CHAPTER 12: CHAPTER 12: ETHAN GRANT WAS LEFT SALIVATING

Talia smiled nonchalantly and replied to him, "Yes, because you don’t understand me."

After speaking, she teased Vivian Coleman again with a mischievous look, "Miss Coleman, are you really not going to take a picture? If not, I’ll drive off."

Vivian was so angry that her face turned green, she really wanted to take a photo!

But Talia was sitting in the car, and no matter what, she couldn’t swallow her pride.

"I don’t care," Vivian replied stubbornly.

"Alright, bye!" Talia waved to them, stepped on the gas, and the car sped away.

The blue Bentley disappeared from their sight.

Vivian angrily said, "Ethan, why did you take a liking to such a vain woman?"

Ethan Grant rubbed his temples, "She wasn’t so vain before, I don’t know what’s gotten into her recently, with all the forcing marriage and car renting."

Vivian said, "She probably feels threatened because I’m close to you, and rented the car to fit into our circle."

Vivian crossed her arms, shook her head with a sigh, and looked on with sympathy.

"Tsk tsk, but rented is rented, it’s ultimately not hers. She can only take pictures, how pitiful."

"Stop talking about it, I’m already embarrassed," Ethan turned around and returned to the villa.

...

Talia drove the car around briefly and finally parked it in a paid parking lot outside the villa district.

She didn’t want to park the car in Ethan’s garage, it wasn’t time to confront him yet.

Previously, Talia intended to personally tell Ethan about her family background, but now she didn’t want to say anything.

In the evening, as usual, there was a table full of vegetarian dishes.

Talia carried the meal she ordered from a specialty private kitchen to the dining table, sat down, and opened the box as if no one else was around, letting its aroma fill the entire dining room.

Ethan couldn’t help but glance at the meal Talia had ordered.

Spicy crayfish and spicy crab, they looked good, the spicy scent boldly tantalizing his sense of smell, stirring his appetite, and soon, his mouth even started to water.

Looking back at the plates in front of him, the plain, flavorless dishes held no appeal at all.

Talia put on disposable gloves and started peeling the crayfish immersively.

He also loved eating spicy crayfish; before, when he and Talia went to eat, Talia would always peel them for him.

Ethan’s Adam’s apple bobbed, and he swallowed, pretending to glance at Talia indifferently, hoping she would put the peeled crayfish on his plate.

However, Talia, having peeled it, tossed it into her own mouth, eating with relish.

Noticing Ethan’s gaze, Talia turned to look at him, swallowed the food in her mouth, and asked, "What’s wrong? Why are you looking at me?"

Ethan faked a cough to hide his embarrassment and said in a casual tone, "Could you stop eating such intensely flavored food?"

Before Talia could respond, Vivian interjected, "Oh, the poorer someone is, the more they love eating these heavy, spicy foods. Miss Rhodes, your food really has a strong smell. Why don’t you eat it outside?"

Ethan’s expression turned a bit ugly when he heard this.

He had just been eagerly wanting to eat, and Vivian comments that poorer people like such foods?

Talia licked her lips and started peeling another crayfish, her tone dripping with provocation, "Miss Coleman, it seems you don’t understand Ethan very well. Why don’t you ask him if he likes it?"

Vivian paused, turned to look at Ethan, "Ethan, you..."

Ethan’s brow twitched, suppressing his annoyance, he picked up a chopstick of vegetables, "Forget it, just eat."

Talia hummed a little tune, finishing the entire box of spicy crayfish and spicy crab by herself, feeling extremely satisfied.

After the meal, Vivian circled around the living room and critiqued, "Ethan, these curtains are ugly, and the vase on the table doesn’t match the entire living room’s color scheme."

After speaking, she covered her nose and looked disdainfully at the flowers in the vase, "Also, I’m allergic to pollen, could you throw these flowers away?"

The curtains were chosen by Talia, and the vase on the table was also bought by her. The floral arrangement in the vase was also her careful selection, which Vivian likely knew and thus deliberately picked faults.

Ethan casually replied, "If you don’t like them, change them to what you like."

His gaze lingered on Talia for a moment, speaking in a huffy tone, "Since you’re allergic to pollen, then just throw them out."

Talia quietly watched the two perform their routine without saying a word.

Anyway, it’s not her house, so whatever.

Vivian, however, thought Talia’s silence was due to sadness; a look of triumph flashed in her eyes, thinking to herself, Talia, you’ve lost.

Ethan called the housekeeper, asking her to take the vase and flowers outside to throw them away.

The housekeeper glanced at Talia with difficulty and said to Ethan, "Sir, but these flowers... were bought by Miss Rhodes."

Ethan’s face darkened, his voice rising, "So what if she bought them? I think you need to understand who the owner is here. Who pays your salary?"

Talia calmly said, "It’s okay, Auntie Zhang, just throw them away."

Only then did the housekeeper pick up the vase and walk toward the door, muttering to herself: Crazy, making trouble for nothing, what’s with all the antics every day! That Vivian too, quite the piece of work, staying here for two days only eating vegetarian food, making her own diet no better. When will this end, oh boy!

In the living room, Vivian smiled as she looped her arm around Ethan’s, coquettishly saying, "Ethan, come with me to pick out curtains tomorrow, okay?"

Ethan glanced at Talia, noticing her calm demeanor without a hint of jealousy, and a sudden surge of irritation arose within him.

Why wasn’t Talia getting jealous?

He had them throw out her flowers, why wasn’t she angry?

Ethan felt a sense of frustration he couldn’t quite describe.

He always liked Talia for her obedience and sensibility, making everything easy for him, but was she perhaps too sensible now?

Sometimes, feeling a little jealousy isn’t that big of a deal.

Suddenly, he found Talia’s obedience and sensibility rather vexing.

Seeing Ethan not responding, Vivian shook his arm even more coquettishly, "Ethan, are you listening to me?"

Ethan retracted his gaze and replied with a muffled "Hmm."

...

The next day, Vivian loudly made a lot of purchases, directing the delivery staff to replace the curtains and living room décor.

She tossed all the items Talia had previously bought into the trash.

When Talia returned from outside, Vivian looked at her with an air of smug triumph.

Talia didn’t respond to Vivian, merely glanced expressionlessly at the messy living room and the several busy workers before heading upstairs to her room.

She packed up her luggage that she planned to take, and also packed the items to be discarded.

Only some daily necessities and a few days’ worth of clothes were left out.

She had thought that in the last few days, she and Vivian would stay out of each other’s hair, but unexpectedly, Vivian used any means to drive her away.