Arrogant Man VS Unyielding Woman
Chapter 339 I’m Worried About My Husband

Jean's melancholic eyes turned into a mixed feeling of surprise and anger as she caught sight of a very familiar man. The man she swore to forget and never be associated with anymore. 'Why is Ethan here? He should be with his family where he belongs.

I thought he would never dare appear in front of me after what happened. How dare he?

We are completely over long before!' She thought with her hands slowly clenched into a fist as memories of that day spiraled back into her mind.

'Who invited him to Grandpa Benjamin's party anyway? Why is he even here?'

Jean kept her seething gaze at Ethan, still confused of why he showed up. She was afraid of having to see him in the party, let alone meet him again after what happened. She didn't even expect to see him anytime soon.

She bit her lower lip as she was trying to figure out the reason for Ethan's presence. 'He couldn't have gone out of his way to see her, could he? He had to have other reasons that doesn't involve me.'

Jean tried to convince herself that. As her gaze stayed on Ethan, she noticed that he nodded and raised a glass at someone else. She followed the direction and saw Jesse, who nodded back and smiled at Ethan. At that moment, Jean started to feel a dark atmosphere after knowing that snake acknowledged Ethan as if they had plotted on something.

'Was she the reason Ethan is here?

If so, what's her purpose of inviting Ethan? Come on, Jean. Think.'

She kept pulling on the threads of her mind afraid that something wrong was going to happen tonight. When she saw Shirley in the party as well, she thought, 'Of course, Jesse invited Shirley, too. How could she forget Ethan?' She chuckled at herself for stressing herself out and shrugged the imaginary dust off on her dress as if to calm herself once more.

"It's been a long time, Jean. How are you?" Jean froze as she felt a breath behind her neck. She stepped forward, keeping her distance, before turning towards the man she was so occupied by moments ago. Ethan stood before her with a grin plastered on his face. He looked at Jean as if nothing had happened between the two of them.

In return, Jean's eyebrows furrowed into a frown. Ethan's presence made her deeply uncomfortable, but she couldn't figure out the reason why.

She shook these thoughts away and looked at Ethan, coming up with a response. Before she could open her mouth to say something, she felt another presence beside her, so she turned to see Zed, whose face showed no emotion except his eyes that were sending daggers to Ethan. "You are not welcome here, Ethan. If I were you, I would leave this place right now," he said, nonchalantly.

Zed never fancied Ethan. In fact, he hated him. His blood started to boil since the moment he caught sight of Ethan staring at Jean. Ethan's gaze never swayed and just stayed at Jean's face, adoring her with playful, but gentle eyes, and Zed disliked him for how he treated her. Whatever they had in the past should stay there, and now that Jean was his wife, he would never allow Ethan to hit on her again, let alone in front of him. Even some of the guests disagreed on how Ethan acted towards Jean.

Those guests felt relieved as they saw Zed step up in front of Ethan and tell him to leave. The party should end the way it started.

Ethan left his gaze from Jean and turned to look at Zed, giving him a playful smirk. "Argh! It's such a pity that you can't make decisions for me," Ethan said sarcastically and chuckled. "Are you going to put me under house arrest like you did before?" He taunted, narrowing his eyes fiercely towards Zed. He noticed that Zed started to fume, but he didn't stop and continued. "Or call my family to take me home like I'm such a lost child, wandering the streets? And then forbid me to ever come near this city? Is that what you're going to do to me again, Zed? Can't you just be a normal person, surprised for a moment and ask me what I'm doing here before making me leave?"

"What do you want?" Zed asked with a strong emphasis on every word. His patience was already wearing thin, but he didn't want to give Ethan the satisfaction of bursting in front of Grandpa's guests. "It seems like you haven't learned your lesson from last time." Ethan exhaled deeply while glaring at Zed. His fists started to clench beside him. "You can't do anything, but threaten me, Zed! How about we settle this into a fight now?" He mocked, cracking his knuckles before him. The smirk on his face now replaced with burning fury. "Ethan!" Jean yelled, stepping up between them before anyone of them can land the first punch. Her rage had built up inside of her once more. "What the hell do you think you're doing? This is not the right time and place to pick a fight. I suggest you leave. Now!" Ethan looked at Jean, his face softened. "Is that care I'm getting from you, Jean? Are you worried that something is going to happen to me?" Ethan asked, thinking that Jean was worried about him, and that there was a chance for him to be with her again. Relief started to flow through Ethan's body.

"What are you talking about? I'm worried about my husband!" Jean said, raising her hands up exasperatedly and looked at Ethan as if she couldn't believe what he just said. Ethan's face dropped, and before he could say something back, Jean retorted, "I'm worried that my darling would not be able to control himself and kill you by accident."

Startled, all the guests gaped at Jean in disbelief. They couldn't believe what they just heard and shock was evident on their faces.

