Chapter 166

Third Person POV

Irene sat in the parlor at the villa, her hands trembling as her thumb was hard at work, scrolling through the many pictures she and Ethan had taken together this past year.

All her hopes and dreams for the future were gone now that she knew Ethan wasn’t being truthful. All the lies and manipulation… what was it even for? To get close to her father?

Sitting beside her on the couch were photos of Ethan and various other women. Alex did some more digging and found out that Stella wasn’t the only woman Ethan had been with. He’s been with multiple women in a span of months… all of them resembling Judy in one way or another.

Alex had someone following him these last couple of days and managed to get some photos for Irene, and she was gutted by the evidence.

The worst part was… she had no one to talk to about this. She pushed away the only true friend she had. She regretted everything she had done to Judy, and she hoped she could make things right. She wrapped her arms around her body, trying to hold herself together to keep from sobbing too heavily.

Approaching footsteps jolted her mind back to the present moment. Just as Ethan walked through the parlor archway, Irene put her phone down and grabbed the photos Alex had given her.

The first thing she noticed was that Ethan looked tired.

She scoffed, knowing exactly why he was tired. The evidence was in her hands.

His eyes found Irene almost immediately, and he paused, seeing the anger in her eyes.

“What is it?” He asked, stepping towards her. “Did something happen?”

Her bottom lip trembled; she hated that she was about to fall apart in front of him.

Irene stood up, picture evidence firmly in her hands as she turned to face him fully, her eyes brimming with tears and all the emotions she’d been holding back.

Though she looked like a gutted young woman, her tone held the power of one born with Lycan blood and had a deadly edge to it.

“How long?” She asked.

Ethan frowned.

“Babe, what are you talking about?” He asked, his tone exasperated and annoyed; he sounded as tired as he looked.

Irene threw the photos at his face, making him flinch. As he watched the photos fall to the ground, his face visibly paled once realization dawned on him.

She knew.

“I can explain those,” he said, his voice coming out controlled, like he wasn’t about to lose his mind, though his eyes said something entirely different.

“How long have you been cheating on me, Ethan??” She spat.

He stared at the photos, at a loss for words. His silence made a hysterical laughter bubble out of her.

“Irene—” he started to say, but she didn’t give him the chance to spread more lies for her ears to hear.

“Did you ever love me?” She asked. “Or was it all a lie so you could get close to my father?”

He stared at her; it was clear to her that he was trying hard to keep his face indifferent, though his eyes were like a window to the turmoil he felt.

He remained locked away, reserved.

It was driving her crazy; she wanted some kind of reaction towards him, but he had shut himself down, shielding her from his true emotions.

She clenched her fists at her sides, her nails digging into the palms of her hands. She could feel the blood trickling down her forearm as she fought the urge to lunge at him.

“All the things you said about Judy…” she said through her teeth “Were they the truth? Or did you lie to me, Ethan? Was anything you said true??”

Once again, he remained silent.

It was all the answer she needed; he had told her that Judy was the cheater and the aggressor and that he had left Judy because of her infidelity. He told Irene that Judy was unstable and trying to win him back.

He painted her as the villain, but now she’s realizing that none of it was true. Ethan lied to her, and because of it, she lost a really good friend.

Irene felt sick to her stomach, even being in the same room as him.

“Holy shit…” she whispered, more to herself than to him, as more realization dawned on her, the puzzles working themselves out. “I was the other woman, wasn’t I?”

He finally pulled his gaze from the pictures to meet her eyes.

“I did what I had to do,” he said, his tone becoming almost harsh. Irene wasn’t used to hearing that kind of tone from him, and she flinched almost immediately despite her own fury.

“Was any of it true?” She asked again, needing an answer so she could finally put this toxic relationship behind her.

“It wasn’t personal,” he murmured. “But I had to do what I had to do to get ahead.”

“To get ahead??” She asked, her voice coming out louder. “So, this was all about my father?”

