I Became Retarded For My Husband, While He Was Loving Others

"Ethan, what do you really feel for Poppy?"

I stood on the stairs.

"I love her, but I have needs too," Hawk Ethan's voice was low and cold.

"Then why can't she satisfy them?"

"Would you feel that way about your own kid?" he shot back.

"She's not actually a child, but I know exactly when to pick her up to play, when to kiss her pout to soothe her. After taking care of her for three years, she's like my daughter. Who would cross that line with someone they see as family?"

I gripped the stair railing tightly and sank to my knees. The pain from the accident came flooding back.

"But she's getting better, she follows the doctor's orders every day for her recovery."

"Can she be as... understanding of intimacy as other women? No!"

Hawk Ethan's tone was filled with frustration.

"I love her, I can't live without her, but that doesn't mean I can't take care of my needs. Her mental age is only eight; she'll never understand this stuff, and I'll never let her find out."

Clutching the report, I fled to my room, covered my ears, and let the tears flow.

So his feelings for me had long turned from love to family, and he could justify cheating so casually.

I stuffed the report into my drawer, one thought burning in my mind: if he didn't want me to know the truth, then I'd make sure he never found out where I'd gone.

I dodged the bodyguards Hawk Ethan had assigned to me and quietly handled the immigration paperwork.

Our "marriage" had just been a formality. We'd never even registered legally. That loophole gave me the perfect chance to leave for good. In three weeks, I'd be gone.

When I returned to the villa, I found all the bodyguards and servants kneeling on the ground. My heart raced, and I grabbed my pink backpack and rushed inside.

"Poppy!" Hawk Ethan pulled me into his arms, checking me for injuries.

"Where did you go? Why didn't you tell me? Do you know how worried I was?"

"Shawn Bailey ran away, I went to find him," I lied, staring at the floor.

Shawn Bailey was the puppy he'd given me. I put on my childish act, and he sighed helplessly. "Don't do that again."

"Yeah, Ethan cut his meeting short to come find you," a familiar voice said.

I looked up in shock,it was the woman from earlier!

"Poppy, this is Sophia Blake. She'll be your tutor from now on. Call her Ms. Sandra Sullivan," Hawk Ethan said.

"I don't need a tutor!" I balled my hands into fists at my sides.

Was he really treating me like a fool?