Chapter 4

Vivian Shaw POV

I went home alone.

The house was large, empty, and cold. I changed my shoes, went upstairs, and started packing.

Actually, I had been quietly packing during this time. Now I just needed to finish up.

I took out the clothes from the closet that were similar to Quinn's style, one by one, folded them, and put them in boxes.

I would never wear these clothes again.

The sound of the door opening came from downstairs.

Ethan was back, but he wasn't alone.

Quinn stood at the bottom of the stairs. Seeing me, she gave a sweet smile. "Vivian, long time no see."

I said nothing.

"Quinn said she wanted to come see Snowball." Ethan spoke, his tone somewhat unnatural. "She said it's been a long time."

Snowball was a dog Ethan and Quinn had raised when they were together. Later when Quinn went abroad, the dog was left with Ethan. After I married in, I had been the one taking care of it.

"Whatever." I turned to go back to my room.

"Snowball! Snowball!" Quinn had already crouched down, clapping her hands to call the dog.

A white Samoyed ran out from the corner. Seeing Quinn, it excitedly jumped on her, tail wagging like a propeller.

"Oh my, Snowball still remembers me!" Quinn hugged the dog, her eyes crinkling with her smile. "Looks like even though another woman has been taking care of you all these years, you still only recognize me."

Her words carried obvious provocation.

I stopped in my tracks.

Ethan frowned. "Quinn, you ran off abroad without a word back then and didn't want it. You lost the right to be its owner long ago."

"Now you've seen it. You can go back."

Quinn pouted. "It's dark outside and raining. How unsafe for me to go back alone. Can't I... stay here for the night?"

Ethan wanted to refuse.

But it really was pouring rain outside with rolling thunder.

He instinctively looked at me, wanting to convince me to agree. In the past, whenever Quinn came over, I would make a scene and he would have to put in effort to pacify me.

But this time, before he could speak, I spoke first.

"The guest room is in that room at the far end of the first floor. The sheets and covers are clean." My tone was calm. "If you want to stay, go ahead."

With that, I turned and went back to my room.

Ethan froze.

Quinn was also stunned for a moment, but quickly smiled and wrapped her arm around Ethan's. "Ethan, see? Vivian agreed."

Ethan looked at my closed door, that strange feeling rising in his chest again.

He shook off Quinn's hand. "Behave yourself."

Just then his phone rang with a work call.

He glanced at Quinn. "Stay out of trouble."

Then he went to the study.

Only Quinn was left in the living room.

The smile instantly vanished from her face. She walked to my door and knocked.

I opened the door.

Quinn leaned against the door frame, looking me up and down. "Playing generous? You think letting me stay will make Ethan think you're understanding? It's useless, Vivian. Let me show you just how much of a failure you are. All these years, not only have you failed to win Ethan's heart, you couldn't even win over a dog."

She whistled, and Snowball came running.

"Snowball," Quinn pointed at me, "go, bite her."

The dog hesitated, but under Quinn's urging, it still lunged and bit my calf.

I was caught off guard and cried out in pain, my face instantly turning deathly pale!

Quinn laughed with satisfaction. "See? You can't even win over a dog, yet you foolishly thought you could steal Ethan from me? Just give up already!"

The pain and humiliation made my whole body go cold, but I bit my lip hard, not letting myself make another sound.

I looked up at Quinn, my eyes cold as ice. "Forgot to tell you, Quinn. The public areas of this house, including the stairs and hallways, all have twenty-four-hour surveillance. Both audio and video recording functions work perfectly."

"If you still want to stay here today and rekindle things with Ethan, I suggest you stop provoking me. Otherwise I'll show him the footage directly. Do you think he'd still let you stay?"

Quinn's expression changed.

I stopped looking at her, turned back into my room, and closed the door.