Where Love Began to Hurt Ch 3

Chapter 3
Adelia kept her head down, not even lifting her eyes.
“Since Gwen’s moving in, I figured I’d pack my stuff. Wouldn’t want her to get upset.”
Ethan grabbed her wrist and pulled her into his arms.
“You’re still mad at me, aren’t you?”
“No.”
“Adelia, you’re a terrible liar.”
He tilted her chin up, forcing her to meet his eyes.
“I’ve said it a hundred times. I’m just playing along with her. If I really wanted to marry her, I’d have taken her back four years ago.”
Adelia stared into his eyes, then suddenly smiled.
“Ethan.” Her voice was soft, but every word landed. “You know exactly who you want to marry.”
Before the words even settled, his phone rang, drowning her out.
Ethan glanced at the caller ID and answered immediately.
After a few words, he just said, “Something came up at work,” and left in a hurry.
Watching his back disappear, Adelia suddenly realized—it didn’t matter whether she confronted him or not.
Some feelings are like expired candy.
It looks fine on the outside, but it’s already gone bad.
Force it down, and all you taste is bitterness.
Not long after he left, Gwen sent her a message.
In the photo, Ethan knelt on one knee, long fingers gently cradling Gwen’s ankle as he carefully tied a four-leaf clover anklet.
Adelia suddenly remembered the Christmas market years ago.
She’d dragged Ethan with her, standing in front of a stall forever picking out four-leaf clovers. When she turned around, he was three steps away, checking his watch, visibly annoyed. “You really believe in this superstitious crap?”
Just then, more texts came in.
“I casually said I wasn’t feeling well, and Ethan got me the luckiest four-leaf clover.”
“Has he ever done something like that for you?”
“Adelia, face it. He never loved you.”
Adelia clenched her phone. The cold glow of the screen lit her face, freezing every last trace of warmth in her eyes.
She got it now.
Ethan never loved her.
And from now on, she wouldn’t beg for it either.
—
He didn’t come home for two days.
On the third, she finally saw him—at Gwen’s farewell party.
He wore a sharp black suit, pushing a wheelchair through the crowd.
Ethan sat draped in a blanket, delicate as a dying flower.
She lifted her head just slightly, and Ethan immediately leaned in, asking what hurt.
Adelia’s lips curled into a faint sneer.
He claimed it was all just an act.
But the way he looked at her was the same tender gaze from four years ago.
The party began.
Jordan stood up, voice trembling. “My daughter… she’s both unlucky and blessed. Though her life was short, she had a family who loved her and a partner who never left her side…”
A large screen lit up. Photos played one by one.
Her first birthday, surrounded by doting parents.
At ten, learning piano hand-in-hand with Jordan.
At 18, group hugs at graduation.
And Adelia—just a blur in the background. Silent. Out of place. A witness to a joy that was never hers.
Then the images shifted. Now, it was Ethan by Gwen’s side.
Bringing her flowers after competitions.
Sitting still as her model while she painted.
Holding her tightly on their wedding day…
From school uniforms to tailored suits—time changed everything, except the way he looked at her.
Right when the room fell into silent emotion, the screen glitched—and suddenly, blood-red words slashed across a black background.
“Gwen, bltches like you belong in heIl!
“You stole my man. Just like your mom—slvts who live off other women’s leftovers!
“I hope your body gets burned to ash and your soul never finds peace!”
The room froze.
Then—chaos.