Jean turned red as she felt everyone's eyes at her. She turned to look at Zed shyly and gave him a faint smile. Even Zed was dazed by her words, too.

Jean sighed. She admitted to herself at how immature her words might have sounded, and then thought about how she only wanted for Ethan to stop troubling her and everyone else in the party.

'He has to be set straight, and I must let him know that if he wants to stay at this party, he must behave properly, she thought as she tried hard to avoid Ethan creating a scene.

As for Zed, he was more surprised by the fact that Jean had sided with him. Although he knew that Jean had feelings for him, there was always a doubt in his heart. He thought that sure, Jean had feelings for him, but she might had also loved Ethan more than she loved him, and so at that very moment, he felt reassured to have finally confirmed Jean's feelings.

He convinced himself that Ethan and Jean had been over long before, and that he swore to never doubt it ever again.

He also remembered always feeling a tinge of envy every time he saw them together.

'From now on, I will not.

Because Jean loves me, and only me.'

Zed decided with a strong conviction. He was glad that all his doubts could now be shrugged off for Jean had just deep-rooted it right before his eyes. He also felt a deep sense of pride as he saw how Ethan's expression sulked.

Ethan turned to face Zed as if they both knew that even without a physical brawl, Ethan already lost. He clenched his fists once more and returned his gaze to Jean. He shouted Jean's name in hopes that she would change her mind. Before coming to the party, he was confident that Jean still loved him. That Jean would still choose him over anybody else, but right now, all he could feel was pain. He never thought that Jean could treat him this way. The sadness that loomed over Ethan had been replaced by anger that was now flooding over his body. "I did everything for you. I even betrayed my family for you! Why are you stabbing daggers on my heart? How could you do this to me? How..." He said, dejected, falling down on his knees and held Jean's hand, begging her.

Jean immediately took her hand away from his grasp. For a moment, she started to feel pity but instantly shrugged it off. Ethan didn't deserve pity. "You are not a child anymore, Ethan! You did this to yourself. Now, you need to take responsibility for your own actions," she snapped, looking down at him with a cold look. She wanted this conversation to end. Not only because they were already making a scene, but also because she didn't want to keep feeling whatever discomfort Ethan made her feel.

Ethan stared with his eyes wide at Jean. Her eyes were nothing but a cold and dark abyss. He looked down at his hands, confirming then that Jean didn't have feelings for him anymore, but he didn't want to give up. His hands clenched into fists once more. "I see," he said softly that only Jean and Zed heard. Jean's discomfort grew. Suddenly, Ethan started to laugh loudly as he stood up, brushing the dust of his knees before looking at Jean with his eyes now flaming. Zed placed a hand between Ethan and Jean as Ethan took a step toward her, pointing an index finger on her face. "You will regret this, Jean! You don't know what I'm capable of. You could've just accepted my love and reciprocated it, saving us all this trouble, but no! You crushed my heart and even stepped on it. Was it really so hard to cherish my love for you?"

Ethan fumed. He wanted so bad to punch Zed at that moment, but instead he kept his punishing look at Jean and gave her a fierce stare before walking away into the crowd. The guests didn't know whether to feel relieved that no one got physically hurt tonight or frightened that something might yet still occur. Reluctant, the guests turned away from the couple and focused on their own business.

Meanwhile, Jean turned pale and darkened as Ethan's parting words rang into her ears. She had no idea what Ethan was capable of. When they were still together, Ethan treated her delicately with gentle and sweet eyes. As she saw the opposite from him today, she couldn't believe that he was the same Ethan she dated. She then started to tremble from the uneasiness building up inside her.

She felt a hand hold hers, making her turn towards Zed. He looked at her with gentle eyes, making her uneasiness subside. He placed a hand on her right cheek and said, "You have me, Jean. Don't be afraid. I'm here." Zed held her cold hands once more. He knew how anxious Ethan made Jean feel by how his wife reacted. He stroke the back of her palm with his thumb, making imaginary circles. His warmth comforted Jean, and that moment, she was thankful he was there.

She forced a smile at Zed. Even after all his efforts to make her feel protected, she still felt nervous. Neither of them knew what Ethan was capable of doing or what he was about to do. This uncertainty made her tremble once more.

Her anxiety worsened as she realized that she couldn't see Ethan among the crowd anymore. It had been minutes, since he had walked away. Who knew what he was doing in those few minutes?

She held on Zed's hand tighter, trying to compose herself and failing to do so. She tried to convince herself that Ethan had left and nothing else but that.

Zed noticed this and enveloped her with a hug. He rubbed her back to make her calm down and felt a bit relieved when Jean embraced him back. Even with his calm and composed outer self, Zed was as anxious as Jean. He knew something would happen tonight, but he kept his calm for Jean. Whatever Ethan planned on doing, he swore he would protect Jean from his schemes and would curse himself if he ever let Ethan lay a finger on her.

