Chapter 39: Are You Asleep?

Chapter 39: Are You Asleep?



Victoria was getting somewhat immune to hearing Ethan call her shameless again.

"Ethan, whether I'm shameless or not doesn't seem to be any of your business, does it?"

"How is it not my business? You're my girlfriend." After thinking it over, Ethan still said those words.

Victoria had to remind him, "Shut your dirty mouth. I broke up with you a long time ago. Your girlfriend is Sarah."

Ethan didn’t take the scolding well—it really got to him.

He explained himself, "Victoria, I know you're just trying to get my attention this way. Do you really think such a shallow trick would work on me?"

"A trick?" Victoria couldn't be bothered to argue with him.

But Ethan was lost in his own thoughts.

"Are you saying you didn't go home with William just to provoke me?"

"Or are you really willing to be William's sugar baby?"

"He doesn't even like women."

Victoria laughed in anger.

She shot back at Ethan, "Whose sugar baby I want to be is my business. It has nothing to do with you. Are you done talking nonsense? I'm hanging up."

Just then, there was a knock on Victoria's door.

William stood outside, speaking to Victoria.

"Are you asleep? Dear?"

On the other end of the line, Ethan was on the verge of losing his temper.

He recognized that voice—it belonged to William.

William called Victoria "dear"? That showed just how close their relationship was.

Victoria quickly hung up the phone. She opened the door and stood before William, her perfume filling the air.

"What is it?"

William smiled gently, "Are you hungry? Quinn made some chicken soup while she was resting. It's still warm."

Victoria never ate much in the evening, and with the drinks she'd had tonight, she had no appetite.

She shook her head, "No thanks, I'm not very hungry. I'm a bit tired and want to sleep early."

She was really afraid William would ask to sleep in the same room with her.

After all, they were legally married. Even if William didn't like women, if he had physical needs for certain practical reasons, she would have to go along with it.

Thankfully, William handled himself like a true gentleman.

He glanced at Victoria and said, "Alright then, sleep well. Good night."

Earlier, standing by Victoria's half-open door, he seemed to have heard Victoria on the phone with a man.

If his guess was correct, that man must be Ethan.

Was he pestering Victoria?

It seemed he needed to warn Ethan.

Meanwhile, Ethan was at his own place, looking at his empty apartment, filled with regret.

When Victoria used to live here, he never felt he really needed her.

She was just someone who made him hangover remedies when he was drunk, or laid out his clothes. He'd always thought a housekeeper could do these things just as well.

But after Victoria really left, he felt like the house was missing so much.

That warm, lived-in feeling seemed to have disappeared.

Could he say he felt lonely?

When he returned to the apartment tonight, he'd been with Sarah.

Sarah wanted to come back with him, but he refused.

He couldn't say why, but he just wanted to be alone in the room where Victoria had lived.

Ethan didn't sleep well that night. The next day, he went out to meet friends with dark circles under his eyes.

As soon as he appeared at a restaurant, he saw Jerry with both his injured arms in slings, bragging to his friends.

"Both daughters of the Hughes family are pretty good-looking. I used to think Sarah was nice—wild enough. But after I met Victoria, I still think she's more my type."

"This morning, I even told my dad I'm willing to marry Victoria. I asked him to keep pressuring the Hughes family so the marriage arrangement continues."

"Once I marry that innocent Victoria, I'm going to torture her in bed."

Jerry got more and more excited as he talked, completely forgetting how his arms got broken while bragging to his friends.

Ethan didn’t like hearing that one bit.

Jerry continued, "No matter how proper a woman is, once she's in my hands, I'll train her to be wild."

"That night, Eddy personally sent her to my private room. It was just an accident that stopped me, otherwise I would've had her that night."

Jerry and his friends laughed lewdly. Ethan listened, his irritation building, the veins at his temples starting to throb.

He never imagined that when he ran into Eddy and Sarah helping Victoria that day, they were actually sending her to Jerry's bed.

At the time, he'd thought Victoria was degrading herself.

To him, Jerry standing there was nothing but a total scumbag.

He grabbed the glass in front of him and threw it at Jerry.

Jerry was startled. Seeing Ethan approaching aggressively, his heart tightened.

"Ethan?"

"What do you want?"

Ethan strode up to Jerry, grabbed him by the collar, and without a word, swung his fist at Jerry's face.

"Did you touch her or not?"

"You filthy bastard."

Jerry was stunned by Ethan's beating.

He'd heard that Ethan was going to marry Sarah. He hadn't joked about Sarah, so why was Ethan this angry?

Could it be that he had feelings for Victoria too?

After a brutal beating, Ethan sent Jerry crashing to the ground.

Ethan stood over him, as if looking at a pile of dirty trash.

Jerry's friends all knew Ethan and knew the Ashford family's power. Everyone backed away, not wanting to get splashed with blood.

They didn't want to be collateral damage when rich kids fought.

Ethan's anger, suppressed for days, finally found an outlet in Jerry. He raised his foot and kicked Jerry repeatedly.

Jerry took the beating without any chance to fight back.

Seeing that Jerry was about to be beaten to death, his friends were really worried something would happen.

They gathered courage to persuade Ethan.

"Ethan, stop! If you keep going, someone's going to die."

Only then did Ethan stop. He pointed at Jerry sprawled on the ground, his eyes burning with the urge to kill.

On the ground, Jerry's blood was splattered everywhere. His two already injured arms hung uselessly in front of his chest.

Getting beaten for bragging—in this whole city, only Jerry could enjoy this distinction.

Ethan pointed at Jerry in warning, "Jerry, you better watch your mouth and your actions. She's not a woman you can touch."

"If you dare have any ideas about her again, or say anything harmful about her, next time I guarantee I'll beat you to death."

After saying that, Ethan smoothed out his clothes and walked away like nothing had happened.

Less than five minutes after this scene ended, Sarah received a call from one of Jerry's friends.

"Sarah, what's going on? Ethan actually stood up for Victoria."