Ethan knocked on the office door before stepping inside. The moment he entered, he saw a blonde woman seated behind a desk, writing something on a stack of papers. Hearing the door open, she looked up.
The instant her eyes landed on him, her expression shifted to delighted surprise.
"Oh my God! My dear Ethan, are you finally willing to come see your mother Adeline?"
Adeline jumped to her feet, her excitement obvious. She hurried around the desk with open arms, clearly intending to give him a warm welcome. As she approached, Ethan's eyes were immediately drawn to the most prominent feature in his field of vision—her extremely generous figure.
It was the kind of figure many women envied and countless men dreamed about.
Unfortunately, Ethan was not one of those men.
Facing Adeline's enthusiasm only made him feel awkward. Truly awkward. It was late autumn, yet he suddenly felt sweat forming on his forehead. He didn't know whether the office heating had been turned up too high or if it was simply the pressure of the situation.
Refusing the hug would obviously be inappropriate. Accepting it, however, made him deeply uncomfortable.
In the end, he forced out a dry smile and stepped forward. Adeline wrapped her arms around him tightly, giving him an affectionate embrace.
Adeline was undeniably beautiful. Her appearance perfectly matched the classic image of a Western woman—three-dimensional facial features, deep blue eyes, fair skin, and a captivating figure. If someone claimed she was still under thirty years old, plenty of people would believe it.
Of course, Ethan had provided her with more than enough money over the years. It was safe to assume that a good portion of it had been spent maintaining that youthful appearance.
"Come sit here and let your mother take a proper look at you," Adeline said happily, guiding him toward a chair. "I haven't seen you in more than three months. You seem to have grown taller."
She was clearly thrilled by his visit. Part of it was because Ethan had grown into such a successful man, but another part came from something deeper. Ever since he was young, he had shown a maturity far beyond his age. Combined with his handsome face, the kind that made people want to pinch his cheeks when he was little, Adeline had naturally developed strong maternal feelings toward him.
"Maybe," Ethan replied with a faint smile. "I might have gotten a little taller."
He quickly lifted the bouquet he had brought with him and handed it over.
"These are for you, dear Adeline. May you always stay young and beautiful."
"Wow! I love them!" she exclaimed happily.
Without hesitation, she leaned forward and planted a kiss on his cheek.
Fortunately, this was her private office.
Ethan sat down with an awkward smile and quickly changed the subject.
"So, Adeline… why did you call me here today?"
"Oh, my dear Ethan," she sighed dramatically. "It's heartbreaking that you even have to ask that question. Do you realize how long it's been since we last saw each other?"
She crossed her arms and gave him a pointed look.
"More than three months. As your guardian, I see you far less than the other women you spend time with."
Ethan coughed lightly, trying to maintain his composure.
"But I'm an adult now."
"And because you're an adult, you think I should stop caring about you?" Adeline asked firmly. "Are you planning to stay out there forever without ever coming back to visit me?"
Under normal circumstances, if anyone spoke to him with such boldness, Ethan would have responded very differently.
But this was Adeline.
Against his adoptive mother, he simply couldn't bring himself to lose his temper.
After all, when he first arrived in this world at the age of six, the very first thing she had done was insist that he bathe with her.
Yes. Bathe together.
At the time, she had assumed he was just a child. There was no way she could have known that inside that small body lived the mind of an adult. Her overwhelming enthusiasm had nearly scared him to death.
After that came dinner together. She prepared a lavish meal to welcome him home, a welcome dinner so memorable that Ethan still remembered it clearly even now.
And then came the sleeping arrangements.
They slept in the same bed.
As if that wasn't enough, she insisted on reading him bedtime stories—complete with dramatic voices and emotional narration. For Ethan, who had already endured that childhood ritual once in his previous life, experiencing it again felt like a second round of psychological torture.
In theory, parents in the United States usually encouraged independence in their children from a young age. Yet for some reason, Adeline had developed completely different parenting habits.
At some point, she had even researched parenting styles online and became fascinated with family traditions from Asia.
Stereotypes could be truly dangerous.
This was the point Ethan complained about the most.
He endured that lifestyle for a full two years. By the time he turned eight, he could no longer tolerate it. Being an adult consciousness trapped inside a child's body while receiving such constant, meticulous care from his adoptive mother was almost unbearable.
The fact that he hadn't gone insane during that time was proof of his mental strength.
Still, those two years were enough for Adeline to develop genuine maternal affection for him.
After that, although his daily routine gradually changed, her care for him never decreased.
By the time he was thirteen, Ethan finally left home to live independently. In truth, it felt less like moving out and more like escaping.
He knew his departure would hurt Adeline's feelings, but for the sake of his own sanity—and the future plans he intended to pursue—he had no other choice.
Over the years that followed, he rarely returned home except during school holidays.
Later, as his business empire expanded and his experiments grew more complex, even those visits became increasingly rare.
Because of that, Ethan still carried a quiet sense of guilt toward Adeline.
After all, she was the only person in this world who had ever cared for him sincerely without expecting anything in return.
"Alright, alright," Ethan finally said with a resigned sigh. "You decide."
Adeline's face instantly brightened with a satisfied smile.
She hugged him again affectionately before speaking.
"That's much better. In the next few days, you're coming home with me. You'll spend some proper time with me."
Then she added casually, "Oh, and there's something else I want to tell you. You have a sister now."
"What?"
Ethan's eyes widened.
The first thought that crossed his mind slipped out before he could stop it.
"Are you pregnant?"
"No!" Adeline said quickly.
She immediately realized how misleading her earlier statement had sounded and hurried to clarify.
"Our family has welcomed a boarding student," she explained. "She's attending high school here, and she's just as talented as you were."
"Whew…"
Ethan exhaled in relief.
For a moment there, he had genuinely been shocked.
.....
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