Unveiled: The Survivor's Triumph

I couldn't help but grip my phone tightly.

"Ethan is drunk." The woman's voice was soft and seductive, with a hint of smugness.

If I had any doubts before, now I was sure it was Faye.

I felt a lump in my throat, unable to speak.

She kept going. "Ethan, Emily is calling. Wake up, Ethan. Oh, Ethan, not again. I can't take this anymore. Come on, Emily's on the line..."

I hung up, my eyes stinging with tears.

He promised me he wouldn't drink, but he got drunk. When people are drunk, they lose their rationality.

Just like Oliver. He loved Bella so much, but when he was drunk, he made an irreparable mistake.

When Ethan was drunk and saw Fiona's face, would he still be rational? After all, she was the woman he truly liked.

Faye's coquettish voice echoed in my mind like a curse.

Imagining their current entanglement, imagining Ethan forcefully making love to another woman, my fingers gripped the corner of the sofa tightly, my heart shattering into pieces. God knew how carefully I had been maintaining this marriage and how much I wanted to have a good life with Ethan. Why did this have to happen?

I can't follow in Oliver and Bella's footsteps. I couldn't let a drunken mistake ruin my marriage.

But what should I do? I was completely panicked.

Just then, I heard the sound of an engine outside, and lights shone through the living room's floor-to-ceiling windows.

In no time, Ethan appeared at the door.

He changed his shoes and walked in, looking at me. "Why aren't you asleep yet? Not watching TV either?"

He came back so quickly, making the whole situation seem very strange.

I forced myself to calmly observe him.

He wasn't drunk, nor was his clothing disheveled.

I looked up at him and asked, "Did the family dinner just end?"

Ethan sat down on the sofa, rubbing his temples tiredly.

"It ended a while ago. Faye's agent called me, saying Faye was in a bad mood and had been crying. So I went to check on her."

He admitted going to Faye's place very frankly, which surprised me.

Connecting the dots, I suddenly understood that it was just a play directed and acted by Faye.

"So what was going on with her?" I asked calmly.

Ethan leaned back on the sofa and said indifferently, "She's young. It's not easy being alone out there. Holidays can make her homesick and emotional."

But she sounded so smug on the phone just now.

After sitting for a while, Ethan reached into his pockets, searching through each one as if looking for something.

Then he got up and went outside to check the car.

"Are you looking for your phone?" I asked from the doorway.

He straightened up and turned to look at me.

"You left your phone at Faye's place," I said.

He paused for a moment, then walked slowly towards me, raising a hand to caress my cheek.

"Did you call me? What did she say to you?" he asked.

I nodded, holding back my strong emotions. "She deliberately tried to provoke me, stirring up trouble."

"She didn't succeed," he said.

I murmured, "She did succeed. Even though I knew her lies would be exposed as soon as you got home, she just wanted to upset me, even if only for a moment. I was really heartbroken just now." Ethan's gaze softened with affection as he pulled me into his arms. "Don't be silly. You know she was trying to upset you, so why get angry?"

I leaned into his chest and sniffed his clothes.

"What are you doing?" he asked.

"Checking for the smell of alcohol or another woman's perfume." I said.

A low, pleasant laugh sounded in my ear. "Why don't you taste instead of smell?"

After kissing me for a while, he released me, pressing his forehead against mine, and asked in a husky voice, "Do you taste any alcohol?" Blushing, I shook my head, my breath uneven.

He suddenly picked me up and, while walking inside, said, "Let's see if you can taste any other woman's perfume."

Once inside, he kicked the door shut, threw me onto the bed, and we made passionate love.

Afterwards, he held me as he fell asleep.

But I suddenly received a message from Seagull: [Emily, how are you doing?]

Considering the time difference between Seagull's place and here, it wasn't surprising to receive a message in the middle of the night. Ethan was sleeping soundly. I put my phone on silent and replied: [I'm good. How about you?]

He replied: [I'm not doing so well.]

In my impression, Seagull had always been a person full of positive energy. This seemed unusual.

I quickly replied: [What's wrong?]

After several minutes, his message finally came through: [I've fallen in love with someone. But she's married. What should I do?]

