CHAPTER 393: CHAPTER 393: WHERE DID ETHAN STERLING GO?

After dinner, Vivian quietly called her third uncle to the room and started whispering, "Can you ask Aidan if he knows where Ethan is? I’m feeling uneasy."

Sometimes overthinking makes things worse, and the more you dwell on it, the more it seems to lead to negative outcomes, making one even more anxious and restless.

That’s how Vivian felt at the moment. Not long ago, her son had just returned from the brink of death, and she feared the same might happen again, regardless of how low the probability of a plane accident was.

"Just calm down, I’ll call Aidan right away. Maybe Ethan just turned off his phone to get some decent sleep," the third uncle said, not immediately calling his son, but wanting to delay a few minutes to let Vivian calm down a bit first. He figured it’s likely his son wouldn’t know Ethan’s whereabouts, and that result would make her even more anxious.

Vivian frowned after hearing him. "Even if he’s hiding for peace and quiet, he wouldn’t turn off his personal phone..." The moment she said it, she suddenly thought of his recent romantic relationship. Could it be he’s not home because he’s on vacation with his girlfriend? If he’s sleeping with his girlfriend, turning off the phone would be understandable.

But Vivian wasn’t really hoping that was the case. She hurriedly waved the thought away, trying to scatter her random musings.

She had gotten some information from Leon Sterling about Ethan’s girlfriend. Though the Sterling Family and her family were well matched, her age was too young compared to the

"Hurry up and call Aidan."

"Okay, okay, I’ll do it now." The third uncle didn’t know what she had just thought, but he noticed her pause and speculated that his words had taken some effect.

He dialed the number, and when Aidan Sinclair heard the old man asking again about Ethan’s whereabouts, he couldn’t help but chuckle, "I’m not his secretary, how would I know where he went."

"His phone is off, Vivian is really worried. Try to recall if he mentioned anything."

Aidan understood the old man’s dilemma, knowing he’d be blamed if he didn’t ask, so he didn’t mind the nagging and seriously thought it through, "No idea. He’s been focusing on the Euronia and Meridia markets recently, so he’s either in Meridia or in Gallia or Bellaza. The Sterling Group has business in these countries right now."

The third uncle felt frustrated, "Got it." He was a bit angry because his son never seemed to be of any help at critical moments, really quite useless.

"How did it go?" Vivian was waiting impatiently.

Still grinning foolishly, the third uncle recited the three countries his son mentioned, earning a roll of the eyes from Vivian.

The Chinese New Year gala had already started, and the two little ones noticed Vivian and the third uncle weren’t present, so they quickly went to call them out.

Though they were keen to enjoy the Celestian New Year’s tradition, the gala’s flavor, while quite satisfactory to the third uncle, was like a sleep-inducing program for everyone else, rather dull indeed. Even the two little ones, who usually had no particular gripes with TV shows, fell asleep before ten o’clock.

Leon Sterling and Cindy Sterling carried the two children back to their rooms, Ruby Sullivan followed to tuck them in, finding it rather boring herself, she went for a shower and went to bed as well.

After putting the kids to bed, Cindy and Leon didn’t return to the living room, Vivian found it dull too, but seeing the third uncle so engrossed, she made an effort to keep him company watching, though it wasn’t long before she dozed off leaning on him.

In the end, he had to leave the gala, taking Vivian away to sleep.

In a half-sleep, Ruby felt someone hugging her from behind. She was too tired to open her eyes, but the breath was so familiar she turned around, gave the person a peck on the face, and smilingly continued to sleep.

When she woke up, the first thing Ruby remembered was the dream she had last night. She dreamt of Ethan—even though she didn’t see his face clearly, that familiar scent was unmistakably his. She remembered she kissed him, just like when they were together.

Ruby mocked herself with a chuckle.

Could it be she hadn’t experienced a man’s scent too long, hence the romantic dream?

She reached for her phone to check the time, then suddenly discovered that she was resting her neck on an arm!

Startled by the sudden realization, Ruby turned her head, only to find Ethan with half-closed eyes looking at her, evidently just woken by her.

Ruby sat up abruptly, gazing panic-stricken at the man beside her, "Why are you here?"

Ethan blinked slowly, "Miss, this seems to be my room."

Ruby blushed a deep red, not knowing what to say.

How was she supposed to know he’d return?

"Why didn’t you go sleep in another room when you saw someone on the bed?"

The Sterling Family wasn’t short on rooms! When Ruby saw him close his eyes, she angrily kicked him in the waist.

Ethan slightly furrowed his brow, opened his eyes with a pleading tone, "Ruby, I got home around three, and I’ve slept less than three hours, could you quiet down?" He said while raising his hand to grab her arm, "Come over, keep me company for a bit more."

Ruby slapped his hand several times, and in a hurry, jumped off the bed, got dressed, and went out to prepare breakfast.

Though she was indeed quite tired, she didn’t want to continue sharing a bed with this man!

Ethan heard the door close, reluctantly opening his eyes to look at the marks she left on his hand, murmuring aggrievedly: "Already hate me this much?" He sighed, although still wanting to sleep, his mood didn’t seem so delightful anymore.

When Ruby went downstairs, she noticed two servants hadn’t gotten up yet. Thinking breakfast time hadn’t started in the old house, she didn’t rush to prepare but curled up on the sofa, soon falling asleep again.

Even though the heating was adequate, it was still mid-winter. Ruby was dressed in thin homewear, nothing covered her, feet bare, and as she slept, she curled into a shrimp-like form.

Leon Sterling, who went down for his morning run, saw her in such a state. Not wanting to wake her, he went back upstairs, got a blanket from his room, covered Ruby with it, and then left for his run.

The servants, waking up, directly went to the kitchen to prepare breakfast, all thinking the blanket on the sofa was leftover from last night, so no one realized Ruby was there, nor did anyone wake her.

Before long, Honey woke up. She had been looking forward to the New Year greeting ritual this morning, having dreamed of receiving so much lucky money last night that she was buried in it.

Her first mission upon waking was to call her brother, and entering his room, she found he was already up,

getting dressed.

The two little ones decided they’d first greet their mom for New Year because she’s their favorite!

But upon seeing dad lying in her room, they were dumbstruck—did they remember wrong, or had mom turned into dad in her sleep?