This time, it was Maisie's turn to fall silent.

Ethan asked, "So, should we come over?"

Maisie still didn't respond.

"I'll take that as a yes. Wait for us, alright? We'll be right there."

"No. Don't come over. I don't want to see Felicia right now."

"That's fine. I can just make a call and ask someone else to come over. You might have to wait for about half an hour, though. Can your man hold out for that long?" Ethan said.

Maisie was wordless.

Ethan asked, "Hello? Is that okay?"

She flung the phone aside, feeling angry at herself. How could she lose to him even when it came to being shameless?

When Seth saw that she was distracted, he pulled her up and made her sit on his lap. He leaned back against the headboard and lit a cigarette, slowly caressing her flawless skin with his other hand. "So, which number am I?"

Maisie returned to her senses. "What are you talking about?"

"You want to get revenge on him, don't you? How many of his friends and relatives have you slept with? Which number am I?"

Her eyes glinted. "Why are you asking?"

"No reason. It's fine if you don't want to tell me."

Maisie's heart was in a mess. Since childhood, she'd been raised to be obedient and demure. People had even called her an innocent little thing during her school days.

Ethan had pursued her for four years, from middle school to high school. Every morning at 6:30 am, he would travel halfway through Rhode City to wait outside her house so he could take her to school on his bike.

When she went to the library to study, he would sit beside her and fan her, helping to chase away annoying mosquitoes.

When she said she didn't like guys with bad grades, he'd used one semester to improve his grades until he was the third in the class. After sitting for his college entrance exam, he'd gotten into Shelkin College.

When her favorite lollipop went out of production, he had gathered all his friends to buy the remainder of what was left on the market.

Maisie couldn't understand it. How had Ethan, who'd loved her so much, become like this?

"Why don't you want to see Felicia?" Seth moved his legs when he was done with his cigarette. He smiled when he saw her bob up and down with his actions. "Does he want to marry her?"

Maisie became even more irritated. "Don't ask."

"Looks like I've guessed correctly."

Maisie didn't respond. Seth continued, "You didn't react much to his previous lovers. Felicia is the only one who's made you break down."

"Could you stop talking?"

"Mad already?"

Maisie got up and picked up her clothes, which were strewn across the floor. She put them on and said, "I'm leaving."

…

When Maisie got home, she wanted to head straight to the bathroom. But she stopped short when she saw the person seated on the couch in the living room. "What are you doing here?"

Ethan was reading the newspaper with his legs crossed at the knee. "This is my home. Why can't I be here?"

"Your home is with Felicia, not here with me."

He smirked. "Are you jealous?"

"As if!"

"Try something else next time," Ethan said. "We've been together for so long, and I know you too well, Maisie. You would rather commit suicide than sleep with any random man. You're just not that type."

She let out an exasperated laugh. "Which type am I, then?"

He said confidently, "You couldn't possibly sleep with anyone if you didn't have feelings for them. You just wanted me to come home, right? You didn't need to lie like that.

"How would you have handled the situation if I'd really gone to the room next door yesterday? What would you have done if I hadn't seen you there?"

"Didn't you hear us?"

"Hear what?"

"A man was talking to me when we were on the phone last night."

Ethan looked at her like he wanted to see how long she could keep the act up. "You even got an extra to act with you? How much did you pay him?"

Maisie said, "Don't think you know me that well. It's much easier to be a slut than to be a faithful wife."

"You're all bark and no bite."

That pissed Maisie off more. "What makes you think so? I can call him and tell him to come over right now."

"Sure," Ethan said. "Seth is coming over soon. So, he can hear about your sexcapades, too."

"Who is coming over?"

"Seth. Have you forgotten him? Seth Shaw, my cousin."

The doorbell rang, and Ethan answered the door. "Took you long enough, Seth."

Seth had already changed into a clean suit. His gold-rimmed glasses had been wiped clean, too. Last night, he'd pushed it into Maisie's body.

Seth smiled. "I got caught in some traffic on the way."

