
flipped to the first page.
Four bold words stared back at me.
‘Marriage Agreement”
His name was already signed at the bottom.
The first thing Dad taught me in business–A merchant always seeks profit.
I skimmed through the contract.
The benefits were too tempting.
Three years ago, I sneered at Dad’s suggestion of a marriage alliance.
Now, for profit, I told Ethan, “Fine. Let’s eat together.”
“But our first child must take my last name.”
“If I agree to a second, that one can take yours.”
“If I don’t want another, you can’t force me.”
Ethan handed me the pen.
“Deal.”
Then he watched, unblinking, as I signed.
As if afraid I’d go back on my word.
That night, we ended up in a hotel.
Dad called, annoyed, “Where the hell are you? Why aren’t you home?”
Ethan answered my phone.
“Dad.”
Dad paused. “Ethan? Why are you answering? Where’s my daughter?”
My voice was hoarse.
“Dad, I think we can form an alliance with the Jensen family after all. I changed my mind.”
The night before our wedding, Riley invited me to their old family house.
“Ethan is a psychopath,” he said. “You’ll understand once you see this.”
Inside Ethan’s bedroom, the walls were covered in paintings of me.
There were portraits from middle school, high school, college, and even after I graduated.
Every school uniform in those paintings was exactly the same as the ones I had worn.
But the scenes-
Chapter 11
They had never happened.
In one, I was holding Ethan’s hand, smiling at him.
In another, I was sitting on the bleachers, watching him play basketball.
In another, he was sick in a hospital bed, and I was by his side.
And in one, I was singing him a happy birthday song.
I had no idea how long Ethan had been secretly watching me.
Or how many moments he had imagined us sharing.
Not once had I actually done any of these things with him.
But I did remember, when we were kids, I once told him, “If you’re sad, draw something. It’ll make you feel better.”
Riley thought he was exposing Ethan’s madness. Thought it would scare me away.
‘Jennie, my brother is an obsessive lunatic. Aren’t you afraid of marrying him?”
Most people would be.
But who said I was normal?
Who hasn’t been scarred on the road to growing up?
Who isn’t spending their whole life trying to heal their childhood wounds?
I smiled and answered, “Then you don’t understand-”
‘My biggest fear growing up was being alone.”
‘A madman who craves me with such burning intensity? He’s exactly my type.”
‘He lacks love. I lack companionship.”
‘Thank you, Riley. This is the best wedding gift I could’ve received.”
The next day, I put on my wedding dress without hesitation.
