The Plain Jane Everyone Mocked Was Actually the Queen of a Fashion Empire Chapter 04
That night, Ethan lay beside me, calling my name over and over.
I only found it ironic.
Had he spent three years pretending, only to keep up the act even in his sleep?
I got out of bed.
The scissors were still lying where I had left them.
I remembered what he had said earlier. If I needed to cut someone’s hair, I could cut his.
I hadn’t responded at the time, and he had assumed I would never actually do it.
He was wrong.
Being with him had taught me to give in.
What he didn’t know was that I had once been bold, passionate, and fearless.
Now that I had decided to leave him, I was done compromising.
He was sleeping so soundly that he didn’t stir as I took the scissors and hacked away at his hair.
I put them down and stared at the mess I had made.
I didn’t feel the slightest bit satisfied.
All I felt was sadness.
It was unbearably sad that I’d wasted three years of my life on a man like him.
I spent the entire night sitting on the couch, trying to erase every memory of him.
Early the next morning, Ethan woke to find his pillow covered in cut hair.
He was instantly wide awake.
“When did you become like this, Nora?”
“When did you get so petty? How could you actually cut my hair?”
He ran a hand over his head in frustration and muttered, “What if Chloe gets upset when she sees what you did to my hair?”
My expression didn’t change.
I just found it absurd.
So he did understand how awful it felt to have his hair ruined.
He simply hadn’t cared when it happened to me.
“You told me I could cut it, remember? Chloe’s hair is far too precious, so of course I chose yours.”
Before I had even finished speaking, a sleepy Chloe walked in.
The moment she saw Ethan’s hair, she screamed.
Then she stormed toward me and raised her hand to slap me.
“Nora, how dare you cut Ethan’s hair? You’ve got a lot of nerve for someone so frumpy. Even I couldn’t bring myself to cut it!”
Her voice was shrill, and her face twisted with rage.
Ethan strode over and grabbed her wrist.
He lowered his voice and said, “That’s enough. Don’t stoop to her level. What if you hurt your hand hitting her?”
Chloe scoffed.
“She isn’t worth getting my hands dirty over anyway. Besides, the three years are almost up.”
Ethan’s expression shifted, but he didn’t respond.
He clearly didn’t want to discuss it in front of me. Guilt flickered in his eyes.
He looked like he was searching for an explanation.
“About that three-year bet… Let me think about how to explain it.”
I almost laughed. I hadn’t even asked.
“You don’t have to explain. I don’t care.”
He pulled Chloe toward the door, probably afraid she would say something else.
“Okay, don’t be mad. My hair will grow back. How about I take you out for Italian?”
They walked out without looking back.
Had Ethan truly failed to notice that something was wrong with me, or did he simply not care?
I looked around the place Ethan and I had called “home” for three years.
I knew it was time to leave.
An alert for my upcoming flight popped up on my phone.
I was flying to Paris, the fashion capital of the world.
I quickly packed everything that belonged to me.
I threw every photo of us, every matching outfit, and every other matching item in the trash.
Once I boarded the plane, I removed my SIM card and snapped it in half.
I told myself that from that moment on, I would never again be an extension of someone else.
Meanwhile, at an Italian restaurant, Chloe said to Ethan, “The three years are almost up. I’ll take you back, so hurry up and dump Nora. I’m sick of looking at her.”
Ethan stayed silent for a long time.
As if he’d been preparing for this moment for ages.
Then he finally spoke…
