Chapter 4
"Anna, you guys are back?" Ethan's mother, Mary, greeted her with a big smile, hurrying over.
Her eyes were full of anticipation. "Did you get your marriage certificate already?"
Mary looked past Anna, scanning behind her for Ethan. Not seeing him, her expression darkened instantly.
"Where's Ethan? For something this big, he didn't even come back with you?" Mary said, clearly annoyed.
Anna's heart ached, but she managed a weak smile, her voice shaky as she tried to cover for Ethan.
"Something urgent came up at his company, so he had to rush over and take care of it," she said.
"No way! That's not okay!" Mary burst out, her temper flaring.
Without missing a beat, she whipped out her phone, found Ethan's number, and started calling him.
"Does he even realise what today is? It's your wedding registration day. Even if work is blowing up, he should drop everything for this!" Mary ranted.
Anna quickly reached out and grabbed Mary's arm, pleading softly, "Mary, just let him focus on work. I'm really okay, honestly."
Ethan's father, Jack, quickly jumped in to back her up. "Alright, alright. That's just how men are. Work comes first. They've already got the marriage certificate, so they've got plenty of time to be together."
"What did you teach him?" Mary snapped, her voice dripping with frustration.
She stomped her foot and shot Jack a fierce glare. "Look at him now. Work's all he cares about. His wife doesn't even make the cut!"
Jack gave her an apologetic smile and offered a steaming cup of tea, hoping to calm her down.
"Alright, alright, it's all on me. When that kid gets back, I'm really gonna let him have it, and you better not hold me back," he said.
Seeing this heartwarming family moment, Anna's eyes grew misty, her heart swelling with emotion.
In her previous life, at Ethan's funeral, Mary was clutching his cold hand, completely broken with grief. She pointed at Anna, screaming at her in utter despair.
"I never should've made him marry you. If I'd just let him be with Melissa, maybe Ethan would still be alive. This is all your fault!"
Even Jack, who was always so gentle, looked at her with nothing but bitterness and resentment in his eyes.
"You're a curse! Why wasn't it you who died instead? Three times he risked his life for you, three times! How could you drag him down like that? Now he's dead because of you. Is that what you wanted?"
Anna tried to speak, wanting to apologise, but it was like something was blocking her throat. She couldn't make a sound.
Before she could even process what was happening, Mary and Jack shoved her out of the funeral without a shred of mercy.
There was a time when Mary and Jack used to be so good to her.
"Mary, Jack... Ethan and I..." Anna came back to herself, her eyes filling with tears. "We didn't get registered."
Mary's face went white as a sheet, and she asked anxiously, "Why didn't you? Did Ethan give you trouble again?"
She grabbed her phone in a rage. "No way, I'm giving him a piece of my mind. Can't even take care of his own wife. What a loser!"
"No, that's not it!" Anna blurted out, quickly raising her hands in protest, her voice trembling with urgency.
After Ethan left, Anna went back to school to make sure she'd secured her guaranteed admission spot, and only then did she take a cab back to the Reed residence.
On the way, she kept checking her phone, hoping for even a single message from Ethan, even if it was just him questioning her. But he didn't send her a single word, not even a punctuation mark.
Anna couldn't help but laugh at herself. 'What was I even hoping for?' she thought, a bitter smile tugging at her lips.
Ethan showed her with every single thing he did that he didn't love her, not even a little. He never gave her even a shred of hope to think otherwise.
She just couldn't let go, no matter what.
Right then, with Mary's genuine concern washing over her, Anna couldn't hold back anymore. Her tears streamed down her face, falling uncontrollably.
"Mary, Jack, this really has nothing to do with Ethan. It's me... I've finished all the paperwork for studying abroad, and I'll be leaving in a few days," Anna choked out, her voice trembling.