Substitute Marriage With the Illegitimate Son novel Chapter 305

The atmosphere was tense for obvious reasons. But Ethan felt unnecessarily annoyed as he stared at Janet.

It was as if Janet was ready to pester him for answers today. He could see the decisiveness and stubbornness in her eyes. As a result, he felt uneasy. He had a hunch that if he continued to keep her in the dark, the gap between them would get wider.

"What can't you tell me?" Janet was on the verge of breaking down when she noticed that Ethan was hesitating. When he didn't answer her question, she finally cried hysterically, "Ethan! Why are you doing this to me? I'm sick and tired of knowing very little about you. Why did this happen? What happened between you and Ritchie? I thought we would just have dinner! Then all of a sudden he just snapped and started talking about horrible things. Although I know you don't have a good relationship with your family, I thought unfriendly words were the only thing I had to suffer in their hands. But it was nothing like that! How come this happened?"

'He wanted me to leave Ethan and be his mistress? How ridiculous and disgusting! He also injured Laney to this extent. I won't let this slide!' Janet was shocked and furious.

Anger settled like a boulder in Ethan's gut. He almost reached out his hand to hold Janet, but her glare made him restrain himself. He just said in a choked voice, "I'm sorry."

"No, I don't want to hear that. You keep saying you are sorry, but nothing changes!" Tears welled up in Janet's eyes. She held Ethan's hand and continued, "Our marriage made us one, Ethan. We only have each other. How do you think it makes me feel whenever I realize you are keeping secrets from me? I'm your wife! Why are you shutting me out?"

"No, don't put it that way. I'm not shutting you out!" With mixed feelings, Ethan stroked her hair and added seriously, "I don't like keeping secrets from you. It's just that I thought you will be in danger if you know too much about me and the Lesters. You mean so much to me, Janet. You might not believe me, but I love you more than life itself."

Janet threw herself into his arms and sobbed.

It was already winter in Seacisco, so there was not much sunlight. The cool wind caused the bare trees to sway. From the look of things, the city would get snowy very soon.

This current weather was very similar to the time when Ethan's mother died.

"Since you insist, I will tell you. It all began more than twenty years ago. The Lester family was a noble one in Seacisco, while the Larson family was down and out. Patrick Lester happened to meet my mother in a hotel one day. Like a savage, he raped her there. He didn't want his family name to be dragged into the mud, so he slandered my mother and made her the center of ridicule. He alleged that she seduced him first and that it was consensual sex. The media hounded her and no one believed her. My mother was extremely poor by then, so she had no money or connections to legally fight against him. Patrick gave her some money for her to shut up forever. In this way, he went scot-free. I lived with my mother until tragedy struck when I was nine years old. She suddenly passed away, leaving me in this cruel world. It was also a cold winter at that time. After my mother's death, I was forced to go to the Lester family's villa and Patrick agreed to take me in. He couldn't turn his back to me because I was his biological son. No matter how cruel rich people were, they valued their offspring. But Elissa, his wife, strongly opposed my coming into that household. She made a scene and ordered that I be thrown out. Patrick had to send me back to the house I used to live with my mother which was located in the suburb. That day marked the beginning of hell on earth for me. It wasn't bad enough that Elissa sent me back. She and her two sons still hated me. They spoke ill of my mother and bullied me at any given opportunity. My beast of a father never did anything much to stop the oppression. Later on, I attended the same high school as Ritchie. He was a senior and he picked on me every single day. It wasn't until after graduation that Elissa and my half-brothers finally stopped bullying me, because they had found out that my life was so miserable."

A huge ball of sadness erupted in Janet's heart by the time Ethan was done with his story. Tears streamed down her face and she hugged him tightly. Ethan had a miserable past. In her mind's eye, she pictured how a little boy of that age had to suffer such a cruel fate from his so-called family.

After crying for some time, Janet wiped her tears and said, "They are horrible people. I'm sorry that you had to go through all that as a child!"

Ethan patted her back as he fought back tears. He then wiped off the remaining tears on her face. A second later, his eyes darkened and his eyebrows knitted. "Ritchie is an arrogant devil. For him, it's a slap in the face that my friends defeated his men today. I'm sure that he won't let us go easily. However, you don't have to worry. I'm no longer that young and naive pushover. I'll stand up to him."