Ethan was not polite at all, and he responded generously, there mouth entanglement with each other.
Ethan climbed the rock wall of Mount Everest with his hands again, and this time climbing Mount Everest felt completely different from the previous one.
Last time I climbed in an uneasy environment, but this time I was fully prepared both in terms of environment and mentality.
Not to be outdone, Diana responded quickly.
Gently trace the placket with her hand and slowly approach him....
Diana directly sat on him, Ethan admired her performance, both sexy and charming, a woman in this state was irresistible to any normal man.
It can be summed up in two simple words: "Very wow."
Diana continued to play like this for more than ten minutes.
After enjoying the beautiful scenery in front of him.
Ethan also focused on it.
Half an hour later.... With a muffled snort....
In the process, Diana kept praising Ethan and giving him the dignity that a man should have.
Although Ethan has an old soul in his heart, he has never really had a refreshing experience in this life. (The time on the car yesterday didn't count, it wasn't completely released)
After the event.
Diana sat on the sofa resting, and her whole face became much rosy. Ethan, on the other hand, quickly cleaned the house and dealt with all the traces cleanly, and it wouldn't be long before Ashley would be back.
Just as Ethan sat down and took a sip of tea, he heard the sound of the door opening.
The door swung open.
Ashley stepped in, slightly out of breath, a takeout bag hanging from each hand. The warm smell of home-cooked food filled the apartment instantly.
"The restaurant was packed today," she announced, nudging the door shut behind her with her heel. "You two must be starving."
She moved to the dining table and began unpacking the containers, lifting lids, arranging everything with the efficient energy of someone who had been doing this her whole life.
Then she paused.
Looked up.
"Hey…" Her head tilted slightly. "Mom, why is your face so red?"
Pure curiosity. Nothing behind it.
Diana's expression flickered — just for a fraction of a second, barely long enough to count.
Then she smiled. Easy, unhurried, entirely natural.
"Ah, probably the medicine. It gets warm when you rub it in." She touched her cheek lightly, as if confirming this to herself. "The pain's mostly gone now, actually."
Her voice didn't waver once.
Ashley accepted this without a second thought.
"Good. As long as your foot heals up properly." She was already turning back to the table. "Ethan, come eat. Mom, you too — come while it's hot."
The meal was simple and generous.
Chili stir-fried pork. Celery beef. Braised pork belly. Stir-fried water spinach. A pot of pork rib soup still faintly steaming at the center of the table. Three bowls of rice.
The kind of dinner that felt, without anyone saying so, like a family meal.
Diana ate in small, composed bites, a faint smile resting at the corner of her mouth that she didn't seem entirely aware of. Ethan kept his eyes on his bowl and focused on eating, his expression calm, almost studiedly so.
Ashley, cheerful and oblivious, picked up a piece of braised pork and dropped it into Ethan's bowl.
"Ethan, you really worked hard today. Eat more."
"Mm. Thanks."
He nodded, lifting his chopsticks.
And then the words registered properly.
Worked hard.
Something flashed through his mind — unbidden, vivid, deeply inappropriate for the dinner table — and he nearly choked on his soup.
He covered it with a cough and reached for his water glass.
Yeah. "Worked hard" in more ways than one.
He would take that particular thought to his grave.
He set the glass down and let his gaze drop back to his bowl.
Looks like I've already stepped into something I can't walk back out of.
Diana.
What had started between them — whatever it was, whatever it was becoming — it wasn't simple anymore. It hadn't been simple for a while, if he was honest. And the strange, inconvenient thing was that when he turned that fact over in his mind and waited for the part where he wanted to retreat—
It didn't come.
He didn't want to step back.
But then his eyes moved to Ashley — laughing now at something, gesturing with her chopsticks, completely at ease — and a quieter, more complicated feeling settled somewhere underneath everything else.
A contradiction he didn't have a name for yet.
He set his chopsticks down when his bowl was empty and pressed a napkin to his mouth.
"Auntie, Ashley — I'm full. I should get going."
"Of course." Diana smiled warmly. "Come over again when you have time."
The words were perfectly ordinary.
Her eyes, for just a moment, were not.
Ethan held her gaze for exactly one second.
Understood.
"I'll walk you out," Ashley said, already pushing back her chair.
"Go ahead," Diana said mildly, reaching for the soup ladle. "I'll clean up."
The evening air outside was cooler than expected.
They walked side by side through the quiet of the residential complex, footsteps unhurried.
Ashley's voice had shifted — softer, more sincere. "Thank you. Really. I mean it." She glanced sideways at him. "I genuinely didn't know what I would've done today without you."
"Stop." He waved a hand. "We're friends. That's what friends are for."
"Still."
They walked a little further in easy silence, talking about nothing in particular.
At the entrance of the complex, a taxi slowed and pulled up without him even flagging it.
He opened the door, then turned back.
"See you."
"Bye." Ashley smiled, lifting a hand. "Get home safe."
The door closed. The taxi pulled away. She stood and watched the taillights until they turned the corner.
His parents were already settled in for the evening by the time he got home, the television murmuring in the background. He'd warned them at breakfast he wouldn't be back for dinner — no questions, no fuss.
In the bathroom, hot water ran.
Ethan hummed something tuneless under his breath, leaning against the wall of the shower. His mood was lighter than it had any right to be, and he wasn't entirely sure what to do with that.
He dried off. Went to his room. Sat down at his desk.
And then, for a moment, just sat.
The exam.
Less than a month away.
He turned his pen over in his fingers, staring at the blank paper in front of him. Technically — with everything carried over from his previous life, every question already mapped somewhere in the back of his mind — he didn't need to study. Not really. He could walk into that exam hall tomorrow and probably be fine.
But that wasn't the point.
He uncapped the pen.
This time, I'll do it right.
The scratch of pen against paper filled the quiet room. He worked methodically math, then English — not rushing, not skimming. Just writing.
An hour later, he set the pen down and rolled his shoulders.
He looked at the pages spread across his desk.
"If this ever got out," he said quietly to no one, "I'd probably end up in jail."
He stacked the papers carefully, folded them once, and placed them in the desk drawer.
Turned the key.
Click.
Ding dong —
His computer pinged.
A notification. He glanced over.
The name on the screen made him pause — just briefly — before a small, unhurried expression settled on his face.
Diana.
He pulled the chair over and sat.
[Little man, what are you doing?]
He considered the message for a moment. Then typed back.
[Studying.]
[What, the bad aunt is checking up on me now?]
Her reply came almost immediately.
[Ashley is studying too.]
[This is the hardest stretch. Just get through this month.]
He leaned back in his chair, thinking of the look she'd given him before he left the apartment.
[Yeah. I've got school tomorrow.]
He typed the next line without overthinking it.
[Bad aunt, I don't really have time to "play" lately.]
A pause. A few seconds longer than her previous replies.
Then:
[Study hard on weekdays.]
[On the weekend…]
[…]
[Your aunt will reward you.]
Ethan looked at the screen for a long moment.
Then the corner of his mouth lifted.
He didn't type anything back.
He closed the chat window, turned back to his notes, and smiled to himself in the quiet of his room.
There are some advance chapters ahead in my Patreon. If you are interested can check it out.
patreon.com/B_A_3439