After My Husband Cheated, I Fell for My Younger Trainer Chapter 05
After the call ended, Ethan did not move, as if he had not understood what I had just said.
He stared at me for several seconds before letting out a laugh.
“Erin, are you seriously trying to scare me with this?”
I simply looked at him without answering.
The smile on his face slowly stiffened.
“Have you lost your mind? You can’t make those partners pull out just because we’re having problems in our
marriage.”
I looked up at him.
“Our marriage?”
The phrase sounded unfamiliar even to me.
“Ethan, when you openly brought Lily to one event after another, did you remember that we were married?”
He frowned.
“Lily and I already…”
“I’m not interested.”
I stepped around him and headed for the bedroom.
He grabbed my wrist.
“Erin, get one thing straight. I got where I am today because I was good at what I did.”
I glanced at the fingers wrapped around my wrist and gave a soft laugh.
“Is that so?”
His jaw tightened.
I pulled my hand free and said slowly, “Then let’s see how far you get on your own.”
When the door closed, he did not try to stop me again.
After that day, Ethan’s phone started ringing far more often.
At first, he managed to keep up appearances.
When he came home at night, his suit was still perfectly pressed, and his voice remained steady.
But by the third day, he finally threw his phone onto the couch.
“What exactly is your father trying to do?”
I was sitting at the dining table, drinking the chicken soup Kyle had brought me.
The broth was rich and fragrant, and its aroma filled the living room the moment I opened the insulated
container.
I took a spoonful without looking up.
“Ask my father.”
“He won’t answer my calls.”
“Then he doesn’t want to.”
Ethan stared at the soup in my hands and suddenly sneered.
“Who gave you that?”
I paused.
“A friend.”
“What kind of friend delivers chicken soup to a married woman first thing in the morning?”
I looked up at him.
“What kind of employee texts a married man at two in the morning because her stomach hurts?”
His expression darkened instantly.
“Erin, do you have to talk like that?”
“I learned it from you.”
He stood there, breathing heavily.
After a moment, he yanked his tie loose and lowered his voice.
“Do you think getting a few of my deals canceled will make me come crawling back to you?”
I nodded.
“Don’t bother begging. It wouldn’t make a difference.”
The words clearly struck his pride.
Something in his gaze finally changed.
The irritation and contempt disappeared, replaced by the wary look of a man reassessing me for the first
time. He had finally realized I was no longer the woman who would always obey him.
Over the following week, I went to work as usual and continued attending my swimming lessons.
Ethan, meanwhile, became visibly more agitated.
Late at night, he made calls from the study, keeping his voice low.
“Greg, I thought we already had an agreement. Please give me another chance. The issue with my wife is only a family matter. It won’t affect the partnership.”
Hearing that, I leaned against the doorway and smiled.
So his wife really could affect his business after all.
On Friday afternoon, I had just climbed out of the pool when Kyle appeared at the edge with a towel in his
hands.
“You did well today.”
He bent slightly to look at me, his eyes bright.
“What’s my reward?”
I held onto the railing and stepped out of the water, droplets sliding from the ends of my hair onto my
shoulders.
“What kind of reward do you want?”
He draped the towel over my head and rubbed my hair through it.
“I’ll let you owe me. I’ll collect after your divorce.”
I was about to respond when Ethan’s cold voice came from behind us.
“Erin.”
I turned around.
Ethan stood at the entrance to the aquatic center lobby, his black coat draped over one arm and his
expression grim.
His eyes were fixed on Kyle’s hand resting on my head.
Kyle did not move it.
He continued drying my hair at an unhurried pace, then tilted his head.
“And this is?”
Before I could answer, Ethan strode toward us.
He grabbed my wrist.
“Come home with me.”
Kyle’s smile faded slightly.
“Mr. Walker, her hair is still wet.”
Ethan stared at him.
“What does that have to do with you?”
Kyle placed the towel back over my shoulders and answered seriously, “It does.”
He paused, his smile calm but unmistakably provocative.
“Erin’s stomach has been bothering her lately, and she gets cold easily. You don’t usually bother taking care of her, so the least you can do is stop making things worse.”
Ethan’s fingers tightened sharply.
I winced in pain.
Kyle’s eyes immediately turned cold.
“Let go.”
The two men stared at each other with me standing between them.
One was the husband I had loved and chased for years.
The other was the man who had supported me when I was at my lowest.
I pulled my wrist free and took a step back.
“Ethan, I can get home by myself.”
He saw the red marks on my wrist, and his expression changed at once.
He did not say a word during the drive home.
The moment we entered the apartment, he slammed the door shut.
“Erin, when did you become like this?”
I put down my bag and turned to him.
“Like what?”
His eyes were filled with obvious anger.
“Getting too close to another man. Using your father’s connections to interfere with my career. Acting like a completely different person.”
I laughed.
“What would you prefer me to be?”
He said nothing.
I stepped closer and looked directly into his eyes.
“Should I keep suffering over you? Keep losing my mind because of you? Or keep waiting at home without a shred of dignity while you go out to dinner with Lily?”
Ethan remained silent for several seconds.
I stopped looking at him and turned toward the bedroom.
Just before I closed the door, I heard him call my name in a hoarse voice.
“Erin.”
It was barely above a whisper.
Unfortunately for him, I no longer wanted to return to this marriage.