Maisie was still rooted to the spot when he entered the house. He nodded at her in greeting. "Hi, Maisie."

She was briefly taken aback but soon smiled. "Seth."

Ethan led Seth to the couch and told Maisie, "Mais, make Seth a cup of coffee."

Maisie felt disgusted when she heard him call her that. It was an affectionate nickname he'd used when they were madly in love, but it now made her feel like a snake had slithered all over her. She felt cold, icky, and uncomfortable.

"Mais?"

She scowled. "Can you mind your words? Don't call me that."

Ethan chuckled. "Fine. Could you please make Seth a cup of coffee, Ms. Stone?"

Maisie didn't want to spare either of the men another glance. She was no match for one of them when it came to being shameless and was no match for the other when it came to acting. Neither of them was better than the other.

She went to the kitchen, but it wasn't to make coffee. She just wanted some peace. The kitchen was the furthest from the living room, after all.

…

In the living room, Seth watched as Maisie left. He asked Ethan, "Did you two get into a fight again?"

Ethan chuckled. "Nah. She's just throwing a tantrum."

"I think Maisie's a great woman. Are you sure you want to go through with the divorce?"

"That's why I asked you to come, Seth. Can you help me draft a divorce agreement?"

Seth said, "You'd better think this through. With Maisie's looks and figure, plenty of people will fight to be with her once she's single. You'd better not regret it."

"No matter how delicious a dish is, you'll get sick of it after eating it for a long time," Ethan said breezily.

"Has she agreed?" Seth asked.

"She probably won't. She's on the traditional side and won't easily agree to a divorce if she's set on being with me. You've got to help me with this, Seth."

"How do you expect me to help?"

Ethan snickered. "How about you pursue her?"

Seth raised an eyebrow. "Are you serious?"

"I'm joking, of course!" Ethan laughed. "You're Gramps' only grandson, though. Stop being so focused on work and get married so you can give him a great-grandchild."

"Yeah."

Ethan suddenly narrowed his eyes at a spot on Seth's neck. "What is this?"

Seth pulled his collar tighter.

Ethan cried, "You weren't caught in traffic, were you? You were caught up with a woman! Come on! How could you not tell me you were involved with someone?"

Seth said, "It's not convenient now. I'll introduce you guys when the time is right."

"Alright, then. I'll introduce Felicia to you, too."

"Don't."

"Why?"

Seth cleared his throat."I should keep my distance."

Ethan chuckled. "She's your new cousin-in-law. What's there to be shy about?"

"It'd be inappropriate for us to be together."

"Tsk! Why should it bother you if it doesn't bother me?"

"Wouldn't you be bothered if Maisie and I were to be alone in the same room?" Seth asked.

Ethan looked like he'd heard a joke. "You know, you and Maisie are quite in sync when it comes to these things."

"What do you mean?"

"You're both so conservative, yet you like to make these jokes," Ethan said.

Seth smiled. "I can help you draft the divorce agreement, but you'll still need Maisie to agree to it. In other words, you have to make her give up on you."

"Yeah, I know. She was just bragging to me about having slept with another man last night. How's that even possible? You know how innocent and naive she is. She'd rather die than sleep with a stranger."

Seth rubbed the hickey on his neck and smiled without saying anything.

Ethan teased, "What's with the touching? Didn't you have enough fun last night?"

"Yeah, I didn't. She had to leave halfway to attend to something."

"Man, what a wildcat! She bites hard, doesn't she? I can see the bite marks."

Seth leaned back and said indifferently, "She's usually quite gentle, actually. Maybe it's because… the man she was with before never made her orgasm."

Maisie's legs started giving way after she'd stood in the kitchen for a while. She didn't know how long Seth had gone without a woman, but he'd been rough with her last night. Her thighs were trembling until now.

She cursed him silently, feeling like a fool. She thought she'd served herself to him on a silver platter. Honestly, she knew now why Ethan and Seth were relatives. Seth was a fake gentleman, while Ethan was a genuine asshole. They were both bastards!

