"Just be honest. It's because I'm pregnant, right?" asked Olivia.
"I can't believe you just asked me that," said Ethan, his face showing disappointment.
"You can't blame me for asking. You know what? You don't have to answer because I already know the truth." She crossed her arms and faced the other side, feeling stupid for only figuring out at that moment the reason he took her side.
"Olivia....."
"You don't have to say anything. It's okay. I understand."
"No, you don't. I didn't take your side because you're pregnant."
She scoffed and glanced at the ceiling. "Right!"
"I mean it."
When she heard the sincerity in his tone, she turned around to face him again and reminded him of all the humiliation she faced and not once did he ever defend her.
He admitted to it, but assured her that he defended her from the cheating accusations because he knew her character. He then took a few steps forward and looked right into her eyes and spoke gently. "It has nothing to do with the baby, alright?"
Her gaze softened and she slowly nodded. It was at that moment they should have carried on with the conversation, but they couldn't take their eyes off of each other.
She then gently chuckled and uncrossed her arms to seem more calm, making him chuckle as well.
"How's the baby?" he asked.
"How convenient of you to ask me that right after saying you didn't take my side because of the baby."
He sighed. "Just tell me."
"The baby's alright."
"That's my baby. It could never be Pete's," he said, his positive demeanor changing the moment he mentioned Pete.
"When will you talk to him? I don't want him here again."
He had plans of going home to his mother but once he heard the desperation in Olivia's tone as she spoke about Pete, he had a change of plans. He looked down at the pictures again and clenched his jaw as he said in a harsh tone, that he would immediately go to him.
When she asked what exactly he would do or how he would handle the situation, he only chuckled as he glanced at the pictures.
He then phoned Pete to ask if he was home and when he confirmed it, he told him not to leave the house since he would arrive shortly. He said it in such a calm manner that Pete was unable to sense he was in trouble. Instead, he assumed Ethan wanted to have more drinks together despite doing that a few hours earlier so he told him to hurry and have fun with the girls who had just arrived for a small party.
After the call, Ethan shoved his phone in his pocket, then told Olivia he would use a cab since it was the fastest way to get to Pete.
His tone was so threatening that she sighed deeply to calm her nerves. She was unaware, just how threatening he meant to be.
He then collected all the pictures into the envelope, headed outside and hailed a cab.
When he was in the backseat, he took off his jacket and loosened the cufflinks of his white shirt.
As he thought about how he would deal with Pete, he noticed Martha sitting in front of a trash can and all curled up and shaky from the cold but unlike last time, he didn't look back at her because all his focus was on Pete.
~
Over at Pete's house, three girls had been drinking and dancing to some party music.
Pete was upstairs, leaving the girls alone and they watched each other dance. Among them was Beth, who happened to know one of the girls Pete had invited and as someone who always enjoyed being at parties thrown by the upper class, it was the perfect place for her to take advantage of the expensive free alcohol.
When Ethan suddenly walked in with his sleeves pulled back and cold gaze, the girls instantly screamed because of how attractive he was and assumed he had come to party with them.
Beth recognized him and thought she would use the opportunity to have his full attention and let the other girls have Pete. As she looked at his physique, she bit her lip and thought that was the perfect moment to approach him before the other girls could. She rushed to him with a glass of whiskey which she planned to offer him but just as she was about to wrap her arms around him, he took a step back and told her to turn off the music.
Beth rolled her eyes at him and shook her head. "Oh come on, that's no f-"
"I said turn it off!" he yelled in her face, making her flinch and rush to turn off the music.
He then paced while facing the floor as he told them in a low tone to leave. Not hearing what he had said, they asked him to repeat and he yelled it the second time, then yelled for Pete to show himself.
The girls rushed out but couldn't leave the premises, especially when Beth stood right by the door and watched Ethan. Her curiosity wouldn't let her leave.
As Pete came downstairs, he brushed his hair back as he looked around and wondered what happened to the girls and the fun they were yet to have. He had just freshened up for them.
"I told them to leave, but they're the last thing you should be thinking about," said Ethan.
"What's with that tone? Am I missing something?" asked Pete as he stood right in front of Ethan.
Ethan took out a handful of the pictures and slammed them in Pete's face as he said, "Care to explain?"
Pete scoffed at Ethan's action and was about to show his disapproval further but when the pictures dropped to the floor, his attention shifted. He crouched down to pick up one and had no words as he stared at it. His forehead creased at how obvious it was that he was the one in the pictures at a specific apartment and with Olivia. It was so unexpected of Ethan to show up with such pictures that it took Pete a while to look up and his heart began to race.
"How...how did you get these pictures? When did you get them?" asked Pete.
Ethan clenched his fists, holding himself just a bit longer. "I told you to explain, not question me."
