He Married Me For Duty Destroyed Me For Love Novel by Lily Lancaster _ Novel





He Married Me For Duty Destroyed Me For Love Chapter 01

The night I slept with Ethan Bennett, he had just broken up with his ex-girlfriend, Claire Donovan.
He married me out of a sense of responsibility.
Our marriage had been quiet and steady.
I had once believed that was what forever looked like, until Claire died.
When Ethan went to visit her grave, he learned that back then, she had discovered what happened that night, and that was why she had finally given up and walked away.
And right then, he found my diary.
He decided I had sabotaged them on purpose, and from that moment on, he hated me to the bone.
He divorced me, made me walk away with nothing, and shut every door on me.
When I was dying, the last thing I heard was his cold voice by my ear.
''Your love disgusts me.''
When I opened my eyes again, I was back two hours before the night he got drunk after the breakup, the night everything was about to happen.
I grabbed my coat, ran out of the room, and knocked on Claire's door.
Claire froze for a second when she saw me.
Her eyes were swollen and red. She had obviously been crying. ''Natalie? What are you doing here?''
''Claire.'' I did my best to keep my voice calm. ''Can I come in?''
The living room was a mess, and there was a half-eaten birthday cake sitting on the coffee table.
I smiled a little and went straight to the point. ''I came to apologize for Ethan. He forgot your birthday, and that was his fault.''
Claire pressed her lips together and said nothing.
''It isn't that he doesn't love you. He's just never known how to say things. You broke up with him, and now he's at a bar drinking alone.''
I paused, then said softly, ''Go find him.''
In my last life, after he married me, he drank alone every year on Claire's birthday.
He had never gotten over her.
Claire looked at me, then suddenly laughed, though the tears came even harder.
''How did someone as icy as Ethan end up with a sister as thoughtful as you? I'm going right now. Thank you, Natalie.''
After I told her which bar Ethan was at, she changed clothes and left.
I watched her walk away and let out a long breath.
This time, there would be no such night.
When I got home, I pulled the diary out from the back of my closet.
When I was ten, I had ended up on the streets, and eighteen-year-old Ethan had been the one who found me.
He was cold with everyone else, but with me, he had always been gentle.
By the time I first understood what love was, I already knew I was in love with him.
But it was a crush I could never say out loud.
I took the diary out and tore it apart page by page.
The scraps fell into the toilet, and I flushed them away with my own hands.
About two hours later, the front door opened.
Claire came in, half-carrying Ethan, who was dead drunk.
He had his arms locked around her and was mumbling against her shoulder, ''Claire... don't break up with me... I was wrong... I really was...''
Claire looked helpless, but her voice was warm as she soothed him.
''Okay, okay. We're not breaking up.''
When she saw me, she let out a breath of relief.
''Natalie, could you make him something to settle his stomach? I'm going to get him back to his room first.''
''Sure.''
Claire helped him into the bedroom.
I stood in the kitchen waiting for the water to boil, listening to the sounds drifting out from inside.
He was being clingy, and she was laughing.
The first time Ethan brought me to meet Claire in my last life, I had already known they were perfect for each other.
Claire was bright, gracious, well-bred, and kind to me too.
She was a very good person.
If not for me, she would not have died, and they would have had a happy life together.
This time, I would make it right.

READ FULL NOVEL HERE