Chapter 90: True Nature

"Uh... I... uh... I just had this feeling, you know? That it wasn’t you who carried me. It was like I was half-asleep."

Cassie explained herself, her smile stiff.

"So I guessed it’d be Ethan, and I was right. It was him."

Evelyn’s eyes narrowed. "So you had a feeling, you say? Hm, no problem. Then why did you go out of your way to go thank him? I thought you had a bad impression of him—a scum. Why did you feel the need to thank someone you don’t like?"

Cassie’s expression changed, becoming offended. "Enough with these questions, Eve. Enough with the bothersome questions. What’s with that attitude towards your friend? If this is how you’re going to keep questioning me, then I’ll leave."

Ethan came out of the shop and slowly approached them.

He stopped beside Evelyn, his gaze fixed on Cassie.

"Hmm... let’s not waste precious time over here," He said, sounding amicable. "I have a few things for you, Cassie. And I’d appreciate if you could visit our house in the future."

Cassie suddenly smiled, her eyes glinting. "As long as you want that, Ethan. I’ll come anytime you need me."

Evelyn’s eyes widened, while Ethan merely chuckled and muttered. "This is interesting."

He nodded toward Cassie. "Alright. I will be expecting you."

The black-haired lady smiled flirtatiously and turned around. "Since that’s settled, I’ll get going."

"Wait!"

Evelyn tried stopping her, but the young lady didn’t even pause for a moment. Still feeling speechless, she turned to her husband.

"Ethan... what is going on? Why is she acting like... that?"

The young man chuckled. "That young lady is very funny. And I think you should have realized her true intentions by now, right?"

Evelyn frowned. "You?"

Ethan nodded and pulled her into a hug. "Looks like I’ve become quite the target. Sigh, I can’t even love my wife in peace anymore."

Evelyn grumbled, displeased. "What are you saying?"

Ethan patted her head to comfort her, then said somberly. "I didn’t expect you to have such a devious snake as a friend. Looks like even i was almost fooled."

"I don’t understand..." Evelyn shook her head. "Why would Cassie do that? Now that she has suddenly revealed her true intentions, things are starting to make sense and click into place."

Ethan hummed. "It could be jealousy or envy, who knows? Anyway, it’s pretty obvious that she’s shady. Now, I can already tell that a few of her actions that might have been brushed off casually aren’t so simple."

Raising her head to look at him, Evelyn muttered. "Is that why you invited her to our house?"

Ethan blinked and nodded. "Of course. Why else would I?"

The white-haired lady pursed her lips and blushed, realizing her fears had been misplaced.

Ethan understood and ruffled her hair with an amused expression on his face.

Behind them, a customer who had been watching without saying anything finally cleared his throat.

"Ahem. Hello?"

Evelyn flinched and pulled away from Ethan. Seeing the customer waiting, she quickly dragged Ethan and rushed back into the shop.

While she attended to the man, Ethan went inside the shop and spotted Nora still reading.

He was a little surprised and checked his watch. She had been studying for over an hour, breaking her previous record.

Ethan smiled and turned around without disturbing her. He quietly rejoined Evelyn at the counter, and they tactically chose not to talk about Cassie for now.

Although Evelyn looked gloomy, Ethan didn’t comfort her. It was better for her to process everything by herself.

Soon, the day rolled towards the night, and the sky darkened as the sun set.

"Looks like we can close the shop now," Ethan said, snapping her out of a daze.

She looked around, a little surprised. "Wow... almost everything has been sold. How did this happen?"

Ethan smiled and explained like an elite. "The population here has been increasing steadily, so it’s only normal that more people visit your shop."

"Our shop," Evelyn corrected him, pursing her lips.

Ethan smiled faintly. "Our shop. By the way, this road is bound to get busier in the next two or three weeks. So let’s prepare for an expansion."

"Expansion?" Evelyn blinked, her eyes filled with surprise. "Are you serious?"

Ethan nodded and gently poked her nose. "I am. Anyway, it’s still a few weeks away so no need to rush. We should head home first."

Evelyn pouted but still nodded. With that, they began to close the shop. Ethan woke Nora from her nap and took her outside as Evelyn locked the doors.