This was the first time Seagull had ever talked to me about his feelings.

I thought for a moment and replied: [It just means she's not the right one for you, so why force it? Being overly persistent will only bring you pain. Try to let go and seek new love.]

A long time passed without a reply from Seagull.

I wondered if I had been too blunt and hurt his feelings.

I quickly sent another message: [I'm just sharing my thoughts. I hope you don't mind.]

This time, he replied quickly: [It's okay, you're right. I just can't let go for now, but maybe with time, I will.]

I thought for a while and replied: [Does she know it?]

He answered indirectly: [She seems to love her husband very much.]

I texted: [Then you should wish her well and seek your own happiness. What do you think?]

After a long time, Seagull replied: [I'll take your advice.]

After New Year's Eve, the company was completely on holiday, and Ethan didn't have to go to work either.

One day after the New Year, we went to Greenfield Village to have a reunion dinner with Martin, and Jason was there too.

Although there weren't many people at this reunion dinner, I felt a warm and joyful atmosphere.

Martin, enjoying his meal, said to Jason, "When will you bring a girlfriend over? It would be even more lively."

I was actually puzzled as to why he didn't bring Lacey along. Was it because Lacey was Linda's daughter, and he was afraid Martin wouldn't be happy to see her?

Martin proudly said, "I'm not bragging, but my grandson and my grandson-in-law are both outstanding and very likable. Jason, you shouldn't set your standards too high. When looking for a partner, find someone who is down-to-earth, not those flashy types. I really like girls like Emily."

Martin's words praised all of us.

"But there's only one Emily," Jason suddenly said.

Recalling what Lacey had said to me at the villa, I suddenly felt uneasy and awkward.

Ethan placed a piece of beef rib in my bowl as if he didn't understand the deeper meaning behind Jason's words.

Martin looked at Jason, then at Ethan, and laughed. "There are many good girls in the world. It depends on whether you have the eyes to see them."

Jason stared at the dishes on the table, smiled faintly, and said nothing.

In the evening, we prepared to set off fireworks.

They had brought several buckets of fireworks in their own car.

Standing outside the yard, fireworks were already being set off in other places, with popping sounds everywhere, lighting up the night sky intermittently.

"That day, Lacey just pulled me to be a temporary actor." While Ethan was setting up the fireworks in front, Jason stood beside me and said.

I looked at him in surprise, feeling that I needed to take a stronger stance.

I said, "Actually, I think Lacey is really great. Feelings can develop over time. Just like Ethan and me, when I first married him, there wasn't much feeling. But over time, our feelings grew deeper. Now, I really love him and can't live without him." The flickering light of the fireworks illuminated his face. He looked into the depths of the night and gave a bitter smile.

"Really?"

Ethan finished setting up the fireworks and came over, ending our conversation.

Ethan suggested we go up to the rooftop to watch.

Jason said, "You two go ahead. I'll light them."

Ethan took me up to the rooftop.

The three-story building's rooftop wasn't very high. Standing on the rooftop, I saw Jason approaching the fireworks bucket with a lighter.

In no time, with a loud whoosh, the fireworks shot into the sky and exploded in the dark night.

The deafening sound of the explosion inexplicably stirred something in me.

Watching fireworks in a quiet, small town was completely different from watching them in the city.

There were no neon lights, no bustling traffic. It was like a naturally blooming flower, pure and stunning.

Ethan gently placed one hand on my shoulder and took out his phone with the other.

Just when I thought he was going to take a picture of the fireworks, he suddenly turned and kissed my cheek while pressing the shutter.

He looked at the photo on his phone with satisfaction. "Honey, this is our first photo together."

Speaking of photos, I remembered the night he first brought me home and took that picture.

He seemed to guess what I was thinking and laughed. "That one doesn't count. When I took that picture, you weren't my wife yet, and you were showing too much in that one. It's not suitable for a screensaver." Then, he really set the photo he just took as his screensaver.

Jason lit one bucket of fireworks after another. He looked up at the fireworks and then, seemingly unintentionally, glanced back at the rooftop.

At that moment, Ethan's kiss deepened.

Under the dazzling fireworks, Ethan's kiss grew more passionate, and he suddenly pressed me against the railing.