Though it only took Ethan a few seconds to respond, he faced the floor, sighed heavily and nodded.
Delighted, his mother placed her hand on his shoulder.
"I knew you would agree right away and it's because Olivia's nothing to you. Am I right?"
"She really is nothing to me. I don't even love her," he said.
"Then tell her you want a divorce the moment we leave this room. I already have plans for you to marry Natalie."
"So soon?"
"Yes, why wait? I plan to work with her father and we've already agreed that you two are to be married. So get on with informing Olivia about this."
"I will." Though he was about to leave, he noticed her sinister smirk as she intertwined her fingers. "Is there something on your mind?"
"This is about to be so satisfying. That good for nothing will be on her knees, begging you not to divorce her while holding onto your legs."
As he imagined it, his condescending attitude took over and that was now what he expected to happen when he would tell Olivia.
With his head high, he headed out before his mother, ready to break Olivia's heart and leave her devastated.
~
When Ethan had left with his mother so they could speak in private, Olivia had been left standing on the staircase with Mr Philip and Natalie.
She had glanced at them a few times and noticed they had been staring at her, then back at each other.
Uncomfortable, she looked away from them and around at the other guests who had arrived, despite having no intention to mingle with any of them.
Right when she made herself busy with that, Natalie caught her attention when she began to speak.
"Ms Hudson was right about you, Olivia."
It was such an unspecified statement that Olivia narrowed her eyes. "What are you talking about?"
Leaving Olivia puzzled even more, Natalie looked over at her father.
"Dad, don't you agree?"
"Of course," he said. "Ms Hudson was totally right. I can see it."
Natalie chuckled as she scanned Olivia's face. "Ms Hudson pointed out the resemblance between you and your father."
As soon as her father was mentioned, Olivia narrowed her eyes. She finally began to understand what the topic of discussion was all about.
When Mr Philip agreed with his daughter. Olivia couldn't figure out what interest it was to them to talk about her father.
Because of all she had been through, she wasn't fond of talking about her father. She even had no family to lean on. She was all alone since no one wanted to be associated with her.
Wanting to get away from the two of them, she sighed deeply and forced a smile.
"Excuse me," she said, attempting to walk past them.
Right before she could leave, Natalie stood in her way and chuckled.
"So tell us. How does it feel?"
"What are you talking about this time?" Olivia asked, a little bit annoyed.
"I'm talking about being Mr Parker's daughter. He was a man who was once considered wealthy, only to discover that it was all stolen money. I heard he passed away during investigations."
Fuming, Olivia stared at Natalie right in the face. "If you have nothing positive to say, I would like to excuse myself from here. It's extremely annoying."
"Don't be rude, young lady," Mr Philip chimed in.
Olivia jerked her head in his direction and said, "There was no need for Natalie to bring up the topic of my father like that. So excuse me for trying to stand up for myself to people like you."
Pushing Natalie aside by coming in contact with her shoulder, Olivia stormed off with loud footsteps, the sound of her heels making her quick pace noticeable to all as she held onto the sides of her dress.
For her, it was nothing new to have people team up against her and tear her down or humiliate her. Everyone was always against her the moment they would find out who her father was.
There were other incidents with Ms Hudson's guests in the past, where they would see Olivia, then proceed to speak about her father.
At times, Ms Hudson would tell them about her father if they weren't aware. She was always looking for an opportunity to make her life miserable.
With her eyes on the ground, Olivia moved as fast as she could, trying to get away from the crowd.
Suddenly, she bumped into a man and when she looked up, she was already in his arms. As he held onto her to keep her from falling, it was then that she realized it was Pete, Ethan's best friend.
"You know, you've gotta be more careful," he advised her, his hands still on her waist.
"Look," she began, her tone irritated, "this only happened because I wasn't paying attention. Now that you've prevented me from falling, there's no need for you to keep holding me. You can let me go."
"Fine," he said, but held her a bit longer as he looked at her neck.
"So...where's Ethan?" he asked, his eyes feasting on her beauty.
"He's upstairs talking to his mother about the devil knows what."
"Wow! You sound annoyed just by talking about her."
"That's because I am. At this point, I really don't care."
"Okay." He chuckled. "Have you been that miserable?"
"Are you being serious or is that a joke?" She glared at him.
"Come on, I'm just trying to lighten up the mood because you seem so grumpy."
"How could I not be grumpy? You know how difficult it's been for me in this family."
"Bad timing with my joke. Sorry." He cleared his throat, then turned flirtatious as he licked his lips. "Has anyone told you how gorgeous you look in this dress? As always, it's impossible for me not to stare at your red lips."
"Pete-"
"I love seeing you in these strapless dresses. They perfectly show off your shoulders and collarbone. How about you have a drink with me?"
Unamused, she placed a hand on her hip as she shook her head. "Look, let's not do this."
"Do what?" He shrugged.
"This," she said, slightly waving her hand between the two of them. "Whatever you've been trying to do won't work. I'm already unhappy in my marriage and I don't want you to make it any worse for me. No matter how many times you try, I'll never go out with you."
