Chapter 82: Chapter 82
Wendy’s POV
I knew I had made a terrible mistake the moment the words left my mouth.
The change in Ethan’s expression was immediate and terrifying. The rage was still there, but something else replaced it, something colder and far more dangerous. His eyes slowly turned bright and sharp in that strange way they always did when something inside his head snapped. I had seen it before when we were younger, but never directed at me like this.
"So you’ve never loved me, sister?" he asked, his voice suddenly calm in a way that made my stomach twist.
The word sister hit me hard.
I swallowed, my throat dry, my body still trembling from where his hand had squeezed my neck. frёewebnoѵēl.com
His eyes were no longer wild. They were calculating. Mischievous. I knew that look too well. Ethan had always had something wrong with him. The doctors had called it many things when we were young, but the one that stuck in my mind was ’rejection sensitive dysphoria’, mixed with antisocial and psychopathic traits.
The doctors said he could not handle rejection. It broke something inside his mind and turned him into someone else.
He released me suddenly and stepped back.
The sudden loss of his grip made me stagger, and I coughed hard, sucking in air like I had been drowning. My chest hurt and my neck burned, but I barely noticed because my focus was on him.
He turned away from me and licked his lips slowly, as if he was trying to calm himself down. That scared me even more.
"You were the reason I hated Riley," he said.
His voice was flat.
"You were the reason I wanted to get rid of my marriage to her. You were the reason I wanted the open marriage. You were the reason I fought to take over the company from her so I could build a good life for us even though she was the brain behind the success of that company."
My heart dropped.
He continued talking like he was confessing something sacred.
"I wanted to discard her so badly. I treated her badly. I hated on someone who loved me even when I didn’t deserve it. I humiliated her. I broke her confidence. I made her feel worthless. All because of you, Wendy."
His shoulders rose and fell slowly.
"And now," he continued, turning back to look at me, "you don’t want me again. Is that what you’re telling me?"
I could not answer.
My legs felt weak.
He suddenly burst into laughter.
It was loud.
Sharp.
Unstable.
He laughed for almost a full minute, and every second felt like a lifetime. The sound filled the room and made the air feel heavy. Dan groaned weakly from the floor, but Ethan did not even look at him.
When Ethan finally stopped, he looked up at me again.
His eyes were darker now.
"You have to want me, Wendy," he said softly. "You’re my mate."
I shook my head immediately, fear pushing the words out before I could stop myself.
"It’s insane," I said. "It’s not normal. It’s not normal fucking your stepsister, Ethan! E no dey normal to do!"
He smiled.
The smile was slow and disturbing.
"Why did you find it abnormal all of a sudden?" he asked. "You never complained before. Now you suddenly remember it’s incest and it’s wrong."
My hands shook.
"Tell me," he continued, stepping closer, "is my cock not enough? I could do an enlargement and—"
"Stop!" I yelled, cutting him off.
But just then— SMACK!
The slap came so fast I did not see it.
My head snapped to the side, and pain exploded across my face. I stumbled and crashed to the ground, my vision spinning. My ears rang, and I tasted blood in my mouth.
Before I could even recover, his hand grabbed my neck again and dragged me up.
SMACK!
Another slap hit my face.
My lip split.
I cried out, my body weak and shaking.
"Because of you, I discarded everyone!" he thundered.
His voice filled the room.
His grip tightened again.
"I abandoned my wife. I destroyed my reputation. I fought my own best friends. I turned against my father. I even lost respect from my own people. All for you!"
I struggled, trying to pry his hand off my neck, but it was useless.
"I chose you every single time!" he continued. "And now you’re standing here telling me I’m not enough?"
Tears filled my eyes.
I could not breathe properly.
Fear swallowed me completely.
At that moment, I realized something that made my chest ache with regret. I should have just left Riley in her marriage. She had been strong enough to survive this monster. She had endured all of this and still walked away alive. I thought I had won when I took Ethan from her, but now I understood the truth.
She had escaped. And I had walked straight into the cage.
"I didn’t ask you to do any of that," I said weakly, my voice breaking.
His eyes widened slightly."You didn’t ask?" he repeated.
"Yes," I whispered, forcing the words out. "You chose it. You chose to betray her. You chose to hurt her. That’s not my responsibility."
His grip tightened again."You seduced me right from when we were sixteen," he said.
"I was young," I replied. "And you were obsessed."
His expression twisted."You knew I was unstable," he said. "You knew I would do anything for you."
I shook my head."I didn’t know you were this crazy."
His breathing became heavy again.
Dan moved slightly on the floor, groaning, but neither of us paid attention.
"I gave you everything," Ethan said.
"And I never asked for it," I replied.
The silence that followed was terrifying. For a moment, I thought he might let me go.
But then his face changed again.
Cold.
Empty.
"You know what the worst part is?" he asked.
I did not answer.
"You made me hate someone who loved me more than you ever did," he said quietly.
His eyes looked distant now."I broke Riley for you."
Something in his voice made my chest tighten.
"And now I realize something," he continued. "You were never worth it."
Relief tried to rise inside me.
Maybe he would let me go. Maybe this was the end.
But then his lips curled into a twisted smile.
"You still have to want me, though," he added.
My heart dropped again."This is obsession, Ethan," I said. "It’s not love."
His eyes darkened."You don’t get to decide that."
I struggled again."Let me go."
"No."
"I don’t love you." I say.
"You will." he replied. freewēbnoveℓ.com
"I never will."
His hand tightened suddenly. Pain shot through my neck.
"I can make you," he said softly.
Fear swallowed me completely now. This was no longer anger.
This was madness.
’I need to escape,’ my mind screamed, but my body felt weak and trapped.
He leaned closer."You think you can leave me after everything?" he whispered.
"Yes," I said. The answer came before I could stop it.
His expression broke completely. For a second, he looked like a stranger.
And then he shouted.
"I freaking killed our mother because of you!"
Everything stopped. My mind went blank. My heart stopped beating.
I stared at him in pure horror, unable to move, unable to breathe, unable to even understand what I had just heard.