I Married the President

Seeing her cry harder and harder, Ethan Kingsley’s heart felt like it was breaking. "Little Cutie, do your eyes still hurt?"

Ivy Tanner nodded. In truth, it wasn’t her eyes that hurt, but her heart.

’It’s a shame that even if I tore open my heart for him to see, he wouldn’t be able to tell how much I’m hurting.’

Besides Claire Sinclair, there was no one left in the world who was genuinely good to her.

"We need to rinse it with water. Let’s go inside." Ethan Kingsley simply scooped her up, ran swiftly into the house and into the bathroom, and used water to help her wash her eyes.

Her tears mixed with the clear water and seemed to stop. The grit in her eye was mostly cleared out, and it finally stopped hurting. And with that, she stopped crying.

Ethan Kingsley breathed a small sigh of relief. "Little Cutie, is that better?"

But Ivy Tanner kept her head down, like a child who had lost a toy, and said softly, "I don’t want to talk to you."

"Are you angry?"

"..." ’Shouldn’t I be angry? He stepped on my flowers.’

"I apologize. Don’t be angry anymore."

"I don’t want to be friends with you anymore! Brother Kingsley is a bad person, a bad person!"

As she spoke, Ivy Tanner raised her hands and beat against his chest.

Ethan Kingsley was amused by her adorable actions, but his gaze was quickly drawn to the dirt on her clothes. Finding it an eyesore, he took her upstairs to her room and picked out a cute dress for her.

"Your clothes are dirty. Go get changed."

"I won’t!" ’I don’t want to accept his concern. An angry fool isn’t supposed to be rational; they’re allowed to be willful. Still, I know this is risky. It might make him angry.’

Ethan Kingsley said patiently, "Be good and go change. Otherwise, I’ll change you myself."

Ivy Tanner stood without moving. She just wouldn’t go, no matter what.

"Little Cutie, don’t make me angry. Take the clothes and go change."

"..." ’I’m not going.’

"Little Cutie, are you going or not?"

"..." ’I’m not going!’

Ethan Kingsley’s patience was completely worn thin. He roughly grabbed her clothes, making a move to do it himself.

Ivy was immediately scared. "Don’t hit me! Brother Kingsley, don’t hit me! I’ll be good, don’t hit me!"

Ethan Kingsley: ...

’What am I supposed to do with her?’

...

In the end, Ethan Kingsley still changed her clothes himself and even washed her rain-dampened hair.

WHIRRR... The sound of the hairdryer filled her ears as he dried her hair for her.

Ivy Tanner kept her head down, her face flushed. She didn’t dare indulge in the many ways he was being gentle with her, afraid she would fall too deep.

He seemed to say something to her, but the hairdryer was too loud for her to hear clearly.

She didn’t know how long he’d been at it, but eventually, her hair was dry.

Ethan Kingsley led her back to the first floor, heading straight for the dining room. "I’m eating here tonight."

Ivy Tanner’s hand trembled. She almost couldn’t stop herself from pulling it back, but she didn’t dare.

He held her hand just like that, tugging at her heart until it ached terribly.

In that instant, she desperately wanted to ask him: if she were to marry another man, would he be reluctant to let her go?

But how could a fool ask such a grown-up question?

’I can’t ask. There’s no way I can.’

’It’s what I deserve for being a fool.’

...

In truth, Ivy Tanner had no appetite. She didn’t know if it was because of the pregnancy, but for the past few days, she hadn’t been able to eat proper meals, only sour fruits.

When Ethan Kingsley saw that she hadn’t picked up her chopsticks, his tone turned harsh again. "Eat. Don’t just sit there like an idiot."

Ivy Tanner hesitantly picked up her chopsticks, wanting to eat something, but she really couldn’t. She looked at all the dishes, but in the end, still couldn’t bring herself to take a bite.