Chapter 7
After that, I started suffering from insomnia. If I managed to get five or six hours of sleep in a night, it felt like the heavens were showing me
mercy.
So, I often ended up sitting on the lounge chair in the yard when I couldn’t sleep.
I knew Ethan would be there.
One day, I had been sitting for over two hours before Ethan finally showed up.
I tilted my head and smiled at him, “You said last time that your family arranged a blind date for you. That can’t be true, right? Did you actually go?”
He shook his head and handed me a lunchbox.
It was an old aluminum lunchbox, the kind that had been around for ages.
Inside, I wasn’t sure what it was, but it smelled really good.
I didn’t open it right away because I noticed the injury on his wrist.
It was a knife wound, one that hadn’t been there just a few days ago.
I looked at him, very seriously asking, “What happened?”
His expression was as usual, and he quickly covered the wound with his sleeve before nonchalantly explaining how he got it.
It turned out that after Samuel left, the company had split into two factions. One supported Samuel’s plan to open overseas branches other, naturally, opposed it.
and the
While Ethan protected me at night, during the day he had to follow a finance director at the company to prevent him from being manipulated by someone who might harm Samuel’s interests.
I spat out in frustration.
“Samuel’s such a bastard! You’re human, not a god! You need rest, too! How can you not get injured with such a crazy schedule?”
Ethan pressed his lips together. He smiled as he looked at me.
I was startled and immediately covered my mouth.
“I swore. I’m sorry”
He seemed unbothered by it and pointed to the lunchbox.
12:54 PM
<
“Open it. I made it.”
His cooking was fantastic, far better than the chef back home who could only make fancy, decorative dishes. I ate with great pleasure and kept praising him.
He blushed, embarrassed by my compliments, his ears turning red.
“You’re good–looking, skilled, and most importantly, you can cook. There aren’t many men who can cook these days. Any woman who marries you will be so lucky”
Ethan lowered his head, not saying anything, just grinning sheepishly.
The next day, Samuel called me while I was watching TV. They were airing a show about miscarriage.
“Mr. Everett, to what do I owe the pleasure?”
“Is it impossible for me to call you if there’s nothing important?”
“If you want to be scolded, just say it.”
Samuel paused for a moment before saying coldly, “How are you? The doctor said you’re almost recovered?”
My tone was colder than his.
“I’m not dead yet. Disappointed, Mr. Everett?”
“Sophia, can you ever speak like a normal person?”
“Only to decent people do I need to speak normally.”
Samuel hung up the phone with a slam. I happily hummed a song, turned off the TV, and went outside to bask in the sun.
Ethan was usually absent during the day, but today he was there. He even held a parasol for me.
I hadn’t felt such genuine joy and surprise in a long time.
I looked at him.
“Ethan.”
He nodded at me, silent as usual.
Suddenly, I felt a little shy because I saw his eyes full of expectations.
He was looking forward to meeting with me, not just at night.
That evening, Samuel returned, and I figured it was probably the phone call earlier in the day that had angered him. He grabbed my arm and started dragging me toward the small dark room.
I kicked and punched him, but as we passed a doorway, I grabbed the doorframe with all my strength and refused to let go. He laughed, clearly irritated, and released me.
“Sophia, what’s today’s performance about? The pure and virtuous woman?”
I glared at him with malice.
“Samuel, don’t go too far:
“Too far? What do you mean? Wasn’t it you under me begging for pleasure? Now you want to act virtuous? Isn’t it a little too late for that?”
As he said this, Samuel tried to grab me again. His strength was overwhelming, and I was no match for him. Just as it seemed he was going to carry me away, the door suddenly burst open with a loud crash. It was Ethan..
