Rebirth: The New Bride Wants A Divorce-Chapter 507: He is testing pressure points

"Love?" Marcus let out a short, humorless laugh. "Don’t make me laugh, Ethan. We both know love doesn’t last. You’ve seen it yourself through us. Love was never strong enough to keep your mother and me together."

He shook his head, scoffing openly at the idea of Ethan claiming something so naïve.

It reminded him of his own early days with Stephane.

Their marriage had been arranged. Strategic. Practical. But over time, they had grown into it. Learned each other’s rhythms. Shared laughter in the quiet hours. For a while, it had felt real.

They had called it love.

But what had it amounted to?

Marcus had been determined to expand his empire. Every meeting, every investment, every calculated risk was meant to secure their future. He believed he was building something permanent.

Stephane, on the other hand, had waited.

Waited for him to slow down.

Waited for him to notice.

Waited for the man who once held her hand to choose her over ambition.

And in that waiting, she had slowly let go.

By the time Marcus realized what he was losing, it was already gone.

So yes, in his mind, love was nothing more than a momentary affection. Intense at first. Powerful. But temporary. Eventually replaced by routine, by dissatisfaction, by reality.

Across from him, Ethan watched his father laugh.

There was annoyance in his expression, but beneath it, something else lingered.

Pity.

Marcus had once been a man admired. Respected. Feared.

But he had lost the one woman who had brought warmth into this house.

Ethan remembered it clearly.

As a child, he had seen his parents love each other. Not dramatically. Not extravagantly. But in small, quiet ways. Shared dinners. Late-night conversations. His mother smiling when Marcus entered the room.

Until one day, that changed.

Marcus grew busier.

Meetings stretched longer. Trips became frequent. Calls replaced presence.

And somewhere along the way, he stopped noticing that he had a wife and son waiting at home.

Stephane eventually buried herself in her own work too. The house became quieter. Colder.

The distance didn’t explode overnight.

It simply expanded until love had no space left to breathe.

"It’s different for everyone, Dad," Ethan said calmly.

Marcus’s smile faltered slightly at the steadiness in his son’s voice.

"Just because yours and Mom’s didn’t last," Ethan continued, "doesn’t mean mine won’t."

Marcus scoffed again. "You think you’re immune to reality?"

"No," Ethan replied. "I think I’ve learned from yours."

That made Marcus’s jaw tighten.

"You believe you won’t get busy?" he challenged. "That ambition won’t demand more than affection can give?"

Ethan held his gaze.

"I believe I won’t make the same mistake of confusing presence with provision," he said quietly. "You built an empire, Dad. But you forgot to build a family alongside it."

The words were not shouted.

They didn’t need to be.

Marcus’s expression hardened.

"You’re young," he said dismissively. "You think feelings are enough."

"I don’t think feelings are enough," Ethan corrected. "I think effort is."

He stepped forward slightly.

"And Kathrine isn’t an asset. She isn’t leverage. She isn’t a merger opportunity."

His voice remained calm, but firm.

"She’s my choice."

Marcus stared at him.

"For now," he said coldly.

Ethan didn’t flinch.

"Even if love changes," he replied, "I won’t walk away because it becomes inconvenient."

Silence fell between them.

For the first time, Marcus didn’t laugh.

Because what unsettled him wasn’t Ethan’s defiance.

It was the certainty in it.

A certainty Marcus once had before he lost the woman who believed in him.

Ethan didn’t linger.

Marcus’s silence was answer enough.

He walked out without another word, knowing his father was still replaying every sentence in his head. For a man like Marcus, silence wasn’t surrender.

It was processing.

***

Ethan slid into his car and pulled through the mansion’s gates, the heavy iron bars closing behind him like a Chapter ending.

The tension he had carried inside that house slowly eased as he reached for his phone.

He dialed Kathrine.

The call barely rang once before she answered.

That made him smile instantly.

"Were you waiting for my call this entire time?" he asked, a playful curiosity in his voice.

There was a brief pause.

"N-No... I wasn’t," she replied a little too quickly.

Ethan laughed, the sound warm and unrestrained, filling the quiet interior of the car.

Her denial only widened his smile.

"I know you, Kathrine," he said softly. "You don’t have to pretend."

The line went silent for a few seconds.

"Hello?" he teased gently. "Are you still there, babe? Or did my psychic abilities scare you off?"

