Chapter 84: A Hidden Mission

Donald froze, his fingers twitching. Then, a vein popped out on his forehead.

"Young man, what do you mean? I’d never lie to or scam a customer of mine."

Stepping away from the car, Ethan nodded. "On a normal day, you wouldn’t. I could smell the hesitation from you."

Jason frowned, puzzled. "Son, what are you saying?"

"Well," Ethan paused, his eyes narrowing. "This man here is trying to scam some money out of you for reasons he might not want to share."

"Huh?" Jason turned to Donald. "Is that true?"

The mechanic shot a glare at Ethan before turning to Jason. "Of course, not. I won’t lie to you. Your car’s condition is not good at all."

Ethan sighed. "Of course, we know that. Even I agree that the car should probably be disposed of or something."

He ignored his father’s glare and focused on Donald.

"However, even if you can repair it, I won’t allow you to since you want to rip off some money from my old man. It’s better if you tell the truth now, and we can talk it out."

Donald hesitated. "I... I don’t..."

Waving his hand, Ethan smiled at him. "No need. I think I have an idea of your problem. One of your family members is in the hospital, right?"

The man’s eyes widened.

Taking that as a yes, Ethan continued. "You need money for an operation. I don’t know what kind of surgery, but it’s going to cost you a lot. And your only option is to extort your customers. Am I right?"

Donald’s lips twitched, and with great shame, he nodded. "I didn’t want to do this. I swear. I tried... I..."

"You tried borrowing, I know." Ethan hummed. "However, they wouldn’t lend you enough money, is that right?"

Donald nodded, still ashamed.

Sighing, Ethan turned to his father. The old man was deeply surprised, as he hadn’t expected his son to make such an accurate deduction.

Ethan smiled smugly and turned to Donald. "If you sell the whole car, will you be able to make enough money to pay for the surgery?"

Donald’s eyes widened. "It’ll be more than enough, but the car..."

Ethan turned back to his father. "Well? Do you want to lend him a hand? I’ll get you a new car of your choice. If you don’t want something extravagant, we could buy this exact Corolla again."

Jason pursed his lips tightly, then sighed. "You cheeky brat, always after what you want."

He walked up to Donald and patted his shoulder. "Although I’m a little offended, I sympathize with you. You can sell the car just like my son said. I’ll handle the paperwork today and transfer the ownership to you."

Donald immediately dropped to his knees and began thanking him.

Meanwhile, Ethan blinked in surprise when a notification flashed before his eyes.

[Congratulations! You have completed a Hidden Personal Mission—Help a struggling family!]

[You have received $5,000,000! Claim reward?]

Staring at the screen, he quietly wondered. ’So there are hidden personal missions too? That makes it fundamentally the same with the daily tasks. But these have heavier rewards.’

Could it be because his actions here would have a big influence on Donald’s family? He wasn’t sure. However, he had a feeling that he was very close to the right answer.

After claiming the reward and receiving the credit in his bank, he turned his attention back to Jason and Donald.

The older man was patting Donald’s back as he cried, telling him everything would be alright.

Ethan rolled his eyes and walked up to them. "Alright, that’s enough sulking. Donald, you should immediately find someone who’d buy the car. My father and I are going to prepare the paperwork and get a new one."

Donald nodded quickly. "I understand. Thank you very much, sir. I..."

Ethan simply patted his shoulder, cutting off any unnecessary thanks.

Soon, they left the mechanic shop and boarded a taxi back home.

Because Jason genuinely wanted to help Donald, he decided to go home and get the paperwork done first.

Ethan didn’t argue against that and obediently followed like the good son he was.

It didn’t take them long to get back. When they entered, everyone was in the living room. Evelyn was reading some old newspapers while Maria read an interesting story to Nora.

"You’re back already? Looks like it wasn’t a serious problem," Maria said as she looked at them.

Jason scratched his head as he answered. "Well, something came up and I have to sell the car. So I came home to take my papers and handle the transfer of ownership."

Maria’s eyes widened. "Sell the car? Has it gotten that bad?"

Ethan nodded and answered before his father could say a word. "Yes. Its condition is very bad. I felt disgusted just by looking at it, ugh."

Thinking he was only being overdramatic, Maria laughed. "Well, the car is indeed old. Selling it off doesn’t seem to be a bad idea."

"You too... haa." Jason sighed, dispirited. He slumped his shoulders and walked into the room.

Watching him go, Nora asked. "Why is grandpa sad?"

Maria patted her head and answered. "Don’t mind him. He’s just pretending."

Meanwhile, Ethan settled beside Evelyn and took a peek at what she was reading.

She turned to him with a beautiful smile and pecked him on the cheek. "Welcome home."

Ethan smiled back and hugged her. "Mn. What do you think about giving Nora an iPad?"

Evelyn’s eyes widened. "An iPad? What would she use it for?"

"Well, just to relax and unwind, obviously," He answered. "I’ll set up the parental control, and she can only use it for a limited amount of time daily."

Evelyn thought about it for a few seconds, then nodded. "Alright. As long as it doesn’t affect her performance in school."

"Surely," Ethan smiled. "It’s my responsibility to ensure she does extraordinarily well in school."

Evelyn hummed and glanced at her daughter who was enraptured by the story Maria was reading to her.

’Nora seems to be opening up lately. It seems she doesn’t hate him like she did before.’

A faint smile appeared on her lips.

’We’re being a proper family again.’