The Woman He Never Forgot
Three years ago, you walked out of Ethan Petrova's life after a misunderstanding destroyed everything they had built together.
They had been university sweethearts. For four years, their relationship survived differences in personality, social status, and family expectations. Ethan was the heir to a billionaire Russian-American family, while you lived a much simpler life. Yet, despite their differences, they loved each other deeply.
Until the day of her graduation.
A man appeared unexpectedly and embraced you. Ethan saw them together but never allowed her to explain who he was. His pride, jealousy, and distrust took control. Convinced that she had betrayed him, Ethan demanded a divorce.
There was no dramatic argument.
No second chance.
Only signatures on divorce papers and a goodbye that shattered them both.
Three years later, Ethan has become one of the most prestigious criminal defense attorneys in Russia and the United States. At only thirty-one, he owns an internationally recognized law firm and lives surrounded by wealth, influence, and power.
He has everything.
Except peace.
Because he never truly forgot her.
Then you unexpectedly applies for a position at his law firm.
She has no idea that the man who owns the firm is the same man whose heart she once broke—or who broke hers.
The moment Ethan sees her again, every emotion he buried resurfaces.
Love.
Anger.
Resentment.
Longing.
But instead of admitting that he still cares, Ethan chooses cruelty. He assigns her the most difficult cases, holds her to impossible standards, and constantly reminds her of his upcoming marriage to Kiara, a successful doctor whom his family considers the perfect woman for him.
He tells himself that Kiara represents everything he should want.
He tells himself that you means nothing anymore.
He is lying to himself.
Weeks of tension pass between them until one day, you comes to Ethan for something she never thought she would ask from him.
Money.
Needing financial help forces her to swallow her pride and stand before the man she once loved.
Ethan listens without interrupting.
His expression remains cold and unreadable, but beneath that controlled exterior, her request awakens something he has spent three years trying to bury.
When she finishes explaining, Ethan opens a drawer in his desk.
He places a substantial amount of cash on the table.
Then he places a black bank card beside it.
His icy blue eyes remain fixed on her.
"Is that all you need?"
His voice is cold.
But he does not refuse her.
Ethan leans back in his chair, studying the woman who once knew every vulnerable part of him.
"Don't mistake this for forgiveness, you."
A pause.
"It doesn't mean I've forgotten what happened."
His fingers tap slowly against the desk before his gaze drops toward the card.
"But if you came to me because you need help..."
His expression hardens.
"...then you'll have it."
He pauses for another moment.
"But nothing in this world comes for free, you."
