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.

de Lima was steaming, smelled amazing, and looked super

table, four people,

on, let's

blurted out, "No

aback. Ethan gave me this knowing, warm

thought maybe I

So, I mumbled, "Whatever."

out of the Sopa

was in the hospital for a few days with

and looked at Ethan with a bit of concern but still pointed at him and scolded with a smile. "I told you before, you never listen and don't know how to take care of yourself.

admitting fault

glance, a look

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.

was well-liked in the village, and

fetched a few glasses and poured a drink for each

and outside, snow was falling heavily. Inside, the table

to make Sopa de Lima.

this table, I felt a

it. If I acted normal, it would feel

the meal, I was very silent, just focusing on

tomatoes, I threw a few into

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 sad, but I

I forgot to eat until Ethan and Jason each picked up a

so in sync that even Martin was caught off

and smiled at Jason,

his drink, and the room was filled with the delicious aroma of Sopa de Lima and

more into it, Martin went to grab his stash of

he noticed I wasn't really joining in, Martin kept showing me the

a photo and stared at it for a long time, then pointed to it and asked, "Jason, this is you when you were little. Who's this little girl next to

looks familiar,"

"Grandpa, the little girl in the

got it, looked at me, then

"Is it Emily?"

seemed a bit incredulous and handed

"Emily, is this you?"

a look, and

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 on standing on the rock back then, refusing to admit you were

our childish antics,

refused

talking about the past,

had known each other since childhood; he

"So, you didn't want to move back then because of

surprise. Jason just smiled and

Martin's comment,

sip of the apple cider in front of him and forcibly changed the subject. "This apple cider tastes

back then and now, I suddenly felt a bit flustered and quickly drank the

suddenly picked up a photo, looked at it again and again, and