He heaved a deep sigh, trying to think rationally to keep his emotions at bay. 'As far as I can see, someone invited Ethan here. Not in vain to be polite, but because of a purpose,' he thought, wondering what that purpose could be.

Zed thought of what Ethan might do based on how he knew him from the past and from Jean. He knew for sure that he didn't come here empty handed. Initiating a fight with him was already the red flag.

He thought of his grandpa and Grandpa Dan, thankful that they have already left the party. Benhamin didn't feel well, so Dan accompanied him home.

'For what it's worth, at least they don't have to face whatever is going to happen. If not, surely I would have to worry about them, too.'

They both stayed embraced, trying to feel calm with the presence of each other. Zed started to feel his calm back, convincing himself that he could face whatever Ethan had in store for them.

At that moment, everyone winced after a loud feedback from a microphone rang through the speakers. A familiar voice started to talk. Jean and Zed froze at Ethan's depressed voice now audible around the whole room. "Once upon a time, there was a girl I deeply fell in love with. She was so sweet and kind that any man who crossed paths with her would feel enchanted by her. I was happy to say that at that time, she only looked at me. She loved me just as much as I loved her. Even though I felt as though I wasn't enough for her, she assured me that I was the only man she loved." The blood in Jean's face rushed out. She wanted to stop Ethan but found that she couldn't. Her feet were deeply pinned on the ground. "You see, she gave my dull life color whenever she was with me. Her smile just kept me enamored by her each day. When she promised me that I would be the only one she would marry, I felt like the luckiest man on earth, and that there was nothing I could wish for anymore."

Everyone stopped whatever they were doing to listen to Ethan's story. It wasn't so hard for his voice was captivating and attention-catcher.

"However, she gave me pain as much as she made me feel loved after marrying another man, after doing exactly the opposite of what she had promised to do..." Ethan continued. Everyone else was giving hesitant and confused looks at Jean's direction. They knew the girl Ethan had mentioned in his story was Jean. It was Jean who broke her promise to Ethan, and most importantly, it was Jean who broke Ethan's heart. The feeling of wanting Ethan to leave had now turned into a mixture of pity and sympathy. The looks made Jean queasy. It wasn't hard to feel the sundry air now passing by her direction. Even Zed had felt unnerved. Some of the guests pondered how Zed would react or just feel after Ethan's narration.

Although some may have been swayed by Ethan's proclamation, some kept to their opinion of him and realized that getting swayed was what Ethan wanted. That this room full of confused and sympathetic people was the scene he was going for. "Zed," Jean whispered dejectedly, as if saying his name would not only make her feel better, but also make Zed feel that she didn't change her mind after all that. Instead, the burning flame of anger engulfed her. She was shaking uncontrollably, not knowing what to do. She felt like a helpless cub and turned to cling on to Zed tighter.

She thought about how she regretted loving Ethan before. Had she known that he would do this to her and everyone around her, she wished that she had never met someone like Ethan.

She cursed Ethan in her mind - how he was just an insane, desperate man for using their past relationship against her and how much he didn't deserve someone like her.

'I will never forgive you, Ethan. Even if it'll cost you your entire life begging for my forgiveness,' she thought.

'If I could go back in time, I will make sure that our paths will never cross.' Her hands clenched into fists as she glared on the ground Ethan had knelt on moments ago.

Zed noticed how Jean started to shake with rage from all that had just happened. He made her look at him and placed her hands on both her shoulders. "Relax. You have me." He placed a hand on her right cheek and drew imaginary circles with his thumb in efforts to console her. "No matter what you have experienced and whom you have loved, they're all buried in the past now. We shouldn't worry about what had already happened, because we can't change any of it, but we can do something about our present and our future. You are my wife now! There is nothing more I could ask for, and I'm really happy and thankful that I married you, Jean."

"Zed!" Jean shouted as she gave her husband a hug. Tears brimmed her eyes. She was deeply moved by Zed's words that she, too, felt thankful for marrying Zed. She realized that although she couldn't change the past, at least then her past had led her to Zed. "We can just avoid meeting those kind of people in our whole life together, Jean. Whatever happens, I will always be here for you," Zed whispered in her ear rubbing her back as she cried on his chest. "Let's just ignore him. A jerk like him doesn't deserve to even have the satisfaction that what he did, destroyed us. We are stronger than that." Jean nodded. She started to feel blessed to have Zed. From now on, no one can make her feel any less worthy. No one can break them apart. With Zed, her life would be untouchable. At that moment, she was sure that the only man she would love was Zed. A while later, Maranda rushed to them and comforted Jean after witnessing what had transpired. ¶¶¶¶¶¶¶¶¶