"Fighting on the bed?"

""

Ethan Young didn't take this time of not coming home at night seriously. As soon as he arrived at the Zhong residence and hadn't even changed his shoes, he noticed Annie's expression was off.

Annie opened her mouth, wanting to say something, but in the end just shook her head and stayed silent.

Following her gaze into the living room, Ethan Young saw Ms. Miller sitting on the sofa—it was already close to noon, yet she was still wearing the same pajamas from last night.

Ms. Miller always took great care of herself. Even if she wasn't going out, there was no way she'd still be dressed like this at home at midday.

The word "Mom" hadn't even left Ethan Young's mouth when Grace Miller had already stood up.

Grace Miller looked terrible, her eyes bloodshot, and when she got up, she was so stiff that she couldn't stand steady without holding onto the chair. Ethan Young's gaze landed on the phone tightly gripped in her hand. He didn't know what had happened, but his heart suddenly skipped a beat.

Right then, the phone screen lit up.

In the message preview bar, several texts from Ray Jones were clearly visible.

Grace Miller spoke each word slowly, her voice almost hoarse, sharply questioning him: "What is this—answer me, what is this!"

------------

90. Chapter Ninety

Ethan Young's mind went "boom," as if something had suddenly exploded.

The blood in his body seemed to freeze bit by bit.

His phone was password-locked, but the texts from Ray Jones crowded most of the lock screen. Even though not all the messages were displayed, piecing together the visible parts, the general meaning was clear.

"Da Lei, he..." Ethan Young's fingers slowly curled into a fist, and he instinctively chose to keep hiding the truth. "He was just joking, it's nothing."

Grace Miller hadn't slept all night, sitting in a daze from midnight until noon. She'd lost track of how much time had passed—it felt long, but also not so long. All she saw was the sky outside gradually brightening.

As soon as Ethan Young finished speaking, just as he was about to force out another "Don't overthink it," he heard Grace Miller ask again, "Then what is it?"

Her throat was dry as she spoke, and her tone was different from her first question—after a wave of intense emotion, she was now unnaturally calm. The words caught in her mouth, and it took a few seconds before she could say them.

"—How long are you planning to keep lying to me?"

Seeing her reaction, Ethan Young guessed that Ray Jones probably hadn't meant to, but had ended up selling him out directly.

His mind had been too chaotic earlier, and he'd forgotten to consider this. With Ray Jones's personality, if someone really pressed him, he'd panic immediately and couldn't keep anything secret.

Facing Ms. Miller's questioning, Ethan Young was silent for a while and didn't answer.

Ray Jones really hadn't expected that his few texts, sent by accident, would end up exposing everything.

Last night, after sending them offhandedly, he was about to toss his phone aside and go to sleep when Aunt Lan's call nearly scared him off the bed.

Grace Miller only asked a few questions before he spilled everything, both what he should and shouldn't have said.

"I only found out about this recently too. Boss Young told me not to say anything, but I couldn't hold it in," Ray Jones said as he opened the window for some air, then added, "Aunt Lan, he just wants you to have a better life at Cooper Family, to have fewer people nagging you about those upsetting things."

Cooper Group is a renowned family business in City A.

After Grace Miller married in, this blended family became especially awkward. The position of Mrs. Cooper was hard to fill, not to mention there was Jack Cooper, who couldn't feel at ease unless he stirred up some trouble.

Ethan Young was usually quiet, always looking like he "couldn't be bothered with you."

Grace Miller always thought he was still young, that she could bear all the pressure herself. She never realized that he actually saw and understood everything people said and did around them.

Remembering this, Grace Miller's hands began to tremble uncontrollably. She tried to pull the coat up on her shoulders, only to find she had no strength.

Her mind went blank for a moment, and a wave of weakness and dizziness swept over her.

The last thing she remembered was hearing Ethan Young call out in panic, "Mom—"

Footsteps came and went all around.

After Grace Miller fainted, the Cooper Family household was thrown into chaos.

