Chapter 7 7

Just a few seconds later, Olivia’s fleeting illusion of security was thoroughly shattered by Ethan’s outrageously shameless and over-the-top boasting.

"Haha..."

His words, of course, triggered a wave of merciless laughter from both Stephen and Clara.

"This is officially the biggest joke I’ve heard all year! You’re just a broke country bumpkin. Do you have any idea how much a single ticket costs on the black market?" Stephen roared with laughter, pointing his finger directly at Ethan’s nose with sheer arrogance and disdain. "One hundred and eighty-eight thousand dollars a ticket! It’s not just that you don't have the money—in an elite circle like this, you couldn't buy one even if you did. In other words, even if you sold your entire miserable life, you wouldn't be able to afford a single ticket."

Standing beside him, Clara didn't want to miss a single opportunity to stomp on Ethan. Crossing her arms, she raised her voice and pointed at Stephen’s neck, chiming in, "See that? The imperial green jade Buddha pendant Young Master Stephen is wearing is worth over ten million dollars. Comparing yourself to him? You aren't even worthy of carrying Young Master Stephen’s shoes!"

The moment the words "imperial green" were uttered, they instantly drew the attention of several socialites and executives walking through the luxurious lobby. After all, top-tier jade of that caliber was a rare treasure only seen at high-end auctions. Being able to catch a glimpse of it with one's own eyes was considered a massive stroke of luck.

Sensing the envious, astonished, and reverent stares from the surrounding crowd, Stephen intentionally puffed out his chest, raised his chin, and gloated, "Clara, why are you even wasting your breath explaining this to a useless parasite like him? What could he possibly know about luxury? Though, what you just said isn't entirely accurate. This exquisite piece of jewelry is the absolute highest quality you can find on the market. If I weren't life-and-death friends with the old Western collector who originally owned it, you couldn't get them to part with it even if you offered twenty million dollars."

Saying this, Stephen turned a deeply affectionate gaze toward Olivia and said, "Olivia, that same friend still has an imperial green jade bracelet of the exact same quality in his collection. If you like it, I’ll buy it and give it to you tomorrow!"

"Oh my god..."

This high-profile display of affection and staggering wealth naturally caused another low buzz of excitement among the onlookers.

Yet, from beginning to end, Ethan merely stood there with a completely detached, expressionless face. He didn't say a single word, calmly watching Stephen put on this dramatic, self-absorbed performance. It wasn't until Stephen had completely finished speaking that a faint smirk of utter disdain and mockery slowly curled at the corner of Ethan’s mouth.

"What’s with that look on your face? You still aren't convinced?!" Seeing the mocking smile on Ethan’s face, Stephen’s expression instantly darkened, his tone dripping with absolute contempt.

"I was just wondering," Ethan said calmly, shifting his gaze slightly toward Stephen, "whether you are trying to flex your pathetic sense of superiority here, or if you are just showcasing your completely nonexistent IQ to everyone."

His voice wasn't loud, yet it carried an invisible, crushing weight that instantly stunned the entire room.

Stephen was the widely acknowledged future heir of the prominent San family. In terms of financial power and backing, how could a penniless nobody like Ethan even begin to compare? Usually, even core members of the Vance family had to be exceptionally polite when meeting Stephen, let alone a lowly contract son-in-law.

For a moment, everyone in the lobby stared at Ethan in absolute shock and disbelief.

"Damn it, what did you just say, you worthless loser?!" Stephen flew into a rage, his immense ego severely bruised.

However, Ethan completely ignored Stephen’s explosive fury.

He let out a soft chuckle, shoved his hands into his pockets, and continued with absolute composure, "Jadeite, scientifically known as hard jade, historically never originated from Western soil. It only began flowing in through maritime smuggling from war-torn regions in Asia about a century ago. To distinguish it from the traditional soft nephrite mined locally, early auction house records registered and cataloged it under the raw name 'Fei-Cui'."

"Fei-Cui?"

"Why was it called Fei-Cui?"

A few surrounding corporate executives couldn't help but whisper in confusion.

"You bottom-feeding trash, you’re not just broke, you’re completely uneducated! You can't even get historical terms right, yet you’re standing here spouting nonsense!" Hearing the murmurs of the crowd, Stephen instantly felt he had caught Ethan in a lie, counter-attacking with a mocking sneer.

