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Chapter 20
Ethan was extremely haughty. He had only ever knelt once before–when pleading for medicine for Flora. Now, this was the second time, and again he knelt before Lena, begging her to forgive him. But to someone who no longer loved him, no matter how long Ethan knelt, it meant nothing. All their shared bonds had ended.
Seeing him like this–desperate and entangled–Lena felt nothing but disgust and amusement.
He had sworn once that he would never regret, yet it had only been a month since then. He had already divorced Flora and was now begging at her feet.
She beckoned to Linden with a curl of her finger.
“Linden, can you go back to your room. There are some things I want to say to him alone.”
Ethan’s eyes lit up, and Linden didn’t hesitate to leave.
With no one else around, Lena no longer needed to hold back. She looked at the man still kneeling and slapped him hard across the face.
She had put all her strength into it; the slap landed heavily, causing his face to swell immediately. Yet Ethan showed no anger.
“Lena, if it helps you feel better, then hit me. Scold me too. I know I was wrong and hurt you. As long as you forgive me, you can do whatever you want,”
He thought this meant she was softening. But Lena only sneered, then pulled out a handkerchief and wiped her palm.
“That siap was to return what you gave me. Now, I despise you even more, Ethan. If you had truly cared for Flora with your whole heart, maybe I’d believe you loved her enough to hurt me like this. But now you keep blaming her and insisting it was all your fault. Ethan, you make me sick.”
“You keep saying it’s all her fault that we missed our chance. But have you ever considered that maybe you’re just not committed enough? Whether in our past life or now, you’ve only ever seen Flora as some exciting chase.”
“You never loved her, and you certainly never loved me. You just loved your own pride. You think apologizing means I’ll forgive you, that divorcing Flora lets you escape consequences. But everything you’ve done will come back to haunt you.”
The slap hadn’t woken Ethan, but Lena’s words struck him deeply. Like Flora’s earlier accusations, they left him speechless and shaking his head, pale and denying.
“That’s not true. Flora claimed she was the one dancing Flamenco that day. It’s all her fault. Otherwise, how could I have been so distant with you? If I had known from the start that you were my true love, I’d never have married anyone else! Lena, please forgive me. I’ll spend my life making it up to you. You don’t love Linden. You two never suited each other. Don’t waste your life on someone you don’t love.”
Ethan’s words made sense to him. He believed that if Lena divorced Linden, he still had a chance. But Lena showed no sign of being moved. Her gaze held only pity and disbelief.
“Who says I don’t love Linden? I love him, Ethan. Is that enough? I won’t divorce him. I will stay with him forever.”
A shock hit Ethan like a blow to the head. How could Lena love Linden? In their past life, they had no connection, and in this life, Linden had only become her husband by chance. It had been just over a month. How could she possibly have fallen for him already?
He raised his voice in disbelief.
“But he’s about to lead troops into battle! He’ll leave you. He’ll sacrifice himself like last time. Are you really going to live the rest of your life as his widow?”
“Why not?” Lena asked calmly. “In our past life, I loved you and was willing to be your widow. Now, I love Linden. If he truly dies on the battlefield, then I will mourn him and never remarry.”
