Obedience No More He's the One I Deserved novel Chapter 223

Dawn wanted to speak, but the words stayed lodged in her throat. At last, she pulled out her phone and ordered a driver.

Clubs like this always had drivers waiting nearby, and one person accepted her request almost right away.

The car showed up less than five minutes later.

They slid into the back seat, and silence wrapped around them.

The man beside her leaned with his eyes closed, but Dawn knew with certainty he was not asleep.

She did not stay quiet because she lacked the will to talk. She stayed quiet because she did not know where to start.

The weight on her shoulders felt heavy, and dragging it back into the light felt wrong. With Ethan and Jonathan tied together in so many ways, the wrong words could sound like poison.

Yet silence was dangerous too.

After what had happened between her and Jonathan, silence would only make it seem like she was hiding something.

While Dawn battled herself, Ethan shifted. She had not noticed when he sat up, but now he was watching her, his hand resting under his chin, his eyes glinting with interest.

When she turned, her gaze met his dark stare, half amused and half unreadable.

"Why are you looking at me like that?"

His voice held a slow, teasing edge. "It is rare to see you this tied up in knots, Ms. Porter. You usually cut straight through everything without a second thought."

Dawn's lashes flickered. "You're not angry?"

"Why would I be angry?"

She hesitated, her voice dropping softer.

"I thought you might take it the wrong way."

Ethan leaned back, the lines of his throat shifting as he tilted his head, every movement slow and careless yet charged with heat.

"There is nothing for me to take the wrong way," he said. "You already have me. You would never look at him like that."

Dawn fell silent.

That arrogance was almost too much.

But the stone in her chest eased. Her worry had been that Ethan might think she and Jonathan had something hidden, especially since Jonathan left the country right after what happened back then.

Her fingers dug at her nails as she thought it over for a long while. At last, she spoke quietly.

"It is not that big of a deal.

"You know Jonathan got sick in high school, don't you?"

Ethan should have known. He had been one of Jonathan's closest friends. But the look in his eyes and her next words shook him.

He asked, "What kind of sickness?"

Her lips parted, but no sound left her mouth.

She thanked him and headed off.

The school was not large, but it was the best in the east side of Trifton.

As she walked, she muttered under her breath, her voice sharp with envy. "Looks and brains. Why does he get both? How is anyone else supposed to measure up?"

Ethan's popularity was well known. Every day, his desk was covered with letters and small gifts.

But he brushed them all aside, leaving even the teachers unsure how to deal with the chaos he caused.

When Dawn reached the bathroom, she waited outside. Students passed in and out, but none of them were Ethan. She thought about peeking in, but it felt wrong. Instead, she called out, "Ethan, are you in there?"

Silence answered her.

The bell rang then, and the hallway cleared in a rush of slamming doors and fading steps.

The building fell quiet.

Dawn bit her lip. She decided she would just hand the papers to one of Ethan's teachers.

She had only taken one step when a large hand covered her mouth. Before she could fight, she was dragged inside the bathroom with a strength too fast to resist.

Class had already begun. The halls outside were still.

Her mouth was clamped shut so tightly that she could not let out a single sound.