6
After dinner, I went to the bathroom.
Just as I came out, someone blocked my path in the dimly lit hallway.
It was Jake.
He still smelled of alcohol, his gaze fixed on the intimate red mark on my neck.
‘What’s this?” His voice was low, each word seemingly forced through clenched teeth.
looked up, wearing a perfectly confused expression with a hint of playful complaint:
‘Husband, don’t you remember? Yesterday at the hotel… you insisted on leaving your mark.”
His grip on my wrist suddenly tightened, the pressure painful against my bones.
‘Nicole, say that again?”
He leaned down, his hot breath on my ear.
Just as his lips were about to touch my skin-
Jake.”
Jake froze instantly.
looked up.
Ethan was standing there, casually leaning against the wall.
His gaze swept lightly over our clasped wrists before landing on Jake.
‘Emma’s leaving. She wants you to see her out.”
Only then did I seem to snap out of a trance, pulling away from Jake’s hand like I’d been shocked, stepping back to a safe distance.
I lowered my eyes, showing confusion and speaking apologetically:
“I’m sorry… I mistook you for someone else.”
2/12
D
1615
Chapter 2
That light phrase “mistaken identity” hit Jake like a slap across the face.
He stared at me, his eyes bloodshot.
“Nicole, look carefully, I’m the one who-”
He couldn’t finish.
Ethan walked over and pulled me into his arms with undeniable possession.
“Jake, you should go. Don’t keep your girlfriend waiting.”
“Brother, you-”
16:15
Jake’s face turned extremely ugly. He stared at Ethan’s hand on my shoulder, his expression incredibly comp lex-angry, unwilling, and with a hint of panic he hadn’t even noticed himself.
But in the end, he said nothing.
That sense of inferiority and powerlessness that had formed over years of facing Ethan once again extingui shed all his fire.
He turned and walked away with large strides.
Ethan reached out, his fingertips gently caressing my wrist that Jake had reddened.
“Did he scare you?”
I shook my head, looking up at him:
“No, it’s just… I mistook him for you, and he seemed… very angry.”
Ethan’s gaze fell on that eye-catching mark on my neck, the same spot Jake had been staring at.
He was silent for a few seconds, then suddenly gave a low laugh.
“It seems the marks I left last night weren’t clear enough.”
