Chapter 5

Sophia's POV

The next day, I delivered the signed divorce agreement to my lawyer, asking them to process it as quickly as possible, then returned to the villa.

Stepping into the entrance, the housekeeper who was wiping a vase saw me. Her expression was somewhat strange, hesitant to speak.

"What is it?"

I asked while changing shoes.

"Ma'am."

The housekeeper gestured toward upstairs.

"Someone's here. Upstairs."

My movements paused briefly, then returned to normal.

"I see."

I went straight upstairs.

The closer I got to the master bedroom, the clearer the sobbing from inside became.

"...It's all my fault. If not for me, you wouldn't have been hurt so badly..."

Lydia was draped over Ethan, crying with a face full of tears.

Ethan turned his face slightly, seemingly about to raise his hand to wipe her tears, but his gaze inadvertently caught sight of me at the door.

His movement froze instantly.

"Sophia?"

Ethan called out, with a trace of barely perceptible tension.

Lydia startled like she'd been frightened, hurriedly moving away from him and straightening up, turning to look toward the door.

Her face was pale, eyes red and swollen, looking pitiful.

"Sophia, you... you're back..."

Lydia's fingers twisted at her clothes anxiously.

"Ethan was hurt because of me. I felt so guilty, I just wanted to come see him... We... we didn't do anything else..."

"She was just emotionally overwhelmed for a moment. Nothing more."

Ethan picked up the conversation. "Don't misunderstand."

One with red-rimmed eyes looking pitiful, one with a soothing tone and evasive gaze.

I suddenly wanted to laugh.

Their panic wasn't about me misunderstanding, was it?

They were just afraid I'd tell Grandfather, afraid this marriage would fall apart, afraid Lydia's days in the Quinn family would become even worse.

"I understand."

I nodded.

"I get it."

Lydia bit her lower lip, those wet eyes looking at me with careful pleading.

"Sophia, Ethan was hurt because of me. I feel terrible about it. I want to stay and take care of him for a few days, even if it's just bringing him water."

Before I could respond, Ethan spoke first from the bed.

"Grandfather is furious right now. Her days at the estate aren't easy. Let her stay here temporarily for a few days. When Grandfather calms down, she can go back."

He seemed to be asking, but his tone brooked no refusal.

I smiled.

"As long as you two think it's fine, I have no objections."

"I knew it! Sophia, you're so magnanimous and understanding!"

Lydia beamed with joy and just like that, moved into our villa.

That night.

In the dead of night, my phone suddenly vibrated with a message notification.

Ethan picked up his phone to look, then glanced sideways at me. After confirming I was asleep, he slowly got up and left the room.

In the darkness, I opened my eyes, got up as well, and walked to the guest room door.

Light leaked through the door crack, casting the shadows of two intertwined figures.

"Does it still hurt?"

Lydia's voice was full of heartache.

"Seeing those wounds, my heart is breaking..."

Ethan cupped her face and lowered his head, kissing her wet eyes.

"It doesn't hurt anymore."

His voice carried a tenderness I'd never heard before.

"Don't worry. I can move around now. I'll be fine soon."

Lydia tilted her face up, tears streaming.

"Don't protect me like that next time. Seeing you hurt makes me suffer a thousand, ten thousand times more than if I were hurt myself..."

Ethan's thumb caressed her cheek.

"Silly girl. I told you I'd protect you. No matter how badly I'm hurt, it's my willing choice."

Lydia's eyes grew hazy. Suddenly she stood on tiptoe and kissed his lips.

Ethan seemed ignited. The next second, he bent down and swept Lydia up in his arms.

Walking to the bed in a few steps, he laid her down and pressed himself on top of her, kissing her lips as his hands began to roam restlessly.

"Mmm... Ethan..."

Lydia's breathing was unsteady.

"Isn't this bad, doing this here? What if we wake Sophia?"

Ethan's kisses traveled down her neck, his voice muffled but certain.

"She won't wake up. She sleeps deeply since getting pregnant. Not even thunder would wake her."

I stood outside the door, watching that nauseating entanglement.

They were actually so desperate they couldn't control themselves, having an affair right under my nose.

This was the good man I once believed in. My good husband.

This was the woman I'd sincerely treated as family, whom I'd pitied as a young widow.