"Hey!" he whispered as he got closer. "Don't say that too loud!"
"Why? Are you scared that people will find out that Ethan's best friend has been hitting on his wife?"
He stroked his chin with a raised eyebrow as he looked at her.
"Just look at how gorgeous you are. How could I not hit on you?"
"You already know that I'm not interested in hearing about any of it, so just stop talking about it."
"Wow, you're really upset, huh?"
"Yes and it's not just because of you. This party sucks and I just want to go home."
His face brightened up as he held out his arm with a smile.
"I can drive you home."
"No, I'd rather go home with Ethan."
"Really? Are you forgetting how much you find Ethan annoying and hate him?"
"You're not wrong, but despite all that, I'd still go with him because he's my husband, not you."
"Ouch." He placed a hand on his chest. "Olivia, I know you're married to my best friend but if you'd give me a chance, you'll never regret it.
Not feeling like saying a word to him in response to yet another pointless confession, she only scoffed.
Just when he was about to try again, he spotted Ethan from behind Olivia.
"Dude! I just arrived!" Pete called out to him with enthusiasm.
When Olivia looked back, she saw Ethan approaching them with his mother.
He usually smiled when he saw Pete, but that one time, she noticed he almost had a blank face.
When they were finally together and Pete greeted Ms Hudson and Ethan, Pete was so enthusiastic, unlike Ethan.
As Olivia saw Ethan that way, she couldn't help but wonder what he had talked about with his mother.
Ms Hudson then glanced at her with a sinister chuckle as she walked past her to attend to her guests, making Olivia wonder what was going on.
As Ethan faced Olivia, who stood at a distance while Pete stood before him and wouldn't stop talking, his eyes were glued to her the entire time.
Then came a moment when he cut Pete right in the middle of his sentence as he needed to speak to Olivia in private.
Once Pete excused himself, Ethan approached Olivia, towering over her with the image of her begging on her knees.
"Let's go upstairs to the bedroom," he said. "We need to talk."
"To talk about whatever you spoke about with your mother a few minutes ago?" she asked.
"Let's not do this right now. I just need to talk to you and it's urgent."
"Fine."
As they walked up the stairs, he sighed as he loosened his necktie, thinking of the best possible way to break the news to her.
His mother's description of Olivia's reaction stuck with him and those were his expectations when he would tell her.
When they made it to the bedroom, he closed the door and leaned against the wall.
"What's going on?" she asked, sitting on the bed.
"There's something serious we need to talk about," he said.
"Obviously...that's why you brought me here."
He scoffed. "You have some nerve to be so anno-"
"Just tell me what this is about!" she yelled while facing the floor.
"Fine."
Despite all the ways he could have possibly told her what was going on, he was straight forward with her.
"I want a divorce."
She instantly raised her head and he watched as her face went from blank, to having a creased forehead and wide eyes. Finally, she parted her lips to speak but nothing came out.
"I want a divorce. You heard me, right?" he asked.
She blinked a few times and firmly nodded. "Of course, I heard you. Well, since you want a divorce, get the papers ready."
"What?" He got closer, shocked. "Just like that?"
"Yes, just like that. You just told me you want a divorce and I responded to it. What else did you expect?"
"Won't you ask me why we're getting a divorce. Doesn't it bother you or anything?"
She chuckled. "Why would it bother me when I don't want to be in this marriage?"
He scoffed. "You know what? You're unbelievable."
"Is it just me or are you getting upset? Shouldn't I be the one feeling that way because you want a divorce? I'm ready to sign those papers so just serve them to me when they're ready and you'll have my signature as soon as possible."
"This was not the reaction I was expecting," he said in a low tone.
She shrugged. "Is there anything else you want me to say to you?"
"I hate you for this!"
She chuckled and got up from the bed to approach him. "Oh really? I feel the same way about you. Now excuse me while I go and celebrate downstairs. I'm definitely drinking to this!"
Her reaction was so shocking to him that he just stood still and watched as she took her phone with her and walked out with her head high.
When he was alone, his rage intensified and he picked up a pillow and hurled it against the wall.
Breathing hard, he paced as he tried to come to terms with her response and brighter mood.
Not satisfied with how it all went down, he needed to tell Pete about it, so he headed downstairs to look for him.
When he found him having a few drinks while talking to some ladies, he took him away from there and held onto his wrist as he pulled him along.
He brought him outside, where the cars had parked and it was just the two of them.
Once Pete's wrist was set free, he massaged it a few times.
"Dude, that hurt. What happened for you to be so rough?"
"I'm furious," Ethan said with a heavy breath.
"Okay, tell me what's wrong." He placed his hand on Ethan's shoulder.
Ethan clenched his jaw before speaking. "Olivia and I are getting a divorce."
Pete put his other hand on Ethan's other shoulder and smiled widely as he enthusiastically said, "Really? You're letting her go? She'll no longer be your wife?"