Substitute Bride: Utterly Pampered by Her Billionaire Husband

Chapter 1520: Starting Over

He held her arm, not letting go, "Celeste Linden, every word you say is about Carlotta. The truth is, you’re just using Carlotta as a shield, aren’t you?"

Celeste Linden didn’t deny it; she was indeed using Carlotta to pressure him, but... "Ethan Barnes, this is your problem."

It was his own issues that allowed her to seize him.

Ethan Barnes said nothing more, and the atmosphere turned silent.

Just then, a sudden knock on the door was heard, followed by the panicked voice of a maid outside, "Master, master, something’s wrong, something’s happened!"

Ethan Barnes frowned deeply, impatiently shouting, "What happened?"

"Master, Miss Carlotta has attempted suicide! Miss Carlotta ingested arsenic in her room!"

What?

Ethan’s expression changed dramatically. He immediately let go of Celeste Linden, flung open the door, and rushed out.

Ethan ran to Carlotta’s room, pushed open the door, and saw Carlotta lying lifelessly on the carpet, her face pale.

He went over and placed his fingers under her nostrils. There was still breath, a faint breath.

"Hurry up and prepare the car! Go to the hospital immediately!" Ethan held Carlotta and dashed downstairs.

Celeste Linden stood by the door watching the scene. The whole house was in turmoil because of Carlotta’s arsenic ingestion, with many people following Ethan out, leaving the place calm once more.

Celeste Linden stared blankly in the direction they disappeared into, then lowered her eyelids, running her hand over her flat stomach. She really wished these days would end soon, so everyone could be freed.

...

At the hospital.

Carlotta was taken in for gastric lavage. Fortunately, they discovered it in time, and she was resuscitated.

Ethan stood by the bed, looking at the frail Carlotta lying there, his heart filled with guilt and conflict. He was the one who made this mess, it was his fault Carlotta got hurt.

Carlotta had already lost her life once because of him, and now he nearly cost her life again. He truly was a bastard.

Just then Carlotta on the hospital bed opened her eyes, she was awake.

"Carlotta, how do you feel? Why are you so foolish? Why did you drink arsenic, and where did you get it from?" Ethan asked, his eyes bloodshot.

Carlotta looked at the man she loved deeply, "Ethan, I secretly hid the arsenic on myself. Do you know why? Because when I was imprisoned before, when I couldn’t bear the humiliation, I wanted to take my own life."

A sharp pain shot through Ethan’s heart, and he reached out to hold Carlotta’s icy hand, speaking hoarsely, "Carlotta, I’m sorry..."

Carlotta raised a hand, caressing Ethan’s handsome face with longing, "Ethan, these past nights, I often dream of our past. How happy we were back then. My eyes only had you in them, and yours only had me."

Ethan didn’t know what to say, feeling tremendous pain now.

"Ethan, I’m sorry. I admit I was wrong. I shouldn’t have used arsenic against Celeste Linden. But you lied to me. All of you lied to me. Celeste Linden isn’t really your cousin, and she’s pregnant with your child, right?"

"Ethan, I love you so much. My life has turned out like this because of you. Why do you have to betray me like this, why do you hurt me so cruelly?"

"Ethan, I hate you. I hate your infidelity, your deceit, and I will never forgive you!"

Carlotta clutched Ethan’s clothes, starting to cry out in accusation, hitting him.

Ethan remained still, letting her vent her dissatisfaction. It was his fault, she should have yelled at him and hit him long ago.

As long as she felt a bit relieved, he was willing to do anything.

But Carlotta quickly regretted it. This was her beloved Ethan. How could she bear to hit him?

Carlotta reached out to hold him tightly, "Ethan, I’m sorry, I was wrong. I shouldn’t have been so willful. I shouldn’t have hit you. I don’t hate you at all. I’m too scared to hate you; I love you so dearly."

"What right do I have, I have no right at all because my body has been tainted long ago. I’ve been with other men. I’m filthy, utterly filthy."

Saying this, Carlotta got emotional, getting out of bed. "I need to take a shower, shower right now. I need to wash all the filth away so that Ethan won’t disdain me."

Carlotta was collapsing, her eyes vacant and empty, only wanting to rush to the bathroom, but she was too frail, collapsing to the floor as soon as she got out of bed.

Ethan, overwhelmed with pain and guilt, held her in his embrace, "Carlotta, don’t be like this. I’ve never looked down on you. I don’t think you’re dirty."

"Really? Ethan, why don’t you despise me? If... if Celeste Linden slept with another man, would you still be so unbothered?"

Celeste Linden with another man...

Ethan interrupted her directly, "She wouldn’t."

His excessive reaction directly provoked Carlotta, whose tears suddenly flowed down from her eyes, "See, I just mentioned it, and you can’t take it. I bet if Celeste Linden dared to sleep with another man, you’d definitely kill them with your own hands, including Celeste Linden. You simply can’t accept this kind of thing!"

"Turns out, this is the difference between love and lack of love. Ethan, why do you do this to me? Why did you shift your affection and fall in love with another woman?"

Up to now, Ethan didn’t even know if he had fallen for Celeste Linden. Love was a luxury, something he didn’t want to touch. Men of the Barnes family shouldn’t touch this thing.

Back then, he got interested in Celeste Linden because he saw her as Carlotta’s shadow, thinking Celeste Linden was just a replacement.

But, slowly, he realized Celeste Linden was not at all like Carlotta. She had her own personality, she was resilient, decisive, gentle yet strong, and talented, always appearing so wonderful.

He had been with many women before, but he had never met someone like her, someone so pure and bright in any situation. Being with her made him happy, made him smile, made him feel at ease and sleep peacefully.

He grew fonder of this feeling, even dependent on it.

For so many years, he had been drifting and unsettled. He never realized there was anything wrong with such a life until he met Celeste Linden, and suddenly wanted to settle down.

"Carlotta, there’s so much I want to say, but all I can say is I’m sorry. We’ve been apart for so long, and that’s no excuse for my change of heart. I just mean... we can’t go back anymore..."

Can’t go back?

No.

Carlotta shook her head, "Ethan, we can still go back. No, if we can’t go back, let’s start over, okay? As long as Celeste Linden isn’t around, we can start over!"

With that, Carlotta closed her eyes and fainted directly.