Chapter 57

“What do you mean?” I blurted out without thinking.

“Ava, you know what I mean,” He gently scolded, a smile lifting the corner of his lips. “Say yes. Or say no, but answer.”

I looked up at him. I wanted to say yes. I wanted to shout ‘obviously’ at him over and over again, but something stopped me. A little voice in the back of my head. We’re supposed to divorce in a year. How can anything come from that? How can we stay in the same house after that?

I swallow the emotions that are building up in my mouth. Every word that my mind is begging me to tell him, gone and put away.

“I’d love to,” I said to him softly. His eyes lit up with something - hope, maybe - but I squandered it. “But it could never work out, not after the divorce.”

Ethan’s brows furrowed and he looked at me as though he was seeing me in a completely new light.

“Maybe we don’t have to-” The oven beeped loudly before he could finish his sentence. I turned away from him, shrugging his hands off my shoulders, and pulled a tray of rolls out of the oven.

Ethan shook his head and took a few plates from the cabinets, placing them on the table with utensils.

He wouldn’t look at me for a few minutes as we made our plates and got our dinner ready. I was worried I had angered him, made him reconsider keeping me here at all anymore, but that wasn’t the case.

Whatever he was thinking before, he shook it away and returned to his normal self. Well, as normal as he could be given our situation. Actually, it was a little too normal.

We sat across from each other at the dinner table. We ate in silence for a few minutes until I couldn’t bear it anymore.

“The weather has been really nice these past few days,” I commented, hoping to at least get some small talk out of him.

“Yep,” He agreed, taking a bite of the steak. “This is much better than the one I tried to make.”

I smiled at the compliment, “Thank you, I used garlic and pepper to season it.”

Ethan hummed and there was silence again.

I wanted to ask a million questions, but I wasn’t sure I wanted all the answers. So,we sat in relative silence, until one of us decided to make a bit of small talk.

Once the plates started to empty and the candles died down, I couldn’t handle meaningless conversations anymore.

“The wedding is next week,” I said carefully, taking a sip from my glass.

Ethan stopped chewing his last bite and, with his jaw set, looked at me with a raised brow.

“And?” He said after swallowing.

“And what’s going on with the Sarah plan. I don’t even understand how that truly helps with stalling the wedding.”

Ethan blinked a few times, and sighed.

“It’s a lot of behind the scenes kind of things,” He rubbed his forehead and looked down at his plate.

I stared at him, eyes wide and questioning. Looking up, he dropped his shoulders and explained just a little more. Not much, though.

“Listen, I promise it is all going according to plan so far.”

He got up, took his plate to the kitchen and rinsed it off in the sink. I stayed at the table, unsatisfied with the answer. It’s not like Ethan would tell me much more than that either way. He and Mars were always so secretive with their little plans and schemes. Even if I asked for more information they wouldn’t tell me.

Whatever, as long as Olivia is happy in the end.

Two days later, Olivia actually asked me to go wedding dress shopping with her. It was a little silly, seeing as we were all hoping for the wedding to be canceled, but it would be fun anyways.

We got to a very high end boutique that had a French style to it. The dresses were all very similarly designed: sleek and silky. They were very different from the dress that Ethan and I picked out for my wedding, but they fit Olivia’s personality.

“Which one do you think?” She held up two dresses side by side. They were practically identical, I had no idea what I was even looking for.

“Um the left one?” I suggested from the viewing couch. One of the associates handed me a chute of champagne, and I tenderly took a sip. It was nice and bubbly and tickled my throat on the way down.

Olivia nodded her head absentmindedly, handing the dress on the right to another associate and disappearing behind the fitting room doors to try on the one that I suggested. I really could not tell the difference between them, though.

I heard Olivia fumbling with the dress, the associate ran to help her, and I sat back with a nostalgic smile.

I thought about the way Ethan helped me with my dress. The feeling of his hands running down my spine, the cheeky way he whispered in my ear, the way he scolded the store associate and manager for treating us like trash.

My mind started to drift to other moments with Ethan when things were so different. I could practically feel his grip on my hip as we danced at the banquet.

In a weird way, I missed him like that. I mostly missed when I didn’t suspect his feelings for Olivia, or know about Andrew, or even Sarah.

I missed when the biggest problem I faced was whether or not I could be a good wife to Ethan for an entire year. So far, I wasn’t sure how well of a job I was doing. Especially with all the drama with Dora and Sarah.

It was so complicated.

I was pulled from my thoughts by Olivia’s voice.

“Okay, get ready!” She chirped from behind the door.

I sat up, taking another small sip of the champagne, and waited.

She came out of the dressing room, her hair was pulled into a quick bun to elevate the slim fit of the dress and reveal her slender shoulders.

The dress fell down to the tops of her feet, grazing the toes of her shoes. It was barely off-white with a silver sheen to it due to the material.

She looked amazing. I wished I was as beautiful as she was.

“That’s the one,” I smiled widely at her. “That’s your dress!”

Olivia beamed back at me and turned to look at herself in the mirror. She looked at her reflection in awe, a wide grin on her face. Until, something clicked in her brain. The smile barely fell before a single tear rolled down her cheek.

“It’s my dress, but for the wrong wedding,” She mumbled, turning back to me. She was trying to contain her tears, but every so often one kept beading on her eyelid and trickling down her nose.

“I’m sorry,” I frowned, getting up to comfort her.

“I’m so thankful you’re here with me.” She sniffed as I rubbed a hand soothingly up and down the length of her arm.

“I know it’s hard marrying someone you don’t love,” I told her. And I did know. I didn’t love Ethan when he married me. It’s scary, you don’t know what kind of man he will be.

Something told me, too, that Andrew was not a nice man.

Olivia nodded her head. I knew she was wishing she was marrying Ethan instead, and a deep part of me felt jealousy. Another part felt guilty for being jealous.

It was a never ending battle within my brain.

Olivia gave one last sniff, wiped the tears from her eyes, and just as she turned to go back to the dressing room, the bell above the door of the boutique rang.

Everyone turned to look, and a man with piercing gold eyes and a thick, close-cut beard entered.

“Andrew?” Olivia gasped.