From a Wrong Turn to Mr. Right novel Chapter 279

“Ethan.”

Catherine Blair hurried over, her steps echoing across the parking lot. She looked up at Ethan Carter, her eyes shining with hope and affection.

Ethan’s expression hardened instantly, the air around him turning icy. “Do I know you?” he asked, his tone as cold and distant as a November morning.

Catherine froze, disbelief flickering across her face.

She had run into Ethan more than a handful of times by now. Did he really still not remember her?

Lowering her eyes, her hurt was written all over her face.

But she’d made up her mind before even coming here. After a brief pause, she forced a bright smile, refusing to back down. “I’m Catherine Blair. Daisy’s friend, Catherine—I interned at Carter Enterprises a while back. You remember, don’t you?”

Ethan’s gaze didn’t warm in the slightest. “Nope. If you’re not with Carter Enterprises anymore, you shouldn’t be here.”

Catherine had come today hoping for a stroke of luck. Now that she’d bumped into Ethan, there was no way she’d just walk away.

She kept her smile plastered on. “I’d like to talk to you about something, Ethan.”

He didn’t even glance at her. “It’s Mr. Carter.”

Catherine bit her lip, swallowing her pride. “I’d like to talk to Mr. Carter about something.”

“I don’t talk to strangers.”

Strangers.

The word hit harder than she expected. No matter how determined she’d been, her smile faded, replaced by disappointment.

Her face twisted in a strange half-smile, half-frown.

Taking a deep breath, she cut to the chase. “I left Carter Enterprises before because of some… issues. I’m here today to ask if you’d consider letting me come back, Mr. Carter.”

Ethan finally looked up, his eyes glinting with vague recognition. “You’re the one who got reported to HR, aren’t you?”

There was no point denying it—it was all in the records. Catherine’s lashes fluttered, and her eyes filled with tears.

She looked up at him, voice trembling, “There was a misunderstanding. Things online are rarely what they seem, you know that, Mr. Carter. People twist the truth—take a single moment and act like it tells the whole story. That day was complicated. I couldn’t explain then. I just… I don’t care if others misunderstand, I just don’t want you to.”

She wiped her tears, voice cracking. “I really loved working at Carter Enterprises. Please, Mr. Carter, give me another chance. Let me prove myself.”

Ethan’s face was unreadable. “We’re not short-staffed. If HR wants you back, that’s their call. Don’t bring it to me.”

Catherine’s lips trembled. Her eyes flashed with something desperate. “If you’ll just let me come back, I’ll do whatever you ask, Mr. Carter.”

She met his gaze, her tear-streaked eyes shining with unhidden longing.

Ethan’s frown deepened. He pulled out his phone and dialed a number.

“Mr. Carter?” came Evan Dale’s nervous voice on the other end.

Her hands gripped the sides of his suit jacket, clinging to him in a way that would look, to anyone else, like she was hugging him.

Ethan, too busy looking at Olivia, barely registered the contact.

When he finally realized, his face turned colder than a blizzard in January. He glanced ahead and—right on cue—locked eyes with Olivia, just as she stepped out of the car.

His jaw clenched. He pried Catherine’s hands off and shoved her aside.

She lost her balance and fell hard onto the pavement.

Her palm scraped against the ground, blood welling up along the cut. Pain prickled up her arm.

“Ethan, why did you push me?” she cried, forcing her voice to tremble as she got to her feet. She made sure to say it loud enough for Olivia to hear, as if she wanted everyone to believe there was something going on between her and Ethan, and that he’d just rejected her out of guilt.

Nannie Bruce, Olivia’s longtime housekeeper, rushed over, worry etched across her face. “Olivia, are you alright?”

Olivia watched the scene with cool detachment, her face as calm as ever. “I’m fine,” she replied.

Ethan’s glare could have cut through steel as he looked past Catherine, his presence alone enough to make her shudder.

But Catherine, determined to get what she wanted, swallowed hard and forced herself up, still playing the wounded act.

“Ethan, weren’t we just talking things through a moment ago?” she pleaded, her voice soft and fragile.