He heard her exhale on the other end.

The faint sigh made his smile return.

"You know me too well, Ethan," she muttered. "Now I can’t even lie properly."

He leaned back in his seat as he drove, relaxed now.

"That’s because you don’t lie well when you care," he replied.

She huffed lightly, though he could picture the small smile tugging at her lips.

"I was just... concerned," she admitted after a moment. "Your father doesn’t summon you after months of silence just to ask about the weather."

He chuckled. "Summon. That’s exactly what he called it too."

"See?" she said quickly. "That’s not normal."

"I survived," he assured her. 𝐟𝕣𝕖𝐞𝐰𝕖𝚋𝐧𝗼𝚟𝐞𝕝.𝗰𝐨𝐦

There was another pause, softer this time.

"Are you okay?" she asked quietly.

The teasing tone was gone now, and Ethan’s expression softened.

"I want to see you. Now," he said.

Kathrine understood what he meant.

"I’ll be there," she replied without hesitation, ending the call and grabbing her bag.

By the time she reached the underground parking after exchanging a few quick texts with him, she saw his car pulling in. It stopped right in front of her.

She didn’t wait.

The moment she opened the door and slid inside, Ethan reached for her and pulled her into a tight embrace.

For a few seconds, neither of them spoke.

Kathrine slowly wrapped her arms around him and buried her face against his shoulder, breathing him in as if grounding herself.

"Are you okay?" she asked again, her voice softer this time.

Ethan pulled back slightly, but his hands remained on her waist. Their faces were only inches apart.

"I’m fine," he said honestly. "He tried to question my choices. I reminded him they’re mine to make."

"About me?" she asked.

"Especially about you."

A quiet settled between them.

Not heavy.

Not awkward.

Just full of understanding.

"You didn’t have to argue with him for me," she said.

"I didn’t argue," he corrected gently. "I clarified."

She smiled faintly at that.

"He still doesn’t approve, does he?"

Ethan exhaled softly. "He doesn’t believe in love."

"And you?" she asked, searching his face.

"I believe in us."

Her chest tightened slightly at the certainty in his voice.

"You scared me," she admitted. "When you didn’t answer."

"I know," he said, brushing his thumb along her hand. "And I’m sorry."

He rested his forehead briefly against hers.

"I won’t let him, or anyone, come between what we’re building."

Kathrine closed her eyes for a second, steadying herself.

"You sound very sure today," she murmured.

"I am," he replied. "Because I won’t repeat his mistakes."

She leaned back slightly, studying him.

Kathrine had sensed it the moment Ethan mentioned the call. Marcus had been quiet for too long. A man like him didn’t remain silent unless he was calculating.

Now that Bennett Enterprise had stumbled, it was predictable.

Marcus would question the relationship.

On a personal level, she didn’t know him well.

But on a business level? She knew exactly who he was.

Marcus was a man who invested where profit was guaranteed. He built alliances that strengthened his empire. Even relationships, in his eyes, had measurable value.

And right now, with her father weakened and the company under scrutiny, she knew what he must be thinking.

Risk. Liability. Unstable investment.

She met Ethan’s gaze again.

"Your father sees relationships the same way he sees mergers," she said quietly. "If it doesn’t strengthen the empire, it’s unnecessary."

Ethan’s jaw tightened slightly.

"You’re not a merger," he said firmly.

"I know," she replied. "But in his eyes, I’m no longer a strategic advantage."

Silence lingered.

"And that doesn’t change anything for me," Ethan said.

She believed him. That was the problem. Because she knew Marcus would not let it go easily.

"He called you now," she continued thoughtfully. "Not before. Not when things were stable. That’s not coincidence."

Ethan didn’t disagree.

"He’s testing pressure points," he admitted.

Kathrine nodded slowly.

"Then we don’t give him one," she said.

Ethan smiled faintly.

"Now you sound sure."

She leaned closer, her voice steady.

"Because unlike him, I don’t measure love in profit margins."

And this time, when their foreheads touched again. It wasn’t about reassurance. It was about resolve.

"So where do you wish to take me?" Kathrine asked once the intensity between them settled.

Ethan turned to look at her, and the way his gaze darkened slightly made her heartbeat quicken.

"How about my place?" he said, leaning closer. "We can do anything we want there."