Hearts Remember What Minds Try To Forget by Rex Wilder 34

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At the office, Ethan sat behind his massive desk. Files lay open before him for ages, but he couldn’t focus on a single word. 

He’d expected me to contact him once I’d cooled off. But five days had passed, my phone was still off, and his messages failed. 

He was fuming. They’d agreed he’d take me out to clear my head when he got back, but I’d just left without a word. Clearly, I wanted 

him to chase after me. 

All this recent drama? It was all me, being too jealous, unable to handle Sophia and the baby. 

If I’d just laid low for a while, he’d have sent Sophia and the kid away after his mission was done, and we could’ve gone back to how things were. But no, I kept messing up, making the same mistakes again and again. 

If he actually went running after me and begged me this time, wouldn’t I just get even more spoiled and impossible later on? 

No way. He thought I had to be the one to back down first this time! 

His phone suddenly rang. A flicker of hope sparked in Ethan’s eyes. Had I finally realized my 

He grabbed his phone, but the screen showed an unknown number. 

The light in his eyes vanished instantly. He picked up, annoyed.“Hello?” 

mistake? 

“Hi, is this Mr. Ethan? I have a package here from Ms. Ella that needs your signature. I’m at your villa gate right now.” 

It was a package from Ella, for him! Ethan’s heart swelled with a mix of huge joy and sweetness. 

He knew it! Ella was just playing hard to get, but she still cared about him! Even when she was out cooling off, she remembered to send him a gift! Too bad Ella hadn’t gotten the gift he’d prepared this time… He pictured her surprised face when she received it. 

“Just have the butler sign for it,” Ethan replied, his eyes and eyebrows practically radiating uncontainable delight. 

“Alright, Mr. Wilson.” 

Ethan hung up, snatched his car keys, and bolted downstairs, flooring the gas pedal the whole way, even blowing through nine red 

lights. 

Since Ella was willing to be the first to sweetly make amends, he shouldn’t leave her hanging anymore. 

Tomorrow, no! He’d book a flight to find her right now. 

When he got to the mansion, he burst through the front door, immediately spotting a manila envelope on the entryway table. 

A manila envelope? A flicker of confusion crossed his mind. Did Ella send him a postcard as a gift? 

Suddenly, he remembered the ninety–nine love letters he’d once sent me. Could it be that Ella was about to give him love letters too? 

A sweet anticipation bubbled up in his chest. 

He was just about to reach for it when he heard Sophia’s deliberately hushed voice from inside the bedroom door. It sounded like she was on the phone with someone: 

“Can’t believe I’m pregnant, and Ethan’s still hung up on Ella. If she hadn’t shown up, I’d have married Ethan ages ago and been Mrs. Wilson, officially.” 

“He really loved Ella. Back then, I finally managed to drug him and get him into bed, but he still wouldn’t be with me after he woke up! I 

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was so pissed, I found a guy who looked a bit like him, and then, boom, pregnant.” 

“I took the kid to him, originally hoping that having his child would secure my place… but he actually preferred to get beaten senseless by his dad just to send us out of the country! He was totally blind to what was good for him! Good thing you gave me the idea to deliberately put the kid in a house with severely high formaldehyde levels, so he got leukemia. That’s how I got a chance to get back to Ethan. Once my belly gets bigger, I’ll figure out a way to get rid of Liam. He’s not Ethan’s kid after all, so keeping him around is a risk. Can’t let anything slip!” 

Ethan froze, completely stunned. It was like a lightning bolt hit him. Liam… not his kid?! 

And Sophia, just to get close to him again, actually poisoned her own child, giving him leukemia? 

What a twisted, evil woman… 

He instantly started second–guessing everything that had happened recently. Was it all just a setup by this vicious woman, Sophia? 

The car keys slipped from Ethan’s hand with a loud “clatter,” hitting the floor and echoing through the silent house. Inside the bedroom, the talking stopped abruptly. 

The next second, Sophia yanked the door open, her face drained of color. Her eyes widened in panic when she saw Ethan. She forced a stiff, unnatural smile, her lips trembling. 

“Ethan? Aren’t you at work? How… how come you’re back so suddenly?” 

Ethan didn’t say a word. He just stared at her, his gaze colder and angrier than Sophia had ever seen. 

Sophia felt a chill run through her. She instantly knew he’d heard everything! 

“Ethan, you… let me explain. I was just… I was just talking nonsense! I…” Sophia’s voice was distorted with sheer terror. She lunged forward, trying to grab Ethan’s arm, her mind racing to conjure up a lie. 

“Explain what?” Ethan roared, a vein throbbing in his temple. 

Sophia flinched, backing away until she hit the doorframe, her eyes wide with terror. 

“Explain how you schemed to drug me? How you used that bastard kid to trick me? And how you framed Ella? Sophia! You sick, twisted 

bitch!” 

He raised his hand, pure rage almost driving him to slap the life out of this vicious woman. 

His words hammered down, crushing Sophia’s last shred of hope. 

Sophia’s face was ashen, her whole body shaking as she crumpled to the floor. She gripped Ethan’s pants leg, sobbing incoherently, trying to defend herself: 

“No… no, that’s not it… Ethan, you’ve got it all wrong… I only did all this because… because I love you so much! I couldn’t help it! Ethan, we were childhood sweethearts, weren’t we? I’ve loved you since we were kids, my biggest dream was to marry you! Why do you never see me? Why do you only ever see that bitch, Ella?!” 

“You don’t deserve to say her name!” Ethan roared, veins throbbing in his forehead, his eyes blazing with fury and regret. 

“If it weren’t for you, why would Ella be mad at me? Why would she be disappointed in me? She’s always been so gentle, so understanding! It’s all you! You vicious woman, meticulously planning, step by step, to drive us apart!” 

He thought of Ella’s pale face in the hospital, her empty, desperate eyes, and all the hurt and pain he’d deliberately ignored… His heart felt like a branding iron, searing him, a pain so intense it almost choked him. 

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How could he be so stupid, hurting the woman he swore to protect with his life, all for this evil bitch? 

Guilt and regret hit him like a tidal wave, drowning him instantly. 

He raised his hand, ready to slap Sophia’s disgusting face! 

“Bad Daddy! Don’t you bully Mommy!” 

Just then, a tiny figure, crying, burst out of the kids‘ room. 

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