While I Burned with Fever in the ER, He Was at the Game with His Little Sister Chapter 03
The living room fell silent for a few seconds.
Then Ethan laughed as though I had just told him the funniest joke in the world.
“Erin, can you stop threatening me with a breakup?”
He sat down on the couch with a smile, acting as though he had just heard something completely insignificant.
“I haven’t done anything to betray you. Don’t you think breaking up is a little extreme?”
“Just because I brought Sophia some food in the middle of the night?”
When I did not respond, he shrugged.
“Fine. I’m sorry.”
“Can we drop it now?”
His apology was pure impatience and dismissal, without a trace of sincerity.
I stared at him coldly without saying a word.
The smile on his face slowly stiffened.
“Why are you looking at me like that?”
“I already apologized. What more do you want?”
“You don’t need to apologize,” I said. “I’m breaking up with you. I’m not asking you to calm me down.”
Ethan stared at me for several seconds, then his expression turned indifferent.
“Whatever.”
“You’re still angry right now, so you won’t listen to anything I say.”
“Take the night to calm down. We can talk again once you’ve come to your senses.”
With that, he picked up the remote and changed the channel as though nothing had happened.
I walked into the bedroom and packed my clothes and documents into a suitcase.
When Ethan heard the noise, he followed me inside.
The moment he realized I was actually packing, the smile vanished from his face.
I wheeled my suitcase past him and headed for the front door, giving him one final notice.
“This apartment is in my name.”
“You have three days to move all your things out.”
He did not answer.
The next morning, I reached for my neck out of habit and realized I had left behind the photo locket my mother had given me.
I clearly remembered placing it under my pillow before going to sleep. In my rush to leave the night before, I had left it behind.
I immediately drove back to Lakeview Apartments.
As soon as I stepped inside, I saw a pair of unfamiliar white high-heeled ankle boots by the door.
The living room table was covered with takeout containers, and two cans of hard seltzer sat beside the television.
When I entered my bedroom, Sophia was sitting in my gaming chair, wearing my slippers and livestreaming a game on my computer.
Her long blonde hair had been curled perfectly, and she was wearing my loose bathrobe.
The sound of someone chopping fruit came from the kitchen.
Ethan walked out carrying a glass bowl filled with sliced strawberries and melon.
His steps faltered when he saw me.
Sophia pulled off one side of her headset and gave me an overly sweet smile that was clearly meant to provoke me.
“Oh my God, is that the future Mrs. Walker?”
She said it so naturally, acting as though I were the one who had entered without permission.
“Ethan said this apartment is going to be his, so I can stay here for as long as I want.”
“You don’t mind, do you?”
“After all, you already moved out last night.”
I looked at Ethan.
He turned his head and avoided my gaze, looking slightly guilty.
“Sophia drank too much last night, so I let her stay here.”
“Didn’t you already move out? Why did you suddenly come back?”
I laughed.
Looking at the scene in front of me, I finally understood that I had spent the past three years making excuses for someone who had never respected me at all.
“I came back to get something.”
I walked past him coldly, no longer willing to waste another word on his behavior.
But when I lifted the pillow, the locket was gone.
“Where is my mother’s necklace?”
I returned to the living room and asked Ethan directly.
I was certain it had been under the pillow when I left the night before.
He frowned.
“How would I know?”
I turned my gaze toward Sophia.
She blinked her blue eyes and pointed toward the trash can nearby.
“Do you mean that old necklace in there?”
“I’m so sorry. I move around a lot in my sleep.”
“Maybe I rolled onto it and broke it by accident, so I threw it in the trash.”