Chapter 17


    A ck Bugatti slowly ground to a halt outside the yard.


    The area was remote, with only a handful of shabby houses in sight. A luxury car was decidedly out of


    ce in such a scene.


    The man in the backseat put aside a stack of documents he had been perusing, then changed from his


    svelte, tailored suit to an old jacket.


    Sean twisted around to look at his boss, who had been going through so much trouble traveling back


    and forth every day. “You used toe here only once or twice a year, Boss,” Sean pointed out. “You


    have vis all over the city. You can just move into in one of them with your wife. Why do you bother


    going to this dump every single day?”


    Ethan threw him a cold nce. “You’ve been awful talkativetely. Do you have so much time in your


    hands? If you have nothing better to do, you might as well clean up and tend to these other vis of


    mine.”


    Sean immediately shut up and looked away.


    Ethan got out of the car. Once he was out of sight, Sean pped his own cheek, muttering, “You


    bbermouth. You spoke too much.”


    Ethan walked into the house and found J stretched out on the sofa, her eyes fixed on herptop


    screen. She had cucumber slices stered to her face, and one of her hands was holding arge


    tumbler with a straw peeking out of its rim.


    “You’re back? Have you eaten yet?” She had heard him arrive, yet she just couldn’t bear to miss a


    second of the TV series she was watching.


    Ethan found her endearing. “I already had dinner with a friend,” he said softly.


    Noticing that her long, slender legs were bare, he quietly fetched the gray nket from the sofa and


    draped it over them before plopping down next to her. “How did your job interview go?”


    This text is ? N?velDrama/.Org.


    J perked up. She closed herptop, then grabbed the cucumber pieces from her face and popped


    them into her mouth. “You won’t believe what I’m about to say,” she said seriously.


    But Ethan already knew everything.


    Chuckling under his breath, he leaned back and listened intently as J recounted the day’s events.


    “Maybe thepany just values your talents,” Ethan said lightly when she was done. “I saw your


    resume yesterday, and even I think that you have excellent skills.”


    J had been looking forward to his shocked face, so she was caught off-guard by his reaction.


    Ethan didn’t seem the slightest bit surprised.


    “Maybe,” she murmured.


    In the end, J brushed it off, thinking that the gravity of the situation might be beyond his


    understanding.


    She opened herptop again, meaning to carry on with her series. But then she paused at thest


    minute, and looked back at Ethan.


    He was reading a magazine beside her, looking all rxed and unbothered. His jacket had faded into a


    dull yellow color, and his jeans were worn-out, but his face more than made up for his clothes. If she


    didn’t know better, she would have even thought they were from vintage designer brands and he had


    dressed this way on purpose.


    “Ethan,” J said, her curiosity getting the better of her. “What on earth is it that you do?”


    All she knew about him, apart from his name, was that he had this small house, a deceased mother,


    and the Lester family that had abandoned him for being a bastard child. When it came down to it, she


    knew virtually nothing at all.


    Moreover, he always went out early in the morning and came homete in the evening. He often looked


    tired, too, which could mean that he was toiling rather hard throughout the day.


    Ethan put down the magazine he was reading and picked up a different one from the coffee table. “I’m


    something of a part-time worker. I do odd jobs here and there.”


    He paused then, as if an idea had just urred to him. He lifted his eyes and looked at J sharply.


    “I’m afraid I don’t have a stable job. Do you think you’ll grow to resent me for it?”


    “Of course not,” she replied without a second’s hesitation. J didn’t care about these things; she just


    happened to ask out of mild interest.


    ‘I’m awfully poor and she’s okay with it?’


    Ethan was taken aback by her response. His eyes gradually softened. He cleared his throat and was


    about to tell her that he would work hard in order to earn more in the future, but the woman beside him


    beat him to the punch. “In any case, we’re nothing more than a couple in name. I didn’t actually expect


    you to support me. Don’t put too much pressure on yourself.”


    Ethan’s grip tightened on the magazine.


    “I see,” he said after a while, his voice low and cold.


    J peered at him, confused at the sudden shift in his mood.


    It was he who had proposed a contractual marriage in the first ce, and she had just said that she


    wouldn’t take his circumstances against him. What was he so displeased about?