CHAPTER 164: CHAPTER 164: YOU’RE A GROWN MAN AND STILL AFRAID OF RUNNING INTO BAD PEOPLE?

Sitting on her bed watching TV to pass the time, Ian Sterling heard a loud noise from outside and couldn’t help but frown. What was she up to again?

Reluctantly, he got out of bed and walked out in his robe. Seeing her standing in the kitchen, he asked in a low voice, "What are you doing?"

"I haven’t eaten all day and I’m hungry. I’m preparing to heat something up to eat," Vivian pouted and said.

She hadn’t eaten all day? Ian was a little exasperated and went to the kitchen. He took some buckwheat noodles from the cabinet and told her, "Go sit on the sofa without meddling here."

"You’re going to cook for me?" she asked.

"Can you cook it yourself?" he countered.

"No..." With her hands behind her back, she swayed a bit. Ian looked at her, dressed in his white shirt, looking both innocent and inviting, and his heart involuntarily skipped a beat.

He immediately looked away and said in a low voice, "Don’t wear my clothes."

"Alright, alright, I won’t wear your clothes. Would you rather I be naked?"

Leaning against the kitchen island, Vivian joked about unbuttoning the shirt, and Ian quickly reached out to stop her.

"What do you want really? Should I wear it or not?" Vivian smiled at him and asked.

"Do you still want to eat or not? Stop standing here," Ian dismissed her.

To eat as soon as possible, she obediently went to the living room, lazily reclined on the sofa, and turned on the TV, randomly picking a movie to watch.

Unexpectedly, a passionate scene not suitable for children was showing, with heavy breathing from a man and a woman’s moaning, echoing in the empty dining and living room.

She immediately felt so awkward that her face turned red.

Ian, who was preparing her dinner, frowned and looked over: "What inappropriate thing are you watching? Change the channel."

"I didn’t know they were playing that..." Vivian pouted and quickly changed the channel, only to find another suggestive scene of a man forcing a woman.

The woman kept yelling, "No, no, no..."

Ian frowned even deeper looking at her, and she quickly changed channels again. "Is it my fault your TV is improper? You must watch these often for them to show up!"

"Do you still want to eat or not?" Ian coldly questioned her.

Vivian immediately mimed closing her mouth and obediently kept quiet, not arguing back—

Ten minutes later, he prepared a steaming bowl of noodles with a soft-boiled egg, shredded beef, and green vegetables, smelling delicious.

"Take it to the dining table to eat by yourself." Ian said sternly to her and was about to return to the main bedroom when Vivian suddenly called to him, her tone somewhat imploring:

"Could you sit in the living room for a while? I’m scared to be alone in the empty living room."

"Are you also afraid of ghosts?" he asked, raising an eyebrow.

She wasn’t afraid of ghosts; she just didn’t want to be in a space alone. After the family bankruptcy, the place she and her mother lived in was particularly chaotic. Her mom washed dishes in a restaurant and came home very late, and her sister also returned late often. Being home alone terrified her.

Drunks often knocked on the door, cursing, and there were dog barks... The longstanding fear left her with psychological shadows.

Ian originally didn’t want to care about her, but seeing her pitiful expression, he still went to the sofa, thinking she also feared ghosts. How much alike the sisters were.

Vivian took the bowl to the table, sat down, picked up a strand of noodles with her chopsticks, tasted it, and found it very delicious. The noodles were also very chewy. This man was too good!

Inadvertently, she turned to look at him, and her heart skipped a few more beats—

Next door.

Ian wasn’t aware, but Elias Spencer was still at his girlfriend’s house.

"Aren’t you going back? It’s very late." Summer Nolan tried to dismiss him.

Sitting on the sofa, watching TV with Mrs. Nolan and drinking coffee, Elias Spencer glanced at the time on his wrist. It was already past ten; he didn’t answer the woman’s question but turned to ask:

"It is indeed very late, and walking back at this hour seems unsafe... Mrs. Nolan, can I stay here for the night?"

"Sure, there’s a spare room. Feel free to stay,"

Mrs. Nolan knew his intentions and didn’t stop him. No matter what, he had saved her and her daughter several times, so it wouldn’t be right to be too unkind.

"Thank you, Mrs. Nolan." Elias Spencer smiled at the woman standing nearby, stood up, and said, "I’m going to take a shower. Attorney Nolan, rest early."

As he prepared to go to the guest room, Summer Nolan suddenly blocked him, "Go back to your own house!"

"It’s so late; what if I run into someone bad?" Elias asked in an aggrieved tone.

"You’re a grown man, still afraid of running into bad people? Stop pretending and go back quickly!"

She grabbed his arm and started dragging him toward the door, determined to send him home. What if he ran into Ian in the morning? How would she explain her ex-boyfriend staying at her house?

After tugging for a while, Elias stood firm, as if his feet were nailed to the ground, and silently watched her with one hand in his pocket —

She got a bit angry, let go of his arm, "Elias Spencer!"

"I’ll take a shower first; we can talk later." Elias said calmly and went to the side bedroom, completely ignoring her anger.

Summer looked at this thick-skinned man, speechless, then angrily turned to her mother,

"You know I’m dating Ian now. Why leave this man here? How can I explain if they run into each other?"

"I just think Attorney Spencer is our savior. He’s helped us many times, so it’s not right to kick him out, is it?

Both of you leave a bit later in the morning, and there won’t be a chance encounter," Mrs. Nolan told her daughter.

"..." Summer felt utterly speechless at her mother’s words.

"Since he wants to stay, let him for the night, just as a guest accommodation. We moved thanks to him. Don’t make it too hard for him," Mrs. Nolan advised her daughter.

"Speaking of which, who is Vivian hanging out with? Why hasn’t she come home all evening?"

"I called her. She said she’s at a classmate’s house." Summer had called in the afternoon.

"Is it a male or female classmate? What if the parents are weird? I recently saw a video about a classmate’s father who was a pervert. Seeing his daughter’s classmate looking pretty, he drugged and assaulted her!"

Mrs. Nolan voiced her concerns seriously.

Upon hearing her mother’s words, Summer also felt uneasy and pulled out her phone to call her sister, deciding to drive over to bring her back.

At this time, Vivian was still eating her late-night snack when her phone rang on the sofa. Ian picked it up, glanced at it, and frowned, "It’s your sister calling..."

"Maybe... I shouldn’t answer it?" she nervously hesitated.

"She’ll worry if you don’t answer, here." He handed it to her.

Vivian could only walk over, take the phone, take a deep breath, and press the answer button: "Hello... sis, what’s up?"

"Where are you now? Send me your location." Summer demanded directly.