“You don’t need to blow this out of proportion, Irene…” He started to say, but he was unable to finish his sentence because she swung and punched his face.

It was a good punch, too, enough for his nose to take a bit of damage and blood to trickle out. Though Irene looked small and dainty like a princess, she was Gavin Landry’s daughter. Of course, he had her train at a young age for a bit of combat and self-defense.

She wasn’t completely helpless, and when she wanted to, she could be a force to be reckoned with.

Ethan saw stars for a moment before his vision came back.

When he stared back at Irene’s angered face, all he felt was pure rage; his wolf did not like being threatened and wouldn’t tolerate the disrespect.

Without warning, he let out a low and deadly growl, gripping Irene by the throat and shoving her against the wall with so much force a few pictures fell off the wall and fell to the ground, cracking one of the frames.

“Don’t you ever touch me like that again!” He seethed through his teeth, his eyes flashing dangerously as his wolf fought to take control. “You have no idea what I am capable of.”

He squeezed her throat so hard it cut off her air. She struggled against his hold, trying to get him to release her so she could get a breath of air.

Her eyes were large as she stared back into his eyes; she tried to glimpse the Ethan she once knew and fell in love with, but it was clear he had long checked out. Maybe he was never there to begin with.

“I don’t need you or your father anymore, Irene. Which means I don’t give a fuck about what happens to you!” He growled. Now that he had Levi in his corner, he didn’t need anything from Gavin Landry. “I can make your life a living hell if you ever think about laying your hands on me again, do I make myself clear?!”

His grip on her throat tightened, making it impossible for her to speak. She dangled in the air, trying desperately to grasp a breath of air; she attempted to nod, praying that he received his answer.

Thankfully, he did, and he released her, dropping her to the ground with a thud.

She coughed and rubbed her aching throat, knowing he had left his handprints on her throat from how tightly he was grabbing her. They would heal soon enough, but still… the pure thought of Ethan hurting her so badly that it left a mark on her shattered her soul.

Her body trembled as she gasped for air, desperate to fill her lungs.

Ethan stepped towards her, bending down to her so she could hear every word he was about to speak.

“Don’t test me. Try that shit again, and I won’t stop. I’ll make sure my face is the last one you see,” he threatened before standing to his full height; he started towards the parlor entrance.

“You’re a monster,” Irene whispered her voice nothing more than a croak.

Tears stung their eyes as she watched his retreating form.

At first, she didn’t know if he could hear her because of how soft her voice was. But just before he reached the archway, he paused and glanced over his shoulder at her, his eyes cold and almost calculating.

“I never claimed to be otherwise, sweetheart. You saw what you wanted to see. You were easy to manipulate. You should have listened to Judy,” he murmured. “I’ve been trying to get her to agree to be my mistress this entire time. She keeps refusing because, apparently, you deserved better. You threw away the only true friend you had. If anyone’s at fault, it’s you for your stupidity.”

With those words in the air, Ethan turned and left the villa.

Irene let out a sob as she crumbled on the ground; Ethan was right, she did throw away the only friend she ever truly had. Her entire body was racked with trembles as she cried on the floor in the parlor. She pressed her knees to her chest and buried her face in her lap. She was unable to stop herself from sobbing to her heart's content.

Her entire world crashed around her in seconds.

She wasn’t sure how long she spent in the parlor. Seconds turned to minutes, and minutes turned to hours. Once she started to snap herself out of her stupor, she grabbed her phone and called the one person she could think of.

The only one she could truly count on.

“Daddy….” She whispered into the phone once it connected; her tone sounded broken, and Gavin was immediately on alert.

“Irene, what’s going on?” He asked with a sense of urgency in his tone.

“I need you,” she whispered, her tone quivering. “Something really bad happened… I don’t want to be alone.” A sob broke through her lips before she could stop it, and Gavin’s heart plummeted.

“I’ll book a flight for you and your brother tonight,” he said without hesitation; his kids will always come first, no matter what. “I’ll pick you up from the airport.”