Chapter 83: Ethan: The Mentalist?

After everyone settled in for the night, Ethan slipped out and dialed the number that had called him earlier.

Unsurprisingly, it didn’t take long for the person to pick up.

"Hehe, looks like you’ve finally learned your lesson."

Hearing that annoying voice, Ethan confirmed that he was speaking to Samuel Wayne.

He rolled his eyes. "How much of a retard can you be? Did you even check up on your agents?"

Samuel fell silent for a moment, then asked, "What do you mean?"

"I’m not going to be repeating myself." Ethan shot back. "You’re less of an idiot so you should know how the world works. Don’t meddle with things you don’t understand.. If you keep pushing your luck, leaving you alive would be an act of mercy from me."

"An act of mercy? Who the fuck are you? Some god or som—"

Ethan ended the call without letting him finish. Then, he went back inside the house.

The next morning, he woke up early to clean the house. It wasn’t exactly dirty so he didn’t spend much time doing that.

Once he was done, he immediately began with his exercises, not forgetting them in the slightest.

’...76, 77, 78, 79...’

As he squatted, the door opened and his father came out of the house, spotting him immediately.

Ethan didn’t stop, and Jason didn’t interrupt him. The father simply watched while the son continued.

Ethan switched to another exercise, stunning his father by how much he could do. Strangely, Jason felt challenged and decided to join him.

Sadly, the man could only do a few exercises before his old bones began to creak.

"Ah, that’s enough for me."

Ethan paused and glanced at him. "You did well for an old man. Not bad."

Jason’s lips twitched, but he was too tired to even scold him. Ethan helped him up, and they went inside together.

"Since when did you start training like that? You don’t usually care about bodybuilding that much," Jason said as he settled onto the couch.

"Bodybuilding? No, this is merely body fitness. I’m not trying to build my muscles or anything," Ethan replied, handing him a glass of water.

The older man blinked in surprise, then said, "That’s an intense body fitness exercise routine."

Chuckling, Ethan left him and moved to the kitchen. On his way there, he met his mother who had just woken up.

"Morning, Mom." He smiled at her.

She stared at him for a moment, then smiled warmly. "Morning, son. How was your night? Did you sleep well?"

Ethan nodded with a small grin. "That... I did."

He walked past her and headed to the kitchen. "I’ll handle breakfast alone. Y’all sit and wait, alright?"

Maria laughed and nodded.

Ethan stepped into the kitchen and immediately began cooking.

Nora and Evelyn were woken up by the aroma of whatever he was preparing, and they were lured to the kitchen like zombies.

To their surprise, Jason and Maria were also at the door, watching their son cook.

It was a spectacular sight.

Ethan didn’t notice them, too absorbed in his own affairs. He only noticed them when he started dishing the meal, and he was stunned speechless.

Smiling, he said, "Well, I’m done now. Someone should assist me in carrying these to the dining room."

Evelyn immediately stepped forward, playing her role as a wife and supporting him.

As they all sat down and began to eat, they only had one thought about Ethan.

’A certified MasterChef.’

Well, maybe Nora’s thoughts were a little different.

An hour after breakfast, Jason suddenly received a call from his mechanic, saying that the car had a bigger problem than he imagined.

Jason’s expression darkened, and he immediately prepared to head out. Upon hearing this, Ethan decided to follow him and take a look. If the condition of the car was too poor, then he’d convince his father to let go.

Jason shrugged and agreed. Leaving Maria, Evelyn, and Nora behind, the two men went out of the house and boarded a taxi.

Instead of going straight to the mechanic shop, Ethan had them stop by a bank so he could withdraw some cash.

Jason said nothing, silently watching him. Once he was done, they boarded another taxi and continued on their way to the shop.

Soon, they got to the place.

Ethan and Jason walked into the open garage where several damaged cars were parked, with some lying around scattered and dismantled.

’Hmm. Not a standard mechanic shop, but good enough, I guess.’

Soon, the mechanic came out to meet them.

It was a man in his thirties, with grey hair already appearing in his hair. He smiled and greeted Jason.

"Good morning, Mr. Hale. I see you came by with your son."

Jason nodded and introduced them to each other.

"Ethan, this is Donald, my mechanic. He repairs my car regularly."

Ethan smiled and shook hands with the man.

"Alright, let’s go see the car and what is wrong with it." Jason said as he began walking to the area where his car had been parked the last time.

Ethan and Donald followed, and they eventually arrived at the silver car that now had flat tires. Ethan’s brows furrowed, feeling a little uncomfortable.

No matter how much he had gotten used to his life as Ethan, he was still Victor at the core. And Victor... despised things like this.

Shifting slightly, he said to Jason. "You really don’t want to buy a new car? This one looks like it’s one foot from the grave."

Jason scowled and glared at him. "You brat, what do you mean? This car just needs some patching up. Nothing as costly as buying a new car."

Ethan pursed his lips. "Still..."

Jason shook his head, adamant about his stance. Then, he turned to Donald and asked. "So what’s wrong with the car?"

Donald immediately began explaining. However, as he continued to speak, Jason’s expression darkened.

At some point, Jason was forced to cut in.

"Wait a minute. Since when did my car develop so many problems? This is insane."

Donald shrugged helplessly. "The car is old, and its maintenance hasn’t been the best."

Ethan hummed quietly and approached the car. Opening the bonnet, he began checking.

Donald immediately turned to him. "W-what are you doing?"

Ethan rolled his eyes. "I’m just checking to confirm the things you said."

"Really?" The man blinked, surprised. "You’re a mechanic too?"

"Yes." Ethan nodded, then shook his head. "Actually, no. I was lying."

He closed the bonnet and turned to him.

"And so were you."