Rebirth: The New Bride Wants A Divorce-Chapter 516: I know why you did it

The tension between the two men was inevitable.

Neither of them looked away. They now stood facing each other, father and son, bound by blood yet divided by something far more fragile. Pride. Control. Betrayal.

Marcus was the first to break the silence.

He let out a humorless laugh, the sound cold and sharp enough to cut through the fragile air between them.

"So this was your plan?" Marcus said, his eyes shifting toward Kathrine. "To humiliate me in front of Ethan."

Kathrine’s breath caught.

"I told you to meet me alone," Marcus continued, his voice smooth but laced with accusation. "Yet you chose to involve my son. You wanted him to see this. To make me appear small before him."

Her brows drew together instantly, confusion flooding her expression.

She had done no such thing and had kept her word.

She had not told Ethan. Not a single word.

Her gaze flickered toward him involuntarily. Seeing him here, hearing Marcus’s accusation, made doubt creep into her thoughts.

Before she could speak, Ethan stepped forward.

"Kathrine has nothing to do with why I am here." His voice was calm. Too calm.

It lacked the warmth she knew so well. The softness he reserved only for her was gone, replaced by something heavier. Something wounded.

Marcus’s attention shifted fully to his son.

Ethan met his gaze without hesitation.

There was no fear there. Only disappointment. Deep, unfiltered. Impossible to hide.

Ethan had never wanted to invade Kathrine’s privacy.

He respected her space. Her independence. Her silence when she chose not to share something immediately.

But he had noticed the change in her.

The way her shoulders had been tense the previous night. The way her smile had not fully reached her eyes. The way she had fallen asleep beside him, her breathing uneven, as though her mind refused to rest.

He told himself it was work. That she would tell him when she was ready. But the unease had not left him.It lingered. Gnawed at him.

So when she fell asleep, her phone resting carelessly beside her, he made a choice he never thought he would make.

He checked it. Not out of suspicion. Out of concern.

He assumed it was something related to work. Something he could help fix. He had planned to speak to Ben discreetly, to ease whatever burden she was carrying without embarrassing her.

Instead, he saw the message.

Marcus. A time. A location and a command disguised as an invitation.

It was then when everything made sense and realization had settled heavily in his chest.

His father had gone behind his back.

Marcus let out a scoff now, disbelief evident on his face. "So you expect me to believe you arrived here by coincidence?"

His eyes flickered briefly toward Kathrine before returning to Ethan.

"That she had nothing to do with your presence?"

His tone made his skepticism clear.

Marcus did not believe in coincidence. He believed in manipulation which he believed Katthrine did.

Ethan’s jaw tightened.

"This has nothing to do with her," he repeated firmly.

Marcus studied him, searching his face for cracks. For uncertainty. For weakness.

He found none.

Instead, he saw something far worse.

Distance.

His eyes flickered with something softer, something that betrayed the storm inside him, but he let his pride take control before it could be seen.

"I told you to stay out of my life, but you never listen, do you?" Ethan said, his voice cutting through the suffocating tension.

Kathrine stood to the side, her heart pounding violently against her ribs. She had never seen Ethan like this. Never seen his anger so raw, so unrestrained. And in that moment, the weight of her decision pressed heavily on her chest. Accepting Marcus’s invitation had seemed harmless then, but now she realized the consequences had always been inevitable.

Marcus, however, remained unmoved.

"Why would I?" he replied calmly. "You are my son, Ethan. I have every right to decide what is good for you."

His words were steady, almost cold, and it made Kathrine look at him with quiet disdain.

Not because he disliked her. That was something she could have endured. But because of his indifference. Because he spoke as if Ethan were nothing more than an extension of his authority, not a man with his own pain, his own choices.

Silence swallowed the room.

The only sound was the harsh rhythm of their breathing, thick with anger and years of unspoken resentment.

Ethan let out a hollow laugh, one devoid of warmth.