Ethan completely disregarded his shouting, continuing to explain in a flat, indifferent tone, "Indeed, ignorance is a truly terrifying thing. The literal meaning of 'Fei-Cui' is that it is fundamentally not a gemstone native to our land. It was only later, for commercial packaging and to give it a more aristocratic ring in auction brochures, that the term gradually evolved into the modern word 'Jade'."

"So, your boast about this 'imperial green jade' being mined from your family’s private local estate is nothing but pure, unadulterated bullshit."

"You..." Stephen’s face turned an ugly shade of mottled red and white.

"Don't be in such a hurry, I’m not done yet."

Ethan took a deliberate half-step forward, his gaze cutting through the air like a sharp blade as he locked eyes with the pendant around Stephen’s neck. "Genuine, high-purity old-pit glass-species imperial green has a vibrant, deep, and rich color. Beneath the green, it subtly reflects a noble, deep blue undertone under intense light, but it will absolutely never look off-color. It looks vivid and dripping with life. Now, look at this so-called 'exquisite treasure' hanging around your neck. It’s neither purely green nor properly blue. One look at it tells you it's dull, lifeless, and completely lacks transparency. If you were to tap it with a professional tool, the sound would undoubtedly be muffled and raspy. Any expert can tell at a single glance that this is a low-grade 'Type C' fake that has been thoroughly bleached with strong acid and artificially dyed with chemical polymers. On the local flea market stalls, the wholesale market price is ten dollars at most."

"Boom..."

The moment Ethan’s words landed, they caused a massive uproar among the onlookers. No one could have anticipated that the illustrious Young Master Stephen was actually walking around wearing a cheap, ten-dollar piece of counterfeit jewelry while bragging about it. If this piece of news leaked into the mainstream high-society circles, it would purely be an absolute scandal and a total laughingstock.

"Humph, look at your wretched, miserable, broke appearance, and you dare to act like a master antique appraiser in front of me?!" Stephen’s face was burning bright crimson after being thoroughly exposed by Ethan’s flawless, professional analysis. Deep down, he was actually starting to question the authenticity of his own pendant. But then he remembered that Ethan was nothing more than a spineless, freeloading son-in-law. What the hell did he know about collections?!

Today, in front of his dream goddess, Olivia, he absolutely could not lose face to this garbage.

Forcing down his internal panic, Stephen sneered and raised his voice, "The number of century-old antiques collected in my family’s grand manor is countless, with a conservative estimated total value reaching hundreds of millions. A broke loser like you, who has never even stepped through the doors of a high-end auction house, has probably never even seen a real antique in your entire life!"

Sure enough, as soon as these words were spoken, the clueless onlookers once again cast envious glances. The embarrassment on Stephen’s face instantly vanished, replaced once more by sheer arrogance.

"As the saying goes, those who are truly knowledgeable understand that men should wear Avalokitesvara pendants, while women wear Buddha amulets. Just judging by how you strut around every day wearing a fake Buddha statue dripping with feminine energy just to put on airs, I can easily guess whether your family’s collection consists of genuine, rare treasures, or just a pile of worthless industrial garbage that nobody wants!"

The moment the words left Ethan's mouth, the entire lobby fell into a dead silence, as if the very air had frozen solid!

Stephen, whose arrogance had just reached its peak, saw his face turn from an angry red to a suffocating purple. His entire body trembled with rage as he glared death stares at Ethan, looking as though he wanted to tear him apart limb from limb.

Seeing that Stephen was about to completely lose his mind and snap, Olivia, who had been standing silently with a frosty expression, finally reached her breaking point. She reached out, grabbed Ethan’s sleeve with a fierce grip, and forcefully yanked him directly behind her.

Olivia’s emotions right now were an incredibly tangled mess. On one hand, she was furious and frustrated, wanting to stop Ethan from making a complete fool of her with these seemingly baseless claims. On the other hand, she had sharply caught the venomous look in Stephen’s eyes and, subconsciously, she didn't want Ethan to be brutally retaliated against and humiliated on the spot by someone as powerful as Stephen just for the sake of winning a verbal argument.

"Young Master Stephen, he was just spouting absolute nonsense just now. Please don't take it to heart. Everyone in our social circle knows that your taste in jewelry is exceptional, and your family has a deep heritage with a genuine passion for collecting real antiques."

The moment Olivia stepped in to smooth things over, the dark scowl on Stephen’s face instantly softened. He shot a vicious, menacing glare at Ethan, who was hiding behind her, before masking his expression with what he thought was a gentlemanly smile. He turned to Olivia and said, "It seems you truly understand my tastes and hobbies, Olivia. Are you free this morning? My private gallery is just a short drive away. Let me personally take you there for a tour. It’ll be a great opportunity to broaden your horizons and help you clear your mind!"

