Unveiled: The Survivor's Triumph

Chapter 160 The Taste of Home

Ethan dropped the ice pack, leaned back on the couch, and pulled out a cigarette. But he didn't light it right away.

He stared at the cigarette for a long time before finally saying, "I took that bet, risking Skyline International Corporation, not because she was Faye. I would've done it for anyone. That video going public would've wrecked her life. I knew it." He wouldn't just stand by and do nothing for anyone else either. He's not cold-hearted.

When we first met, he could've ignored me, but he helped because he's a passionate guy.

He lit the cigarette and continued, "When I got the USB drive back, I thought about destroying it right away. But I hesitated because I was afraid you'd ask me about it one day. If you didn't ask, I wouldn't have told you because knowing wouldn't make you happy."

He was right. Even though I understood him, I still felt a bit upset.

"Later, when you said the USB drive was lost, I didn't want you to feel guilty. So I told you it was okay. The reason I went looking for it afterward was that I was afraid it would fall into someone else's hands and still ruin Faye. But I didn't find it. It probably fell into the sewer, which is as good as destroyed."

He explained everything honestly.

Ethan's thumb gently traced circles in my palm. "Do you trust me?"

I was silent for a long time, then I looked at him and said, "It's not that I don't trust you; it's that you don't trust me. You don't believe I can handle all of this."

He tilted his head, the soft light outlining his features. "Honey, do you know why people get conflicted? Why they get scared? Why they worry?"

After asking, he suddenly looked at me, his gaze intense.

"Because they care," he answered himself.

My heart was pounding. He suddenly climbed over and pinned me on the couch, kissing me hard until my lips went numb. He finally stopped, panting as he looked at me.

Ethan said, "Next time you want to play hero, call me along. We work better as a team, got it? You freaked me out."

I felt a mix of gratitude and relief.

I whispered, "I wanted to bring you along. But the situation was urgent. There wasn't time."

Ethan gently rubbed my lips with his thumb.

His gaze fell on my lips, and his smile at that moment was indescribable-not too intense but utterly captivating.

"I married a kind-hearted wife."

Hearing his emotional words, my eyes suddenly welled up.

In that moment, I finally got it-his smile was pure happiness.

After that whole mess, I hadn't heard a peep about Faye.

Ethan came home on time every day and never mentioned her. I had no clue if he'd met her privately or tried to comfort her. I figured that incident must've reopened old wounds and hit her hard. She needed time to heal. A few days later, I bumped into her on the street.

Lacey had told me that Sophie found a cleaning job at a kindergarten. The principal felt sorry for her and let her bring Abby to work as long as she got her tasks done.

I was thrilled to hear that. Even though it was a low-level job, it showed she was fighting back against fate with her own efforts.

She couldn't rely on men anymore; she had to stand on her own. No matter what the job was, as long as she integrated into society, she'd learn and grow.

even with a child, she still had

I arranged with Lacey to

had some kids, so there

had found a decent job. She looked way better than

for survival, had given

Lacey and I

a tall woman carrying large bags heading

and tried to stay low-key, I recognized

until she

and didn't notice me. When she reached the street, she took out her phone

advertisement board conveniently blocked me from her

vaguely heard her

call was to her family. She shared good news and reminded

she'd been crying. She walked quickly with her

a bit surprised that I suddenly brought up Faye, but he

away a long time ago. Her mom's been paralyzed for years, so Fiona dropped out of school early to work and

were all equally

as God's favorite. We all had our own share of misfortune. Just being

to do a deep clean of the house to welcome

saying that cleaning such a big house would be exhausting. I turned him down because I had nothing else to do

pretty early. After Ethan left,

the sofa

didn't want to answer. He always seemed like trouble. But thinking about his leg,

really heartless, aren't you?" His voice came through the line.

injured for you, and

"Isn't your leg already healed? Don't tell me that Santa Claus

me, and now the old injury hasn't healed, and there's a new one. I'm lying at home all day, with no one to

anything. Faris chuckled, and

he said, "I'm waiting for you at home. Remember to bring some groceries to cook. If you don't come, I'll send that

angry I almost

down the rag,

to buy some groceries, then took a cab to the address

the hill was the place Faris had taken me when he

open. I walked in and saw Faris lying on the sofa, his legs

footsteps, he looked up and smiled broadly. "You're

threatened me; how could I

say anything; I just faced him

my expression and patted the seat next to him.

over but

in my hand and

shamelessly smiled

at his leg. "How's your

like this. Anyway, I

it really be

leg again,

have been eating takeout all this time; he probably wasn't lying about that. "Wait here, I'll cook," I

a bit surprised and