She was still covered in Seth's saliva, and she felt icky. Throwing caution to the wind, she stormed out of the kitchen and headed to the bathroom.

Seth and Ethan jolted at the noise. Seth said, "She must be angry."

Ethan said, "She might be mad at you, you know?"

Seth curled his lip. "Oh?"

"It's not every day that I'm at home, yet you had to come and disrupt us."

"So, should I go?"

"Nah. You're already here, anyway. I'll buy you lunch," Ethan said.

…

Maisie took a nice, long bath. She soaked in the warm water until her body relaxed. She was almost nodding off when someone knocked on the door, jolting her awake. "Who is it?"

"Who else?" Ethan asked. "Seth and I are going out for lunch. Do you want to join us?"

"No."

"You sure?"

"Bring Felicia with you." Maisie didn't want to see any of them now. She continued soaking in the tub and only woke up when the water started turning cold. She regained some energy after dozing off for a while but was still sleepy.

She left the bathroom while yawning. Then, she was spooked by the person before her. She pulled her towel tightly around her as she backed into the bathroom, slamming the door shut. "Why haven't you guys left yet?"

"We were waiting for you," Seth said. "You didn't eat anything this morning and used a lot of energy last night. You'll have low blood sugar if you still don't eat."

Maisie frowned. "I'll order takeout."

"It's not nice."

"I'll cook something, then."

Seth scoffed. "Do you have the strength for that?"

That pissed Maisie. "You—"

"I found it, Seth." Ethan came out of the master bedroom. "Why did you want to see our marriage certificate?"

Seth had been leaning by the bathroom door while chatting with Maisie. When he saw Ethan come out, he straightened up, his smile fading a little. "You wanted me to help you draft a divorce agreement, right? I need to see when you guys registered."

"I could've just told you the date."

"You still remember?"

"Yeah. It's Mais' birthday."

Seth took the marriage certificate from him and checked it. His lips curled slightly, but the smile was a little colder this time. "You guys have been married for five years."

"Yeah. Does that affect the divorce?" Ethan asked.

Ethan and Maisie had pinned a photo of them to the marriage certificate. Seth traced it softly.

24-year-old Maisie had her hair in a ponytail, and her face still carried a hint of baby fat. Her eyes were bright.

The only flaw was that her head was tilted toward Ethan. Seth didn't like seeing this.

He returned the marriage certificate to Ethan and said, "If the marriage is too short-lived, you can ask her to compensate you for a portion of the wedding gifts."

Ethan laughed. "You've been with us at every step of our relationship. Shouldn't you know better than anyone how long we've been married? Did you have to look at the marriage certificate for that?"

Seth said, "I just wanted to be sure in case I was remembering it wrongly."

Ethan nodded. Then, he urged Maisie, sounding impatient, "Aren't you done yet? Seth's already waited for you for two hours."

"He can continue waiting if he wants," Maisie retorted.

Seth knocked on the bathroom door. "Are you going to stay in there forever?"

Maisie took a deep breath. She looked at the hickeys and marks all over her body, wanting nothing more than to bite him. "Wait outside."

Seth chuckled. "Alright. We'll go out. There's no need to rush."

He patted Ethan's shoulder. "Let's go to the living room."

Maisie came out of the bathroom and ran to the bedroom, changing into a simple outfit of a T-shirt and jeans. Then, she blew her hair half-dry before leaving the room.

Ethan raised an eyebrow. "You haven't thrown this outfit away yet?"

It was one Maisie had often worn in college. It was plain and simple but extremely comfortable. In the past, she would put on a full face of makeup and dress presentably so she could match up her identity as Ethan's wife.

Now, however, since she'd already given up on him, she would wear whatever was comfortable. She said, "I didn't throw you away, did I? I've had you around for much longer than this outfit."

Ethan's expression darkened. "Whatever. Let's go."

"Go dry your hair completely before we leave," Seth said with a frown. "It's windy outside."