When Love Breaks (Josephine)

Josephine was about to leave when Yvan spoke again. "My dad asked me to come here."

That single sentence made her stop in her tracks.

Noticing how easily he could control her movements, Yvan looked pleased with himself. He slowly walked up behind her. "He asked me to take care of his business in Sunvale for a while... and to look after your business too. So, I'll be staying here for a while. If you need anything, call me. Oh, and make sure you take me off your block list."

Josephine spun around and glared at him. "Take you off? You were the one who blocked me first—" But before she could finish, he had already turned and was striding back to the smokey-eyed woman.

She was furious—absolutely livid—but there was nothing she could do. After fuming for a moment, she whipped out her phone and dragged his number out of her blacklist.noveldrama

Since she had her phone in hand, she decided to call Ethan. But the second she dialed his number, she heard a ringtone go off nearby. She froze and turned toward the sound-only to realize Ethan had been close by the entire time, standing near one of the street vendors.

He had been there all along; she just hadn't noticed him because she was too caught up in her anger with Yvan, too blinded by the crowd passing between them.

"Ethan." she walked up to him, looking up to meet his gaze, only to notice something felt... off. Maybe it was just her imagination, but his expression didn't hold its usual warmth. Instead, there was a coldness to it.

"What's wrong? Are you not feeling well?"

His face was still a little flushed. Worried he might have a fever, she reached out to check his forehead with the back of her hand. But before she could touch him, he turned his head away like he was avoiding a bug.

Her hand froze mid-air. For a moment, she just stood there, fingers curling slightly before she awkwardly let her hand drop. Her ears burned with embarrassment. Josephine hadn't expected him to react that way to her touch.

"Sorry," she winced inwardly, realizing she had probably crossed a line. The silence between them grew heavy, making her uncomfortable. She took a step back, then another to give him some space.

Reaching for her phone, she said stiffly, "I'll call George to pick us up." Without waiting for a response, she turned away, leaving him with a tense back.

Truth be told, Ethan regretted it the

second he pulled away. He knew exactly why he felt this way-it all started when Josephine laid eyes on Yvan. The way he looked at her was anything but innocent, and the air between them felt charged.

He thought the only thing standing between him and Josephine was Zayn-that clueless idiot who wasn't even worth worrying about. He had assumed Zayn would eventually take himself out of the equation. He never expected someone like Yvan to show up-someone who was even more of a threat and

impossible to read.

George had told him how Josephine had been staring at a striking silver-haired guy in the hospital for a long, long time. Ethan just hadn't expected that man to be Zayn's older brother.

He knew Josephine had a past with

Yvan, and from the way things looked... Whatever was between them wasn't entirely in the past yet. That realization didn't just make him feel threatened-it made jealousy burn hot in his chest.

He knew he had no right to be jealous. But he couldn't stop himself.