Chapter 597 - 593: He’s Dirty

"He’s out!"

At the gate of the traffic police department, Monkey spotted Golden Blade walking out and exclaimed excitedly, "Ethan, Blade’s out!"

Ethan Sterling quickly honked the horn a few times and rolled down the window. "Golden Blade!"

The streets were empty of cars and people in the early morning. Walking out alone, Golden Blade felt a little desolate. He was looking left and right with a blank expression when, in the next second, he saw Ethan Sterling.

His expression changed in an instant. A joyful look on his face, he waved. "Ethan!"

He hurried across the street and got into the car. Golden Blade smiled, a bit embarrassed. "Sorry about this, making you come to a place like this to bail me out in the middle of the night."

Ethan Sterling sighed helplessly and told him the truth, "I don’t have the power to get you out. Thankfully, my sister was right next to me."

Hearing Ethan mention his formidable sister, Golden Blade and the other two instinctively shrank back.

"You’ll have to come back for your impounded car tomorrow." Ethan started the engine. "You all must be hungry, right? The only thing open at this hour is hot pot."

The temperature had dropped today, so hot pot was the perfect choice. Monkey grinned and nodded happily.

’He knew that whenever he was with Ethan Sterling, there was bound to be good food.’

At the nearest Haidilao, Ethan Sterling ordered a ton of food and some beers for them. "Don’t you guys love to drink? Go on, drink your fill!"

"I honestly forgot. I was too excited." Golden Blade scratched his head awkwardly and pushed the beer aside. "No more for me. Not drinking today."

Just then, Monkey pulled out his phone, eagerly showing it off to Golden Blade. "Bro, look at the video I took. It’s super clear."

"We’re eating. Put that away!" Ethan quickly stopped him. Monkey realized his mistake and nodded hurriedly. "Oh, right. My bad."

Ethan turned to Golden Blade and said helplessly, "I’m not blaming you. It’s just that your own safety is the most important thing, no matter what you’re doing."

Golden Blade nodded, looking like he’d been scolded.

The next second, they heard Ethan say, "Thank you."

Golden Blade was slightly taken aback. He slowly raised his head to meet Ethan’s incredibly sincere gaze. Ethan smiled at him. "I can’t believe you guys took what I said to heart and even planned to get revenge for me. Thank you."

Hearing Ethan’s words, Caelum and Monkey couldn’t help but smile. They both glanced at Golden Blade to see his reaction, but to their surprise, he actually seemed a bit shy.

He lowered his head and grinned. "Hey, we’re friends. Friends are supposed to have each other’s backs."

Caelum and Monkey nodded in agreement. "Blade’s right. Blade always says you’ve been righteous to us, so we have to be righteous back."

Ethan was deeply moved, but beyond his gratitude, he was even more curious. He looked at Golden Blade and asked, "It’s just... the method is a bit unconventional. How did you come up with it?"

At the mention of this, they all couldn’t help but laugh.

Golden Blade started to explain, "We didn’t plan on making it so complicated at first. We just wanted to beat him up. But after hanging around outside Lorcain U for a while, we realized there are cameras everywhere. It’s really hard to make a move."

"Besides, we didn’t want to make a huge scene, because we were afraid of dragging you into it and causing you trouble. So we tried to think of a way to teach him a lesson that he wouldn’t dare make a fuss about."

"And you ended up with this dirty trick?" Ethan asked with a smile.

Golden Blade’s eyes widened. "Not only is it a dirty trick, but it’s effective! You see how much of a fool he made of himself this time? He’s probably never been so humiliated in his entire life!"

Caelum added, "We all thought it was a brilliant idea. Only Blade could come up with something like that."

Golden Blade leaned in. "So, do you feel vindicated? If not, I can think of another trick. I’ve got an idea. There was this huge story online this year about some guy who got stuck in handcuffs for a whole night at a love hotel. The firefighters had to come and rescue him. And get this, the guy was a corporate executive."

Ethan frowned at the thought and quickly cut him off. "That’s enough, don’t do anything else. This one time was more than enough to make all my anger disappear!"

He was telling the truth. Owen Griffin was a disgusting person, but after seeing that pathetic video of him, Ethan truly felt vindicated. It was deeply satisfying!

Of course, he would never be foolish enough to bring this up in front of Owen Griffin, but it felt like he now had some invisible leverage over him. Now, when he thought back on Owen’s usual, obnoxious face, he didn’t find it so annoying anymore. He even felt a little like laughing.

"Alright, as long as you feel vindicated. If you feel vindicated, then our work wasn’t for nothing."

Just then, the waiter brought over everything they had ordered. Ethan knew they’d had a long night and urged them, "Hurry up and eat. If it’s not enough, we’ll order more. Don’t be polite."

This time, Golden Blade and his friends didn’t hold back. They had gone to bat for a friend. After this incident, their bond with Ethan was clearly different from before.

「Ashford Second Affiliated Hospital, VIP Room 705.」

Two young nurses walked out of the hospital room, whispering to each other with quiet laughter.

"That’s him. When he was brought in last night..."

"Ew, don’t say it. I heard about it too."

"I heard he was drunk driving. Drank so much he lost control of his bladder."

"How much do you have to drink for that to happen...?"

Inside the room, Owen Griffin was roaring with fury. "I want to be discharged! I want to go home!"

"Let me leave right now! I don’t want to lie here!"

"Do you hear me?!"

In the hospital room, Owen’s father, Walter Griffin, his heart aching for his son, rushed forward to comfort him. "Son, your head is still injured. The doctor said you have a concussion. You need to be observed for a while longer before you can be discharged."

"Dad, you know everything, don’t you?" Owen grabbed his father’s hand, on the verge of tears. "How can I face staying here? I feel like I stink right now. Smell me. Do I smell?"

"No, of course not. You’re all cleaned up."

"No, I can’t stay here! Dad, take me home right now, or I’ll jump from the window!"

As Owen spoke, he made a move to get out of bed. This terrified Mrs. Griffin, who was standing nearby. She lunged forward to hold him down. "Owen, don’t scare Mommy! Mommy will take you home right now."

She then glared at her husband and snapped, "What is there to observe when our son is like this? Are you trying to drive him to his death?"

’After something like this, the story had probably spread to every doctor and nurse in the hospital. How could she let her son stay in a place like this?’

Walter Griffin nodded, left with no choice but to agree to his son’s demand.

Only then did Owen Griffin finally calm down. He lay on his back on the hospital bed, the very picture of a living corpse. The more he thought about it, the more mortified he felt. He was twenty years old, and yet...

’If word of this got out, I might as well leave the planet.’

It never would have occurred to Owen Griffin that this incident was deliberate, much less that it had anything to do with Ethan Sterling.

Right now, only one thought consumed his mind: he felt dirty. He was convinced he was constantly emitting a foul odor.