Total pages in book: 40
Estimated words: 37636 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 188(@200wpm)___ 151(@250wpm)___ 125(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 37636 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 188(@200wpm)___ 151(@250wpm)___ 125(@300wpm)
She was all grown up now, but it wasn't this that had Ethan's own face losing color. Rather, it was the way she was staring at him, and only now when it was all too fucked up...only now did Ethan realize that this was how she had been looking at him from the very start.
Anah was looking at him...with eyes of a girl hopelessly, desperately, and foolishly in love.
ANAH WAS STARTING TO feel scared. It was her first time to see Ethan again, and although she had dreamt of this moment nearly every night and imagined every possible scenario that could happen—-
Reality turned out to be a horrible nightmare. She had seen the way Ethan's hazel eyes turned cold and hard as he stared at her, and she didn't understand it at all. She was hurt and confused, but she also couldn't help worrying about him. He was usually this vital force of rakishly charming energy, with the kind of personality that could light up an entire room with just a disarming flash of his smile.
But this Ethan...he looked older than his years, and more world-weary and cynical, like life had turned its back on him far too many times. Could something have happened between him and Guilia again, and that was why he had come home?
Ethan had no trouble reading every expression that flitted over Anah's face. He knew his cold reception towards her had not gone unnoticed, least of all Anah herself. She had every right to be furious with him, but instead all he could see in her eyes was concern.
Foolish, so goddamn foolish.
Why the fuck had she let herself fall in love with him, even knowing he had already lost his heart to someone else? The urge to change her mind seized him, and Ethan desperately racked his brains for something to say or do to turn things around before it was too late. There had to be something, dammit. Something that he could say without hurting her, but something that would also make it clear only heartbreak lay ahead if she persisted on this fucking stupid path—-
"Ethan, welcome back." Aidan's smooth voice cut into his thoughts. Ethan hadn't even noticed his older brother coming up to him, but what he did notice right this moment was Aidan's look of warning.
Aidan clearly didn't want him to say anything, and Ethan reluctantly responded with a clipped nod.
"Anah—-" Aidan turned to the girl as he spoke. "Do you think you can ask Cook Nancy for a bottle of champagne?"
"Of course." Anah was more than relieved to finally have an excuse to look away from Ethan, whose cold gaze had her heart breaking into pieces.
All three brothers watched in silence as Anah whirled around to use the back door of the dining room. She tripped on her way out, and while the sight had even the normally-stoic Thornton wincing, Aidan couldn't help noting how Ethan's steely expression hardly changed at all.
"Ethan..."
He swung to face his older brother, saying explosively under his breath, "I didn't fucking know..."
Neither twin spoke. They had suspected as much in the end, with how their younger brother had never seemed to hesitate to speak about Guilia in Anah's presence.
Ethan raked a hand through his hair. "What the fuck do I tell her?"
"Nothing," Aidan said flatly. "You're not in the right frame of mind right now. Just forget what you saw—-"
Ethan stared at his brother in disbelief. "Forget that Anah's in love with me?"
Aidan stared back unflinchingly. "You've been blind to her feelings this long. I doubt she'd be able to tell you're faking it." He saw the way Ethan bristled at his tone, but Aidan refused to take the words back. Now that Ethan's eyes were finally open the truth, it was time for his younger brother to make things up to Anah.
"Confronting her will only cause the girl unnecessary pain," Aidan continued quietly. "It would be best if you simply wait and let her feelings die a natural death."
Ethan tried to imagine how it would feel, being with Anah again but pretending not to know about her feelings. "I don't—-"
"Think she'll eventually stop loving you?" Aidan asked with an arched brow.
Ethan swore. "You know that's not what I meant—-"
"Then what exactly it is do you mean to do with her?"
"I just learned about her feelings, dammit. How the fuck would I know—-"
"Exactly," Aidan said quietly. "I know you want what's best for Anah, but if you can't tell me right now that you're completely over Guilia..."
Silence stretched between them.
A muscle ticked in Ethan's jaw. He wished he could give his brother the words he wanted to hear - the words that a girl like Anah deserved - but he couldn't. He just fucking couldn't...and that only meant one thing.
"You're right," Ethan heard himself say. "I'll do it your way and keep being a blind asshole around her."