Spring Without Return

So this had been Ethan’s plan from the beginning.

Everything I had, everything I worked for, had been turned into a stepping stone for Olivia. I had been foolish enough to feel touched by his fake devotion and to make excuses for why he kept delaying our marriage.

I spun around and rushed out of the gallery. I needed to hear the truth from him myself.

By the time I reached the company building, I ignored the secretary’s panicked attempts to stop me and walked straight toward the CEO’s office.

“Daddy, I want ice cream!”

The childish voice made me freeze.

Inside the office, Ethan sat behind his desk with a little boy, about three years old, resting in his arms.

Olivia, dressed in an expensive designer gown, leaned against his shoulder and spoke to him with a soft smile.

I already knew about the child after seeing the photo at the cemetery.

Seeing them together in person still hit me so hard that it felt like my heart stopped.

Olivia noticed me first. Her face turned pale as she stood up in a hurry, which caused the child in her arms to shift unsteadily.

Ethan sensed something was wrong and turned around. Shock flashed through his eyes. Then he stepped in front of Olivia and the boy in a protective way.

“Why are you here?”

I forced a smile, but it faded before it even formed. My eyes burned with tears.

“You are right. I should not have come. Interrupting the happy life of your perfect little family of three. How unnecessary of me.”

Ethan’s brows tightened, and irritation filled his voice.

“Vivian, what kind of scene are you making now? Do you have to ruin a good day before you feel satisfied?”

Olivia stepped forward and grabbed his arm.

“Ethan, do not be angry at Ms. Quinn. She misunderstood things. I will explain everything to her.”

“I was not talking to you.” I gave Olivia a cold look.

Her eyes reddened at once. She lowered her head with the pitiful expression of someone too wronged to defend herself.

The little boy saw her expression and wriggled free. He wobbled toward me on his short legs.

“Bad lady! Do not bully my mommy!”

He was small and did not have much strength. The moment he pushed me, he lost his balance and fell to the floor. His lips trembled as he prepared to cry.

Olivia gasped and rushed over. She pulled the boy into her arms. When she looked at me again, tears streamed down her cheeks.

“Ms. Quinn, if you are angry, take it out on me. He is only a child. How could you hurt him?”

Ethan walked over and pulled Olivia and the boy into his embrace. When he looked at me again, every trace of warmth in his eyes had vanished.

“Vivian, enough. Arguing with a child? Have you lost your sense of boundaries?”

I stared at the way he protected them, and all I felt was cold disbelief.

Back then, when the Ferguson family went bankrupt, everyone abandoned them like rats fleeing a sinking ship. Olivia, his fiancée at the time, had been the first to break off the engagement. She took money and married overseas. She even helped outsiders suppress the Ferguson Group and push Ethan into ruin.

Me?

I gave up my future and left my homeland to follow him across the ocean to Stormbay when he had nothing.

We lived in a basement apartment. We survived on cheap instant noodles soaked in hot water. I stayed beside him as he climbed back up step by step.

However, after all those years together, I still could not compare to a childhood sweetheart.

At that moment, every question I wanted to ask felt meaningless and pathetic.

“Fine. You are compassionate and loyal. You want to take care of her and her son. I will not stop you.”

I placed the payroll card in front of Ethan.

“Give me every cent I earned from my paintings and exhibitions over the years. After that, we will owe each other nothing.”