Chapter 273: What Comes After
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Ethan leaned in closer, his voice urgent but low, gripping my shoulders tightly. He pulled back just enough to really look at me, his fingers pressing down firmly...just enough to be steady, not painful, as if he needed to be sure I was really there and not about to vanish.
His gaze roamed my face carefully, taking in every detail with an intensity that suggested he was searching for anything amiss, and then it landed on something.
The bruise.
I could tell the second he spotted it. His expression tightened, and a darker look flickered across his face before he pushed it down. His jaw clenched a bit, tension settling in, but his voice stayed measured when he asked,
"What happened?" It was quieter now, but the underlying strain was still there.
For a moment, I hesitated. Not because I didn’t know what to say, but because I did. I had repeated those words so many times that they came out like a reflex, an old habit I couldn’t seem to shake.
"It’s nothing. I’m fine," I replied, shaking my head slightly as the words slipped from my lips without thought. I wasn’t sure if I should tell him the bruise was from my own mother.
They sounded familiar, just as automatic and practiced as ever, but this time they felt lighter, almost hollow. They weren’t completely true, but in light of everything else that had just transpired, the bruise felt distant, as if it belonged to a past moment that didn’t hold the same weight anymore.
Ethan didn’t seem convinced. For a heartbeat, it looked like he might dig deeper, his gaze lingering on my face as though he was weighing whether to confront my answer or let it slide.
I could see the uncertainty in him, the struggle between worry and restraint, but finally, he exhaled gently and relaxed his grip on my shoulders, his hands resting there with more assurance than urgency.
"I’m glad you’re okay," he said softly.