Unveiled: The Survivor's Triumph

Chapter 137 "You guys eat the meat, I'll just drink the soup."

Ethan rocked up at the door, lugging a bunch of big bags. We just stared at each other for a sec.

After the initial shock, I weirdly felt super chill. I figured it had to be either Martin or Jason who ratted me out.

Funny thing is, when I bailed, I was fuming, like a balloon ready to pop. But after a few days, the anger fizzled out, and now I felt kinda grounded. And seeing his face now, I realized I sorta missed him.

I dropped my gaze and grabbed the bags from his hands.

"Groceries are here. You can bounce now."

I set the bags down and went to shut the door, but Ethan stuck his arms out to stop me.

I shot him a glare, but he just looked back with this soft smile.

"In this freezing weather, you really gonna kick me out?"

Ethan's voice had this pitiful, almost begging tone.

"In this heavy snow, it's not easy for him to deliver groceries. Let him come in and warm up." Martin chimed in from behind.

I turned to see Martin still clutching the radio, lounging in the wicker chair, giving Ethan a look that screamed, "You had it coming, dude."

Since Martin had spoken, I couldn't really keep Ethan out.

So I let go of the door and bent down to grab the groceries, but Ethan beat me to it.

"They're heavy, let me handle it."

If he wanted to carry them, fine by me. I headed back to the kitchen.

After saying hey to Martin, Ethan brought the groceries into the kitchen.

I stood at the sink, washing veggies, trying to ignore him.

After setting down the groceries, Ethan patted Jason, who was working on the soup, on the shoulder and grinned. "I could smell that from outside. My mouth's watering." I paused, veggies in hand, and couldn't help but snap back, "Then keep drooling; there's none for you."

Jason chuckled, but Ethan stayed quiet.

I kept washing the veggies, but suddenly felt warm breath near my ear.

"Then you guys eat the meat, and I'll just have the soup."

Ethan whispered, his chin almost on my shoulder, his hair brushing my ear, tickling me.

I stiffened, trying to stay cool, and replied, "Fine, we'll let you have the Sopa de Lima we've already eaten."

Instead of getting mad, Ethan laughed and said, "Sopa de Lima is the heart of Mexican cuisine. If you leave the heart for me, they'll have something to say about it."

When the Sopa de Lima was ready, Jason brought it to the dining room.

steaming, smelled amazing, and looked

table, four

on, let's grab a drink!" Martin

blurted out, "No

looked taken aback. Ethan gave

thought maybe I

So, I mumbled, "Whatever."

while fishing veggies out of the Sopa de Lima, laughed and

Ethan was in the hospital for a few days with a stomach thing. He shouldn't be

smile. "I told you before, you never listen and don't know how to take care of yourself. You get what you deserve."

admitting

gave him a sideways glance, a look of reproach mixed with a bit of

In no time, Martin brought the cider, saying it was homemade by a fellow villager. Since Martin was retired from a big hospital, people often came to him for medical advice. Martin never charged them. So

the village, and

few glasses and poured a drink for

outside, snow was falling heavily. Inside, the

every winter, if guests came, Mom also loved to make Sopa de Lima. It didn't

today, at this table, I felt a bit

was mad at Ethan, and they knew it. If I acted normal, it would feel forced.

the meal, I was very silent, just focusing on

I threw a few into the Sopa de

the most, sharing jokes from the village and reminiscing about unforgettable memories from his youth, his stories interspersed with laughter. I stared at the pot, silently listening to Martin. Thinking about Martin's illness made me

Martin, I forgot to eat until Ethan and Jason each picked up a tomato and put it in

in sync that even

and smiled at Jason,

his drink, and the room was filled with the

Martin went to grab

in,

a long time, then pointed to it and asked, "Jason, this is you when you were little. Who's this little girl next to you?" Ethan and Jason both looked

familiar,"

laughed and said, "Grandpa, the little girl in the photo is

got it, looked at me,

"Is it Emily?"

and handed

"Emily, is this you?"

look,

big rock, and Jason was standing below it. I remembered that the photo was taken by a friend we used to play with, but we lost touch after moving and going to different schools. Recalling those days, Jason smiled warmly and said, "You insisted

and our childish antics, I couldn't help

refused to admit

we started talking about the past,

surprised that Jason and I had known each other since childhood; he just fell silent as the

you didn't want to move back

surprise. Jason just smiled and

because of Martin's comment,

of him and forcibly changed the subject. "This

suddenly felt a bit flustered and quickly drank the

photo, looked at it again and again, and