Chapter 25

My mind was reeling. After Sarah told me about Mars, she left the shop and I had no way to get in contact with her to ask her what she knew. That whole interaction was so strange, I didn’t understand her at all.

The next week at work was so busy, I barely had enough time to think about it. The shop was being bombarded by hundreds of customers a day.

To say it was overwhelming would be an understatement.

At first, I was so pleased with the uptick in sales and patrons. I thought that my new creations were finally getting some appreciation and that I created an environment for people who really enjoy desserts and treats to come together.

For the first few days, I was really proud of my progress. Though, reality caught up with me quickly after.

All anyone wanted was to find out more information about Ethan and I.

They couldn’t disrupt his day at work with the security officers in the Blue Moon Group building, so they came to me and tried to sniff out any bit of gossip they could.

“Can I order a lemon cake,” A lady bat her eyelashes as I took her order.

I wrote down her order in my booklet, asking the standard questions about her purchase. She cut me off when I was asking about frosting.

“So, when did you and Ethan meet?” She wiggled her eyebrows.

I frowned slightly and looked away from my order sheet, and back at her.

“I’m sorry, what kind of frosting did you say you wanted?” I tried to change the topic. On a lanyard around this woman’s neck, a large laminated badge glinted in the sun. In big, bright orange letters, the word ‘PRESS’ was printed across the badge.

She had her own notebook that she was slyly writing notes in, documenting our entire interaction.

“Ma’am this is highly inappropriate.” I scolded her diplomatically, “This is a place of business, I am not here to conduct any interviews with you.”

I was proud of myself for sounding so professional as I spoke. I have been practicing legal jargon ever since Sarah started drama. I wanted to be prepared in case she ever tried to turn the story and make me the bad guy again.

She waved her hand in the air dismissively, “Fine, I’ll have coconut frosting.”

I scribbled her request on the order sheet, but it turns out she wasn’t done.

“Did you and Ethan sleep together before the wedding? Is that how you knew he was the one?” The Press Lady looked up at me from her notebook. I was sure steam could be seen blowing from my ears.

Did this woman have absolutely no shame? Who did she think she was asking a question like that?

“Excuse me,” I set down her order form and leaned on the table she was sitting at. Propping myself up with one arm, I gave her a disapproving glare. “I won’t be answering personal questions. Order please or leave.”

She rolled her eyes and left without a word.

I took a deep inhale through my nose and held it there for a moment, trying to regain control of my breathing and calm my nerves. The personal questions were getting worse as every day passed by.

Everyone wanted to know about my marriage, not about me or my desserts. No one was interested in my newest combination of flavors or decoration techniques. I couldn’t stand having the same conversation with every customer.

More people were interested in my sex-life than my business. I bet no one asked Ethan these kinds of questions during his interviews. They must’ve thought I was naive enough to spill all the secrets between Ethan and I.

That night after work, I came into the house and saw Ethan lying on the couch with a hot rag covering his eyes.

I tried to sneak past him, but the floorboard creaked and alerted him of my presence.

“Ava?” Ethan lifted the rag from one eye and looked over at me.

“Hi,” I whispered, relenting to come closer to him. “Are you feeling okay?”

“Just a headache.” He grunted as he pulled himself up to a sitting position. “How was work?”

I opened my mouth to respond, wanting to tell him it was easy and exciting as usual, but the words refused to leave my throat. I didn’t want Ethan to worry, but part of me didn’t want to lie either.

Would Ethan be upset if he learned that my work was making me miserable?

Angry tears pricked in my eyes and I looked away. I thought back to what Sarah said about Mars, back to the press trying to find gossip about Ethan and I, and how nobody actually cared about my desserts. Well, no one but Ethan.

Ethan always went out of his way to praise my experiments.

I couldn’t lie to him.

“It’s been awful,” I sighed, wiping a stray tear from my cheek. “I feel so invisible. All anyone sees is you and I, not me.”

Ethan listened to me as I vented about my experience for the last week.

“And this whole ‘you and I’ thing isn’t even going to last!” The words slipped from me before I could stop them. “Our marriage is ending soon and then I’ll be the nobody that wasn’t good enough for the alpha of the Blue Moon Group.”

Ethan’s brows shot upwards, and he stopped me there.

“What are you talking about?” He questioned, putting his arm around my shoulder and pulling me closer so that we were face-to-face.

With wide eyes, I scanned his face to try and read his emotions. I hadn’t told him about what Sarah told me. I didn’t know how to bring it up, and then I was scared if I did bring it up he would try to expedite a divorce.

To me, the relationship was so flimsy. He was rich enough he could terminate the contract, couldn’t he?

I wasn’t sure how the legal aspects of it all would work.

“Ava? What are you on about?” He repeated, using his free hand to push a stray piece of hair behind my ear. My breath hitched at the gesture, and I felt so silly doubting him.

I could tell him, so I did.

“Oh Ava,” Ethan breathed as he smoothed his hand over my hair. “I would never divorce you for Sarah, that’s an insane idea.”

I let out an embarrassed giggle. It was a ridiculous notion, after everything he’d done so far to prove to me that he did respect me as his partner so far.

“I think I knew that deep down,” I admitted. “She was so sure of what she was saying, I just got anxious.”

“She was trying to scare you. There’s no way I’m leaving you anytime soon,” Ethan teased. “You’re stuck with me.”

I smiled, looking up at him bashfully through my lashes. Our faces were so close, I didn’t notice before.

Slowly, Ethan pressed a quick kiss to my temple. I gasped when the soft skin of his lips brushed against me. His cologne was strong today. It was so enticing I wanted to stay wrapped in his arms for hours.

“If work is this bad and people are harassing you,” Ethan pulled away and looked into my eyes as he spoke. I was mesmerized by the genuine concern for me I could see displayed on his face.

“It’s not that bad-” I tried to argue, but Ethan gave me a knowing look.

“I want you to stop working.”