Untitled Part 20
At Ethan's side, his hand clenched so hard it trembled.
The veins stood out against the back of his hand, making his skin look even paler.
I changed the subject.
"Ms. Chen, you still haven't told me—why are you out here selling things?"
"Oh." Her expression dimmed.
"My son is sick."
"We're still short about two hundred thousand for his surgery."
"The hospital job pays a fixed salary. It's too little. I can make money faster doing this."
I took out my phone, ready to transfer her some money.
But Ethan was even faster.
He had already pulled out a bank card and handed it to her.
"There's five hundred thousand in this account."
He paused, as if finally realizing how arrogant that sounded, then added more gently,
"I hope you'll accept it, Ms. Chen."
"It's also my way of thanking you for saving my wife."
Ms. Chen refused several times.
In the end, she agreed to take only the two hundred thousand she needed, and she insisted on writing Ethan an IOU, treating it as a loan.
When we got back in the car, the silence settled over us again.
Neither of us spoke.
We were almost home when Ethan suddenly said,
"Why didn't you tell me?"
I turned to look at him.
"In the past, if you so much as twisted your ankle, you'd talk to me about it for days."
I shook my head.
"I forgot."
He let out a quiet, humorless breath.
"No, you didn't."
Then he said flatly,
"You just didn't think there was any reason to tell me."
After a pause, he asked,
"Claire... have I really disappointed you that much?"
I looked out the window at the city blurring past and didn't answer.
At first, I really had forgotten.
But by the time I thought of him, I was already almost recovered and close to being discharged from the hospital.
At that point, it had felt unnecessary to say anything.
The car went quiet again.
I could vaguely hear the tires humming over the road.
The driver pulled smoothly into the parking garage and stopped.
I opened the door and got out.
Ethan was still sitting in the backseat, not moving.
"Claire."
I turned back.
Half his face was hidden in shadow, and I couldn't make out his expression.
"When the divorce settlement papers are ready, send them to me first."
I froze for a second, then said,
"Okay."
Two days later, I received the papers.
After reading through them and finding no problems, I sent them on to Ethan.
His lawyer reviewed them too and raised no objections.
After we signed, we set a date to go file the divorce.
That was the kind of man Ethan was.
If he agreed to something, he would follow through.
Dragging things out had never been his style.