CHAPTER 156: CHAPTER 156: THE UNBLESSED ILLEGITIMATE CHILD? (2)

Seraphina was startled.

She never expected Ethan would return to the country so soon, let alone find him here.

Holding the doorknob at the entrance, Seraphina stood there in a daze, momentarily forgetting what she was supposed to do.

Ethan was a bit surprised too, taking a few seconds to react.

"Don’t come in, I smoked inside, it’s suffocating."

Reminding her with a sentence, he hurriedly stood up, extinguished the cigarette in the ashtray, and quickly walked over to open the window.

Noticing the photo frame in his hand, Ethan turned around, quietly hiding his right hand behind him, and placed the photo frame on the bedside table.

In the frame was a selfie of the two taken by Seraphina during a skiing vacation.

Ethan had said it looked beautiful and had it printed specially, always leaving it on the bedside table they shared.

The wind blew in from outside, dispersing the smell of smoke in the room.

Feeling a bit chilly from the wind, Seraphina shrugged her shoulders.

Noticing her small movement, Ethan cleared his throat.

"Shall we talk in the study?"

Seraphina nodded, turning to walk into the adjoining study.

Ethan followed her in, standing in front of her.

Seraphina stood by the desk, uncharacteristically uneasy and tense, her eyes not knowing where to land.

Suddenly changing from intimate lovers to strangers about to divorce, she was far from adjusting to it.

Taking a shallow breath, she tried hard to calm herself down.

Seraphina lifted her face, her gaze sweeping over the bandage on his head.

"Are you okay?"

"Are you okay?"

Almost simultaneously, Ethan’s voice also rose up.

Hearing his voice, Seraphina awkwardly lowered her face.

"Why did you get discharged from the hospital so soon?"

"Things at the company are urgent, so I rushed back to handle them," Ethan explained, his eyes falling on her noticeably pale face, frowning with heartache, "Why didn’t you come home last night?"

"I slept over at Ivy’s," Seraphina tried to make her tone sound natural, "I came back this time just to pack up my things."

"No need to pack, you can still live here. I’ll move out."

"How can that be okay?"

"Why not?" Ethan frowned, "This is your home."

"But... you bought it."

"You..." Ethan frowned, realizing his tone was a bit rushed, he took a deep breath to soften it, "I’ve thought it over, I’ll give you this house, and also leave the car for you."

"No need." Seraphina shook her head gently, "I can support myself, you should take them back."

Reaching into her bag, Seraphina took out the bank card Ethan gave her when he bought the car—which had never been taken back—along with the villa keys, handing them to him.

Ethan frowned, his hands hanging by his sides, motionless.

Seeing that he wouldn’t take them, Seraphina withdrew her right hand, placing the card and keys lightly on the table.

"I’ll go pack my things, and you can call me when you have time, so we can go to the Civil Affairs Bureau to finalize the divorce."

Lowering her eyelashes, she stepped toward the door.

As she passed by him, Ethan closed his eyes and finally couldn’t hold back, reaching out to grab her wrist.

"I know you hate me, but can’t these be considered some compensation for you?"

"You don’t owe me anything, and I don’t need compensation." Seraphina withdrew her hand from his grasp, lowering her eyelashes without looking at him, "I also don’t hate you."

Ethan’s hands clenched.

"Then leave these things."

"I can’t take them."

"Why can’t you? We were once husband and wife. Even if we’re divorcing, there should be a division of property."

Ethan suddenly turned around, raising his hand to hold her shoulders.

"It’s what you deserve."

"I didn’t marry you for these."

Seraphina raised her hand to push his hands off her shoulders, striding out of the study.

"Seraphina!" Ethan chased out of the study, "Now isn’t the time to be naive and willful. Haven’t you thought about the fact that your dad needs money, and when he’s discharged, he’ll need a place to stay? And your brother, his case needs money too, and where will he live when he gets out? Why do you insist on drawing such a clear line with me? Even if we’re divorcing, haven’t we still been husband and wife?"

Seraphina stopped in her tracks, closing her eyes.

Compared to this, she would rather Ethan be a bit heartless to her.

Clearly, they were getting divorced, clearly, she had decided to give him up, so why was he still being kind to her?

Did he not know that this kind of treatment was torture for her?

Clenching her teeth, Seraphina turned her face towards him with a cold expression.

"Because I don’t need your charity, because I still want to keep a bit of my self-respect, is that not allowed?"

Ethan stood in the hallway, lost for words.

Turning around, Seraphina went back to the master bedroom in large strides.

Entering the closet, she hastily pulled down her clothes and stuffed them into the suitcase.

Not even bothering to check whether everything was packed neatly, she hurriedly closed the suitcase and walked out of the master bedroom.

Seeing Ethan in the hallway, she frowned, trying to go around him to leave.

Ethan grabbed the handle of her suitcase.

"Let me help you."

"No need."

"I insist!"

Seraphina bit her lip, released her fingers, and walked down the stairs with large steps.

Ethan carried her suitcase downstairs, watching her put on her coat.

Turning around, he grabbed the violin from the side table and handed it to her.

"You came back to the country in such a rush, you didn’t bring the violin. I brought it back for you."

Seeing Seraphina not taking it, he closed his eyes, changing to a pleading tone.

"I won’t force you with anything else, just this violin, just keep it as a memento, can’t you?"

Hesitating for a few seconds, Seraphina finally raised her hand to take the violin from him.

"I’ll pay you back someday."

Ethan said nothing, silently helping her carry the suitcase down the steps.

With one hand holding the violin and the other pulling the suitcase, Seraphina strode toward the mountain path.

The winter sun was bleak, her silhouette so thin it elicited pity.

Wearing only a shirt, Ethan stood in the cold wind at the bottom of the stairs, clenching his fists tightly.

"Seraphina, I’m sorry."

A car drove over, stopping not far away, and Sean hopped out, opening the door.

"It’s so cold, why are you standing here?"

Ethan turned around and walked back into the living room, taking out a cigarette and lighting it, taking a deep drag.

"How is the company doing?"