Chapter 4

"Godmother." Natalie's eyes went red in an instant, her voice heavy with hurt.

The face I had only ever seen on Instagram grew clearer and clearer.

Finally, she stopped in front of Natalie and shielded her.

Ethan's mother gave a cold huff:

"Looks like your girlfriend has quite a temper, Eth. The very first time we meet, and she's already trying to put me in my place."

"What happens if she actually marries into the Caldwell family someday?"

I didn't answer.

My gaze settled on Mrs. Caldwell's eyes, arrogant and imperious.

At some point, Ethan had come to stand beside me.

He gripped my wrist and kept it short:

"Apologize!"

I snapped back to myself and stared into his eyes:

"Why should I?"

"Wren!" He frowned, his eyes full of disapproval:

"Apologize to Natalie."

Ethan's voice was flat.

But his grip on my wrist kept tightening.

"She threw that water on herself. Why should I apologize?" Pain shot through my hand, and my eyes reddened instantly.

"Isn't there a security camera in the living room?"

"The video's right there on your phone, and you didn't even open it... You just want me to apologize?"

He frowned.

Before he could say anything,

Natalie spoke up, her voice soft and frail, choked with hurt:

"It's all my fault. I shouldn't have come over and bothered Wren while she was sick..."

"Wren, I'm sorry."

She stood and bowed slightly.

"Please stop giving Ethan a hard time. Last night he ran to several pharmacies in the middle of the night just to buy you medicine."

"He's exhausted enough already. It's all my fault."

Just two light, airy sentences from Natalie,

and Mrs. Caldwell's face darkened at once:

"Ethan, I have never interfered in your love life... but don't you dare bring a woman of such poor character home."

"The Caldwell family can't afford that kind of disgrace."

In a corner where no one else could see,

Natalie curled her lips at me.

She parted them and mouthed silently: Loser.

Then she spoke up again, carefully:

"Godmother, don't blame Ethan. I meant well today and just made things worse."

"I'm so cold... Take me home."

Mrs. Caldwell patted the back of her hand, shot me a cutting glare, and left with Natalie.

But at the door, she turned around again

and scolded Ethan sharply:

"Aren't you coming? Running after her to wait on her hand and foot. Haven't you had enough yet?"

…

In the car.

As Ethan drove his mother and Natalie home,

Mrs. Caldwell frowned and muttered derisively:

"Since when did your taste get this bad?"

"Six years with a girl who has no manners at all."

He was about to explain.

Wren was just sick.

But the words rolled around on the tip of his tongue, again and again, and never came out.

Not until the car came to a smooth stop at the Caldwell family's front gate.

After Mrs. Caldwell got out with Natalie, the man in the driver's seat rubbed his fingertips together.

The heat from Wren's wrist still burned against them.

His gaze fell on the fever medicine in the center console and stayed there.

Wren's bloodshot eyes kept returning to his mind.

In an instant, Ethan made his decision once again.

He turned the car around and drove back the way he had come.

But when he opened the door to the home he had shared with Wren for six years,

the emptiness that hit him threw him into an instant panic.