The family doctor came down from the second floor with a medical kit, reminding them as he walked, "It's still the same problem. I've told you all to be more careful. Why weren't you paying attention? She needs more rest and can't overexert herself—she needs proper care."

Ethan Young was still in a daze.

Annie saw the doctor out, and on her way back, she couldn't help but quietly say at the master bedroom door, "Madam's health hasn't been good lately. You might not know since you're always at school, but she even went to the hospital a few months ago. She didn't sleep at all last night, just sat downstairs waiting for you."

At this, Annie sighed. "No matter what happens, talk things out properly."

Ethan Young sat by Ms. Miller's bed, the sounds from downstairs gradually fading away. He couldn't think of anything else, only that he was a jerk.

After a pause, he finally reached out and gently touched her hand.

One

When Grace Miller woke up, it was already evening.

Annie happened to be tidying up in the room. Seeing her awake, she quickly said a few comforting words: "Second Young Master is in the kitchen making soup for you. He's so worried, he won't even go downstairs to eat. If there's anything, just talk it out—he's a really good kid."

Ethan Young had been busy in the kitchen for a while.

While he was chopping ingredients, Ray Jones happened to call. As soon as the call connected, Ray Jones clearly heard a loud "bang" from the other end.

The knife came down.

The blade hit the cutting board with a dull thud.

Ray Jones swallowed. "Xie—Boss Young?"

Ethan Young didn't reply, just brought the knife down again.

Ray Jones shrank his neck and continued to plead for his life, hoping for a reprieve: "Sorry, I really didn't expect things to turn out like this. Life is full of surprises. Last night I was just playing games—the other team was so bad, and then I thought of you, my good brother—"

"Enough."

Ethan Young put down the knife, checked the time, and as the steam rose, poured the chopped ingredients into the pot. "This has nothing to do with you."

Ray Jones thought that with Ethan Young's bad temper, at best he'd get a few more days to live, but unexpectedly, he was let off the hook right away.

Ray Jones got off easy, but still felt a bit uneasy. "Huh? You're sure you're not going to settle the score with me?"

"Settle what score," Ethan Young said. "It's my own problem. You really think I'd blame you? Are you sick?"

He wasn't that unreasonable.

No matter what, this couldn't be blamed on Ray Jones.

"So how's Aunt Lan now?" Ray Jones asked. "Is she okay? She really needs to take care of her health."

After hanging up, Ethan Young stared at the steam rising from the pot. For some reason, he suddenly remembered what Henry Howard had said to him in the classroom: "Doing good for her in your own way isn't necessarily what she wants."

Thinking of this, he lowered his head and found the name 'Henry Howard' in his contacts.

He typed a lot, but in the end deleted it all, leaving just one word.

Bro.

The soup simmered for most of the day.

When Ethan Young brought the soup upstairs, Grace Miller was already sitting up in bed, leaning against the pillow.

Rather than being angry at Ethan Young, she was more upset with herself.

Over the past few years, her communication with Ethan Young had become less and less.

She could feel that this child was gradually learning to be independent, needing less and less help from her, and drifting further away.

"Mom." Ethan Young wanted to say "I'm sorry," but those three words, like "I love you," were even harder to say to those closest to you.

Grace Miller looked at him, neither questioning nor blaming him further.

She took the bowl of soup, and silently drank it, one small sip at a time.

"I just want you to be well," after a few sips, Grace Miller looked down at the few red dates in the bowl, her eyes quietly wet, and said softly, "As long as you're well."

"Back when we were on Heishui Street, I always thought about giving you a better environment. Not that we had to live in luxury, but at least not have to worry about food and clothing."

"I never thought—"

Grace Miller paused here. "If this is how it is, I'd rather not be Mrs. Cooper."

Ethan Young tilted his head back without showing any emotion, his eyes clearly red.

He'd always been stubborn since he was little. No matter what happened, he never cried. Now, unable to control the tears in his eyes, he felt uncomfortable and a little embarrassed. He tilted his head back to force the tears away, and called out to her again, "Mom."