Chapter 424: Chapter 426: Am I a Substitute for Caleb Bishop?

“Why are you suddenly telling me to leave?”

Chloe Murray saw Ethan Shaw’s dark expression. She subtly sidled closer to Naomi Kenway and took her hand. “We were having a nice chat. Besides, with that murderous look on your face, how can I leave without worrying?”

Ethan Shaw said impatiently, “I don’t want to repeat myself.”

“Hey, what’s with you…” Chloe Murray’s fiery temper flared up. Just as she was about to stand, Naomi Kenway grasped her hand. “He probably has something important to discuss with me. Kara, you go home first. I’ll call you later.”

Naomi Kenway urged, holding her hand.

Chloe Murray was still worried. “But look at him! He looks so fierce and menacing. How can I…”

Ethan Shaw seemed to have completely lost his patience. “Butler.”

Naomi Kenway held Chloe Murray’s hand again, reassuring her for a while longer. Only then did Chloe Murray get up, glancing back every few steps as she left.

“I’m telling you, Ethan Shaw, if you dare bully her, I’ll beat you so bad you’ll be looking for your teeth on the floor!”

Naomi Kenway had just stood up when Ethan Shaw pulled her upstairs.

The bedroom door was shut. Ethan Shaw’s face was glacial. He walked over, stopping just five centimeters from Naomi Kenway.

His narrow eyes were tinged with red, their moisture making them look even more like water-soaked amber. Pain and anger intertwined in his gaze. “I’m asking you, why did you marry me? Why did you marry me back then? Grandma said you fell in love with me at first sight, that you wouldn’t marry anyone but me. Why?”

Naomi Kenway struggled to pull herself away from his gaze. She couldn’t remember her thought process from back then. Besides, she had been a “puppet” being controlled at the time, completely without a will of her own.

“Why are you suddenly so agitated? Let me think…” Naomi Kenway tilted her head, trying to restore a lighter atmosphere. “If it was love at first sight, it must have been because you were too handsome. I couldn’t control myself.”

“Too handsome?” Ethan Shaw’s expression grew even stranger. “You married me because you like my face?”

“That’s just a small part of it. Besides your looks, I’m sure there were other reasons.”

“Other reasons?” Ethan Shaw closed his eyes and couldn’t help but let out a cold laugh. “Can you even remember what they were?”

“I…” Naomi Kenway frowned. “Ethan Shaw, what’s wrong with you? Why are you suddenly asking such strange questions? The reason we got married back then isn’t important anymore. The important thing is that we’ll raise Ian together.”

Ethan Shaw’s eyes darkened. “So *he’s* the one—the old flame you both love and hate. And I’m just your backup option, a compromise with reality you were forced to make. Naomi Kenway, how could you do this to me…”

The pain in his voice made Naomi Kenway freeze. “What are you talking about? Are you running a fever? Let me check.”

Naomi Kenway had just reached out when Ethan Shaw grabbed her hand, backing her into a corner. “You chose to marry me because I look a lot like your first love, right? You can’t forget him, so you’re using me as a substitute…”

Ethan Shaw’s voice was so cold it sounded like it was being squeezed from between his teeth.

Naomi Kenway stared at him in disbelief. She even scanned his face carefully, only then realizing that Ethan Shaw really did look a bit like Caleb Bishop.

Naomi Kenway’s eyes widened slightly. “You really do look a little alike, but you’re much more handsome than he is. How could you think that? When did I ever use you as a substitute? Did you listen to that bastard Caleb Bishop’s nonsense?”

Ethan Shaw’s gaze remained locked on Naomi Kenway’s face. “He’s already personally admitted to his past relationship with you.”

Ethan Shaw suddenly laughed. He bent down, his face close to Naomi Kenway’s forehead, and murmured, “Former lovers, first loves, a couple on the verge of engagement… your relationship was so intimate. It makes one jealous and hateful. I just beat him up. I wonder if your heart will ache for him…”

Naomi Kenway could feel his breath lingering beside her, his hot lips stickily, teasingly close to her forehead.

“I know it’s normal to have a romantic history, but why did you deliberately hide it from me? Is it because you still have secret feelings for him?”

Ethan Shaw lifted his head. “Nina, look into my eyes. I want you to tell me the honest truth.”

Naomi Kenway saw how big Ethan Shaw’s misunderstanding was and opened her mouth to explain, but then she suddenly lowered her head, a million thoughts racing through her mind.

’What exactly is my relationship with Ethan Shaw?’ she asked herself.

They had a contractual relationship, so why should she waste her breath explaining things that involved emotions?

Naomi Kenway felt an inexplicable urge to run away. She knew she had a certain aversion to love; her experiences with both Jackson Kensington and Caleb Bishop had left her with the impression that it was unreliable. She didn’t like burdensome love complicating her life, and Ethan Shaw’s repeated displays of affection always left her at a loss.

’Perhaps I can use this opportunity for our relationship to truly return to being purely contractual.’

Both of them remained silent, holding back. For a moment, the room was so quiet you could hear a pin drop.

Ethan Shaw turned his head slightly and lowered his gaze. The tight grip he had on Naomi Kenway’s hand gradually slackened until he let go completely.

With the sound of the door opening and closing, Naomi Kenway knew Ethan Shaw had left.

She looked up. As expected, he was gone.

Naomi Kenway turned and sat on the sofa. She poured a glass of water and held it, only then realizing she had broken out in a sweat.

Gazing at the empty room around her, she found that she didn’t feel as relieved as she had imagined. An indescribable feeling filled her heart.

*

Caleb Bishop hadn’t expected Ethan Shaw to move so quickly. He was still at the hospital when he heard a subordinate report that his companies were being deliberately suppressed and wouldn’t last much longer before facing bankruptcy.

Caleb Bishop, of course, knew who the culprit was. Beating him up hadn’t been enough to vent Ethan Shaw’s anger; now he was trying to cut off his livelihood.

He should have regretted it, provoking such a heavy price with just a few words. But for some reason, all he felt was the urge to laugh. Whenever he thought of Ethan Shaw’s expression at that moment, he wanted to roar with laughter.

Caleb Bishop then inquired about Naomi Kenway’s marital status. When he heard that everything was normal with the Shaw Family, he couldn’t help but let out a cold snort.

So Ethan Shaw was only taking his anger out on him.

Jay Chandler was naturally dissatisfied with Caleb Bishop’s reaction. Although he was Caleb Bishop’s subordinate, the two were also schoolmates on good terms, and he had invested in many of Caleb Bishop’s businesses.

“Laugh, laugh, laugh, you’re still laughing? Caleb, stop laughing! Disaster is imminent, how can you still be laughing?”

Caleb Bishop said, “My companies are in trouble, but yours are fine, aren’t they?”

“That may be true, but how can I be content to watch the company we worked so hard on for so long go down the drain?!”

“Where there’s life, there’s hope.” Caleb Bishop’s expression was grim as he said, “As long as I, Caleb Bishop, am still alive, my day will come again. It’s just a matter of time.”

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