"Hey, Nora. What do you want to eat today? I want to cook something special for you tonight."

The little girl blinked, then folded her arms and rubbed her chin thoughtfully. Ethan stared at her with a small smile on his face, amused.

After a while, Nora gave her answer.

Humming, he got on his bike. "Looks like we’ll be going around to buy a few vegetables and some others before heading home."

Evelyn smiled and sat behind Nora. "Alright. Let’s make it quick."

Ethan nodded and revved the engine.

The bike got onto the street and zoomed off at a moderate pace. Meanwhile, not long after they left, a man who had just come after finishing his work at the office stopped before the shop.

"What? They closed already? Sigh, I should have called them before coming, but alas."

Shaking his head, he decided to head to their house.

Meanwhile, Ethan found a secure place to park his bike, then entered the vegetable market with his family. He held Nora’s hand and looked around, looking for the freshest ones.

Evelyn followed behind him, obviously lost in thoughts. She still found it hard to believe that Cassie was...

"Evelyn."

Hearing Ethan’s voice, she flinched and snapped out of her thoughts. She raised her head to look at him, seeing the soft smile on his lips.

"We’ll talk about it properly when we get home, alright?"

Evelyn nodded, then looked around. "Why don’t we buy that one?"

Ethan followed her gaze, his eyes lighting up. "Looks like you really have an eye for good things."

He shot her a smug look, then went ahead to haggle with the vegetable seller. Even though he was rich, he still loved favorable discounts and low prices.

Meanwhile, Evelyn processed his words, trying to understand why he looked so smug about it.

’Wait...’ Her eyes widened, and she covered her lips to suppress a laughter.

After getting the vegetables at a satisfying price, Ethan proceeded to buy a few more ingredients before they left the market.

They got onto the bike and drove back to their house. In a few minutes, they arrived before their gate and were surprised to see someone waiting for them.

"Big brother?" Evelyn called out, surprised. "What are you doing here?"

Cole rolled his eyes. "I came to visit you, obviously. I was just about to call you guys."

Ethan glanced at him and smiled. "Nice seeing you again, Cole. Come inside."

He drove the bike into the compound, with Cole following behind them.

"Wow. Brother-in-law, this bike looks good. When did you buy it?"

Ethan hummed as he pocketed the keys. "On the same day you visited me. Why?"

"Oh, nothing." Cole shook his head. "I’m just admiring it."

Ethan’s eyes narrowed. "Hmm... could it be that you’re interested in it? I could give it to you if you want."

Cole immediately shook his head. "No. Why would I take it from you? Besides, I have my car."

"Your car has an issue, no?" Ethan suddenly asked as they climbed upstairs.

"Eh?! How did you know?" Cole gasped, surprised.

Evelyn turned to her brother. "Isn’t it obvious? You came without your car. It’s obviously having an issue."

Cole pursed his lips, realizing that was true. Still, he didn’t completely agree.

"Uh... but what if I didn’t want to bring it at all?"

Ethan glanced at him, then shook his head. "You? Nah, you wouldn’t do that."

He unlocked the door and entered, locking it once everyone was inside. Nora immediately ran to the living room and sat on the couch, turning on the TV. It was almost time for one of her favorite cartoons to be shown.

Leaving her there, the adults moved into the kitchen.

"Anyway, you’re right. My car had flat tires this evening so I just had to leave it behind," Cole admitted as he watched Ethan take out the ingredients he had just bought from the market.

"Oh, that’s rough," Evelyn muttered. "How’s work going, though? And how are your parents?"

"’Your’ parents?" Cole rolled his eyes, suppressing the urge to knock her head. "It’s our parents. Not just mine alone."

Rolling his eyes, he answered her questions. "Work is fine. So fine that I’m thinking of buying a new car soon, hehe."

"Oh?" Evelyn’s eyes glinted. "Buy something attractive, at least. Maybe that will get you a wife."

Cole’s lips twitched as he felt like he was being bullied. "Can we stop talking about that?"

Ethan smiled. "Actually, this is the perfect time to talk about it."

Cole groaned.

"Brother-in-law, not you too... ugh."