"Then I step down as your son," he said, his voice frighteningly calm. "And with that, I am no longer bound to be anything you want me to be."

The words hung in the air like a final verdict.

Kathrine’s breath caught.

Marcus’s expression did not change, but something dark flickered behind his eyes.

Ethan did not look at him again.

Instead, he turned away, his jaw clenched, his shoulders rigid, as if the simple act of standing there demanded more strength than he was willing to show.

Because walking away from Marcus did not mean freedom.

It meant breaking the last tie that had ever defined him.

Kathrine snapped out of her thoughts and hurried after Ethan, struggling to match his long, determined strides. His back was rigid, his shoulders tense, as if he were holding himself together by sheer force. She wanted to call out to him, to stop him, but the words refused to leave her throat.

Behind them, Marcus stood frozen.

He watched his son’s figure disappear beyond the doorway, the echo of his words still ringing in his ears. For the first time in years, the authority Marcus carried so effortlessly faltered.

The moment Ethan was gone, the strength left him.

His shoulders sagged, and his body trembled as if something inside him had cracked beyond repair. He stumbled back and dropped into the chair behind him with a heavy thud. His hands gripped the armrests tightly, his breathing uneven.

The room, once filled with confrontation, now felt unbearably empty.

Marcus stared at the doorway, his vision unfocused, his chest tightening with something he refused to name. He had always believed control was the only way to protect what was his.

But now, for the first time, he wondered if that control had cost him everything.

***

Meanwhile, Ethan reached the car and pulled the door open with more force than necessary. He slid into the driver’s seat, his jaw clenched, his hands gripping the steering wheel tightly. Kathrine quickly followed, settling into the passenger seat beside him.

The air inside the car was thick with silence.

She turned toward him cautiously, her fingers curling into her palms as she gathered the courage to speak.

"Ethan, please listen to me. I did not mean to..."

Her voice trailed off, fragile and uncertain.

He did not look at her.

His eyes remained fixed ahead, cold and distant.

"Kathrine," he said quietly, though the strain in his voice was unmistakable, "I do not want to hear anything right now."

Her chest tightened at the calmness in his tone. It was not anger. It was worse. It was restraint.

"I know you did not mean to lie," he continued. "But you still did. And you still chose to meet him."

Kathrine swallowed hard, her throat burning.

"I know why you did it," he added after a moment. "And that is exactly why I cannot think about it right now."

His grip on the steering wheel tightened further, his knuckles turning pale. He was trying to hold himself together, trying to contain the storm threatening to break free.

Because seeing his father again had reopened wounds he had spent years burying.

Because hearing those words, that control, that expectation, had dragged him back into a past he had fought so hard to escape.

And worst of all, he could not ignore the truth.

Marcus had not gone after Kathrine out of concern.

He had gone after her to reach Ethan.

To remind him that no matter how far he walked away, he was never truly free.

Ethan let out a slow breath, his eyes closing briefly as he forced himself to regain control.

"I cannot do this today," he said softly, more to himself than to her.

Beside him, Kathrine sat in silence, her heart aching.

She had never seen him this broken.

And she realized, with painful clarity, that the distance between them had never felt greater.

"Then it is better if I give you space," Kathrine said softly.

Her fingers curled around the door handle, and before Ethan could say anything, she pushed it open and stepped out of the car.

The door closed with a quiet click that sounded louder than it should have.

Ethan turned his head instinctively.

Kathrine stood beside the car, the faint breeze brushing against her hair. Her eyes met his, and despite everything, she gave him a small smile. It was not a happy smile. It was one filled with regret, acceptance, and an unspoken apology.

She knew she had hurt him.

And she knew that sometimes love was not about holding on, but about knowing when to step back.

Ethan stared at her for a moment, his expression unreadable.

He blinked, forcing himself to look away.

Without trusting himself to speak, he started the engine. The low hum of the car filled the silence between them. His hands tightened slightly on the steering wheel, but he did not look at her again.

Because if he did, he might not have the strength to leave.

And so he drove away.