Pete sighed, then attempted to rise to his feet as he expressed his annoyance at Ethan. "I can't believe you made my girls leave then t-"
"Stay down," said Ethan as he pressed his hands on Pete's shoulders, making him crouch back down again by force.
"Explain why you've been going to see Olivia behind my back."
"Now you're interoga-"
Before Pete could speak further, Ethan smacked him in the side of the head, then crouched down to speak to him at that level. He held onto the back of Pete's head and lightly smacked him a few more times on the cheek, then told him he was in no position to avoid answering questions because thanks to Olivia, he was already aware of the truth but just wanted to hear it from him. With every word he said to Pete, he smacked him with a smirk.
Unable to stand the humiliation, Pete suddenly pushed Ethan, who fell backwards but soon got up, which was still not fast enough to keep Pete in place.
"I won't stand for this type of humiliation," said Pete as he paced.
"You've been going after Olivia since we were married. You desired my wife and made it known to her."
"Was I just humiliated in m-"
"When I saw the pictures, I didn't believe what I was told. Olivia would never cheat on me. She's not the type."
Without commenting on the pictures or Olivia, Pete scoffed as he expressed his disbelief at how he spent so much money on the girls he had brought over.
Tired of being ignored, Ethan got right in Pete's face and yelled for him to stop ignoring what he had said. He stared him straight in the eyes as he breathed hard and once he was certain he had Pete's attention, he tilted his head before he spoke.
"You went behind my back and confessed your attraction to my wife. I wonder what right you had. You and I weren't in the same league. She was already a billionaire's wife, something you could never relate to."
"That's so low of you."
"Oh yeah?" Ethan scoffed. "You must've really thought you had a chance but she rejected you over and again. Even when she wants nothing to do with you, you just won't leave her alone."
"Look, y-"
"I'm the one talking!"
"Oh please, why are you so upset like you cared about her? You never did!"
"That still didn't give you the right to go behind my back!"
"I would've treated her better and she would have been happy!"
"You know what's pissing me off right now?" asked Ethan, lowering his voice. "You won't admit you were wrong or even apologize."
"Why would I? I did nothing wrong. I wanted to save her from you. You were so focused on always standing by your mother that you couldn't see Olivia's pain and misery or maybe you did but you just didn't care. Just so you know, that was so wrong of you because as you continued always standing by your mother's side, Olivia suffered in silence and a few times, she had expressed to me how miserable she was. She deserved better."
"So that gave you the right to tell her how you felt?"
"I told her way before I saw how miserable she was."
"And she rejected you every time but you just couldn't back off."
"How could I? She deserved better."
"And you thought you were better?" Ethan scoffed.
"Yes, the love I have for Olivia would've saved her from you and all that suffering."
"Love?" asked Ethan in a low tone, his lip twitching and fists ready.
"Do you want me to spell it out for you? I did all I did because I love her and whether you like it or not, she'll b-"
Before Pete could speak any further, his vision almost turned to nothing when Ethan gave him a strong headbutt. His rage could no longer be contained, especially after Pete had confessed that he loved Olivia.
When Pete fell to the floor, right after the headbutt, Ethan got on top of him and punched him in the face.
Fearing the worst after seeing how defenseless Pete was, the girls came rushing inside while screaming in distress, begging Ethan to get off, but he had lost it. With hard hitting fists, he constantly took swings at Pete in the face with gritted teeth as he warned him to stay away from Olivia.
Once Pete felt the blood trickle to his lip, he knew he would bleed further if he just lay there and did nothing so when two of the girls were close enough and held onto Ethan to get him off, he rolled over and crawled away.
When Pete was back on his feet, he could barely support himself due the hard hitting fists and headbutt. He wiped his nose, the blood now on his sleeve. With a scoff, he looked over at Ethan, who was restrained by the two girls.
"Why are you so upset when you don't love Olivia?" asked Pete. "Unlike you, I do. I always have and always will."
Pete's words pierced through Ethan's heart so deep that he pushed the girls away with all his strength, then tackled Pete to the ground once again for another beating.
Pete brought his forearms in front of his face to block Ethan's fists but was too weak to keep them in place.
Ethan swung his fists one after the other as he yelled out that Olivia was off limits.
From the moment the situation had turned violent, Beth had been in the same spot after she got back inside the house with wide eyes and her hands over her mouth at how furious Ethan was over Olivia, so much that he turned his best friend into a defenseless man who could only take the beating.
Unable to watch it any longer, she rushed over to help the two other girls get Ethan off of Pete again and they succeeded but while Ethan was still close enough, in a fit of rage, he kicked Pete to the side of the head, then pushed the girls away as he paced with bloody knuckles.
The girls rushed to Pete to check on him and after several attempts to help him get up, Ethan noticed that Pete could barely move and that was when he looked at his bloody knuckles. With furrowed eyebrows and heavy breathing, he realized what he had just done.