"Thank you for your kindness, Young Master Stephen, but I have a lot of urgent corporate business to handle later, so I’m afraid I won't be able to make it. Furthermore, these two VIP tickets are far too valuable for me to accept. Thank you once again for your generosity."

"If you'll excuse me, I must leave now."

Olivia’s mind was stretched to its absolute limit. The deliberate cruelty of her family combined with the hypocritical socializing in front of her was suffocating her, and she didn't want to linger for even a single second longer. With that, she turned on her heel and walked briskly out of the corporate building.

"Olivia! Where are you going? I just picked up a brand-new, top-of-the-line Audi Q7. It’s parked right outside in the VIP space. I can take you out for a drive to help you blow off some steam." Stephen was clearly unwilling to give up so easily. He shouted after her, pointing at the luxury SUV gleaming under the sunlight, making a move to chase after her and keep badgering her.

"No, thank you. I have my own car!"

Olivia threw back a cold sentence, then abruptly spun around. Her exquisite face was flushed with anger as she snapped at Ethan, who was still casually strolling behind her, "What are you still standing there for?! Haven't you caused enough embarrassment inside and outside today?!"

"Oh... coming."

Ethan acted as though he had only just realized what was happening. He flashed a deeply mysterious smile at the distant, furious Stephen, before running over to the corner. He smoothly pulled out his keys and unlocked the cheap electric scooter parked by the curb.

"Clara, go ahead and attend Ivy’s concert tonight with Young Master Stephen. I won't be joining the crowd," Olivia instructed her best friend with a cold, detached tone before hopping onto the back seat of the scooter without another word. 

Ethan climbed onto the front, twisted the throttle, and drove her slowly away from the headquarters, leaving everyone behind to stare after them with a complex mixture of mockery and absolute bewilderment.

Along the road, the wind howled past their ears.

"I don't want to go home right now..."

Sitting on the back seat, Olivia bit her lower lip hard, her voice trembling with a tightly suppressed sense of grievance and tears. For so many years, for the sake of the Vance family’s business and profits, she had sacrificed countless hours of her personal life and youth. Yet, the moment a crisis hit, those flesh-and-blood relatives only thought about kicking her while she was down and plotting to throw her out like garbage.

To make matters worse, the husband sitting right in front of her was so utterly useless, capable of nothing more than getting into petty verbal spats with people. The mere thought of going home to face her mother Lillian’s endless, toxic, and sharp-tongued nagging and screaming made her feel completely dizzy.

At this very moment, she just wanted to find an absolutely quiet place where nobody knew her, just to sit alone for a while.

Through the rearview mirror, Ethan could clearly feel the profound despair and helplessness radiating from deep within Olivia. He fell silent for a moment, gripped the handlebars tighter, and said softly, "Alright, as you wish. I’ll take you somewhere."

Half an hour later, on the outskirts of the city.

This was a serene riverbank far removed from the city's noise. A century-old willow tree swayed gracefully in the breeze, its long, slender branches lightly brushing across the calm surface of the water.

Olivia had taken off her sunglasses, her breathtakingly beautiful features clouding over as her brows knitted tightly together. She sat down wearily on a clean, natural stone by the water.

She allowed the riverside breeze to repeatedly mess up her cascading, beautiful long hair, completely indifferent to it as her gaze turned hollow.

Her bright eyes stared blankly at the slowly flowing, shimmering river water before her. The blue sky reflected perfectly on the water’s surface, and the occasional dry willow leaf falling into the river, sending out tiny ripples, failed to disrupt her heavy thoughts.

Beside her, Ethan remained remarkably quiet. He didn't step forward to interrupt her solace, choosing instead to sit quietly on the grass. Every now and then, he would lean down, pick up a few smooth pebbles, and flick his wrist, skipping the stones far out into the middle of the river.

Watching the concentric circles ripple outward on the calm water, Ethan’s eyes grew deep and profound, seemingly calculating something of immense gravity.

After a long while, with nothing but the sound of the wind and the flowing water around them, Olivia finally shifted her rigid body. She parted her lips slightly, turned her head, and looked at Ethan with a complex gaze mixed with confusion, scrutiny, and a strange sense of unfamiliarity, asking softly:

"What... is wrong with you today? Why do you seem so completely different from before?"