Chapter 59: Cooperation in Ashes–2
My gaze drifted back to her. She was smiling radiantly while savoring a perfectly cooked piece of venison, animatedly sharing something with Connor.
“Yesterday, I won a really tough case,” she was saying, her amber eyes bright with pride. “The evidence alone was over five hundred pages.”
Connor listened patiently, cutting more meat for her, his ice–blue eyes gentle with
interest. “What kind of case?”
“Defamation. I spent over a month gathering all the evidence with the client. It was exhausting, but worth it to win.”
Her face glowed with excitement as she showed him a photo on her phone. “Look,
the client even gave me a banner to thank me!”
She looked like a child flaunting a gold star–pure, proud, eager for praise. I’d never seen this side of her during our relationship. Or perhaps I had, but never bothered to
notice.
(Olivia’s POV)
“Our big lawyer Liv is incredible,” Connor said, his deep voice filled with indulgent
affection.
I blinked playfully at him. “Just average, really.”
But his praise warmed me through. Connor had always supported my career, never
once suggesting I should quit or that my work was less important than his.
I caught a glimpse of Ethan’s face from the corner of my eye. He looked stricken,
almost ill. I remembered how he’d once laughed when I told him about winning a
case, saying, “All that work for what I spend on a single dinner? Hardly seems worth
it.”
At the time, I’d swallowed my hurt, telling myself he just didn’t understand. Now I
realized he’d never tried to understand.
Connor’s hand found mine under the table again, his thumb tracing gentle circles on
my palm. The simple gesture conveyed more support than Ethan had shown in our
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entire relationship.
(Jason’s POV)
+8 Points >
As more dishes arrived at our table, I quietly began to eat. The food was excellent, but
the atmosphere was suffocating.
Suddenly, Ethan’s chair scraped harshly against the floor. Without saying a word or
looking back, he stormed out of the restaurant, his rigid back radiating fury and
humiliation.
Heads turned to follow his dramatic exit. Ethan had lost this silent battle and fled in
defeat.
I sighed deeply, picking up my chopsticks again. “Well, if he won’t eat, I will. Starving here…” I muttered to myself.
Across from me, Olivia and Connor continued their meal as if nothing had happened.
Their bubble of happiness remained intact, completely undisturbed by Ethan’s departure.
I couldn’t help but feel a twinge of envy. Not for Olivia specifically, but for what they
had together – that easy, natural connection that seemed to exclude the rest of the
world.
(Ethan’s POV)
I returned to my car, hands shaking as I lit a cigarette. The smoke curled around me
as city lights flickered outside the windshield, but I barely noticed.
My mind was trapped in a cruel loop, replaying images from moments before. Olivia
and Connor sitting close on the same side of the table, their bodies slightly crowded yet she willingly leaned into him.
Worse, I had noticed her slender leg resting intimately on Connor’s thigh beneath the table a gesture of trust and ease she had never shown me, not once in our three
–
years together.
The cigarette burned down, scorching my fingers. The sudden pain snapped me back to reality, and I cursed, flicking the butt out the window.
For three years, I’d had her. And I’d never truly seen her.
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Now, watching her with Connor Rivers, I finally understood what I’d lost. She glowed in his presence, comfortable and confident in a way she’d never been with me.
I tormented myself by reliving these scenes over and over. The way she smiled at him. The way she leaned into his touch. The easy intimacy they shared that made my three years with her seem hollow and false.
Taking out my phone, my face twisted with bitterness and surrender, I finally typed
out a message to Natalie Hughes: “I agree to cooperate with you.”
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