Chapter 121 Let's Call It Quits
Sarah was hastening to catch up when her phone suddenly pinged with a message.
"Sarah, I've left. Please take care of Ethan for me! If it's possible, I wish you two could be together."
The text was from Chloe Miller. As Sarah read it, a tightness gripped her heart—she could sense the depth of Chloe's despair when sending that message.
"No way, he's your man. You need to take care of him! I'm sure there's a way through this. You have to believe in Ethan too! Lay it out for him, maybe we're all just being too pessimistic. Whatever the case, you owe it to your future to fight for your relationship !"
Without any hesitation, Sarah rejected Chloe's request but also shared her own thoughts, hoping Chloe would open up to Ethan and face the situation together.
She typed and sent it in no time.
But by the time Sarah wanted to chase after Ethan Wilson, he had already vanished without a trace.
He hadn't taken his car; instead, he had walked out of the building. Alarmed, Sarah immediately alerted the Harris family, asking them to look for Ethan.
Given the state Ethan had left in, Sarah's worry deepened. Any trouble now would only exacerbate things.
After exiting the office, Ethan wandered aimlessly along the streets, just as dejected as he was the day he was turned away by Jayden Wilson and his mother; his lonely figure was quickly swallowed by the crowd.
He had no idea how long he had been walking when his phone suddenly rang.
Expecting it to be Sarah, he almost ignored the call. But a glance at the caller ID made his eyes widen—Chloe!
"Chloe!" Ethan answered, his voice trembling.
The silence that greeted him only heightened Ethan's anxiety. "Chloe, I know it's you. Why aren't you saying anything?"
After a painful pause, just as Ethan was about to ask again, a familiar voice finally came through the phone.
"I'm sorry, Ethan! Some family stuff came up and I had to come back home. I didn't want to go through the pain of a goodbye, so... I left without telling you."
Chloe's voice carried a tinge of helplessness and deep remorse.
"So when can you come back to Novaria?" Ethan pressed.
"For now... it doesn't look like I'll be returning anytime soon. It might be a long while."
There was a pause before Chloe offered her restrained explanation.
"What's really going on? It feels like you're saying farewell for good. If you plan on coming back, why leave without a word? Why leave me the company, the villa, and the cars? There's no need for that! I want the whole truth."
It was clear Ethan didn't buy Chloe's explanation. He had sensed something off about Chloe from the get-go but had not dwelled on it deeply until now.
"Ethan, don't jump to conclusions. I really had to come back because of my family. And it might not be so easy to stay in touch... You know my family has its rules."
Chloe spoke with an air of resignation.
"Fine, I'm coming to see you. Is it just because of the Miller family? I’ll go have a talk with your folks and set the record straight about us. I want us to be together openly. Why do we have to sneak around as if our relationship is something to hide?"
Ethan, teeth clenched, made up his mind.
He knew heading to Houston right now wasn't the wisest move, but for Chloe, he was willing to take the risk!
"No... please don’t come!" Chloe sounded panicked and quickly tried to stop him.
"Why not? Don't you want to see me? Or do you have other concerns? Is it because your parents or someone else in the family disapproves of us? Greg has had his suspicions about us, hasn't he?"
Perplexed and even a bit angry, Ethan couldn’t understand why she was acting this way.
He had once given everything to Jayden Wilson, only to be left in the cold!
He couldn't believe he might be facing the same situation with Chloe!
"Why do you have to push me? There are things I'd rather not say, for fear of hurting you. But since you're insisting on an answer... I'll tell you the truth."
After a brief silence, Chloe's voice, trembling slightly, began to unravel the story.
"Go ahead, I just need to know what's really happening!"
Ethan gritted his teeth, waiting for an explanation from Chloe.
"We should break up, Ethan. Pretend you never met me."
The words that followed hit Ethan like a thunderbolt, leaving him stunned.
Miles away in Houston, tears streamed down Chloe’s face, yet she made not a sound. She could imagine Ethan, shattered and hopeless, a mirror of her own turmoil.
"Why... why?" After what felt like an eternity, Ethan’s voice trembled with the question.
"I’m getting engaged," Chloe confessed, her voice nearly breaking. "He’s from a wealthy family, just like mine. It’s a good match, and it was arranged by our families a long time ago. My return was to honor the marriage agreement."
With a hollow laugh that sounded more like he was mocking himself , Ethan responded, "You could've told me sooner! If that's the case, then I wish you all the best!"
He burst into an inexplicable laughter before cutting the call abruptly, shaking his head in disbelief. "You're just a castoff from the Wilsons, who is completely unworthy of love! How could you ever dream that the prestigious Miss Miller would see anything in you?"
In that moment, Ethan's heart broke anew, his spirit too sapped to even argue.
Zombie-like, he stood still for a long while before wandering aimlessly along the streets. Unbeknownst to him, a figure trailed far behind him, tears falling as they watched his retreating form.
As night fell, Ethan happened to stop by the entrance of a bar just as a girl stumbled out right into him.
"Are you blind? Don't you look where you're going?" She slurred; she was clearly inebriated and soon collapsed onto the ground.
Snapping to his senses, Ethan quickly helped her up, "I'm sorry... I wasn't paying attention."
"Bad luck!" She grumbled, pulling away from Ethan's grasp, dusting off even the spots his hands had touched, ignoring the dirt on her clothes.
"Heh... Seems like every woman hates me !" Ethan muttered to himself.
Ethan couldn't help but smirk at the memory of that girl's face, and as he lifted his gaze, the neon sign of the bar caught his attention.
On a whim, driven by the urge to drown his sorrows in alcohol, Ethan strode into the bar without a moment's hesitation.
"Hey, you think you can just bump into me and walk away like that?"
Right then, an irate voice called out from behind him, a girl targeting Ethan's retreating back.
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