Chapter three

Ethan

I tapped on the steering wheel and stared at the house my mother lives in. My car was parked a far distance away, but I could still see the looming building perfectly.

Several thoughts ran through my mind, most of which were about going into that house to see my mother, but the one that stood out was about a certain ex-girlfriend.

It's been three days since Heather came to inspect the apartment and she hasn't shown any interest in renting it. Not that I was concerned about it.

I wasn't some creepy man who still stalks his ex after years of breakup. I meant it when I said I wanted to end the weird tension between us.

I'd overhead Oliver asking Xavier for help finding an apartment for her and offered to rent out my apartment to her. Fortunately, the tenant who used to live in the place moved in with her boyfriend. I didn't know much about her, only that she was a high paying model and her boyfriend was some shitty singer.

I don't concern myself with the life of my tenants except what was required for me to know.

It took a while to convince Oliver and his wife to recommend the apartment to Heather without revealing my identity. I knew she wouldn't show up if she knew I owned it. But I guess it was all for nothing since she didn't end up taking it anyway.

A knock on my window forced me out of my thoughts. I wind down my car window and scoffed when I saw who it was.

“Took you long enough.”

“Try leaving a board meeting in the middle of striking a deal before you complain.” Xavier scoffed and slid into the car seat.

Xavier, Oliver, and I have been friends since…well, forever. Honestly, I forgot how the three of us became so close. Oliver is my cousin so how close friendship was inevitable. Our mothers were practically joined at the hip.

And Xavier, I like to think we kidnapped him and put a gun to his head before he agreed to become friends. Like Oliver, Xavier was closed off as hell.

“You know, they have these little devices now. It's called a phone. You use it to call someone or send them a text if you were going to be late.” I drawled.

“You should be happy I showed up at all.”

“Fun. All it took for you to agree was information about a certain minister in trouble and his estate potentially going up for sale.” I said, my tone laced with sarcasm.

As the only fun one in the friend group, I knew all of their weaknesses, just Incase I need a leverage against them. Like right now.

Xavier Carson had a real estate company. Hearing about people's property being sold was like porn for him. Finding out about the minister was a bit difficult as they kept all information tightly under wrap. But you could find anything on the internet if you knew where to look.

“I still don't understand why you asked me to come with you to see your mother.”

I turned on the ignition and drove towards the house. I saw Xavier's car parked behind mine in the rearview mirror.

“Because Oliver and Dallas are still on their honeymoon, and I don't want to suffer through family dinner alone. Also, I need a reason to leave early.”

“Do I even wanna know why you need to leave early?” he asked.

“Depends. I have a ‘thing’ tonight with–”

“Argh! Stop. I don't want to hear about your sex life. Please.” He gagged.

I wished he knew how wrong he was. I've been dying to tell someone about this secret for almost two years now. It was probably for the best if they all thought I was having another of my sex escapades. Everything was already too complicated as it is.

“Don't be a prude, Carson. Your sex life is basically non-existent. I'm giving you the opportunity to listen to great sex and you still complain. Talk about being grateful.” I scoffed.

“My sex life is not non-existent, and it's none of your business.” He glanced out of the window, a faint colour staining his cheeks. “And I have a fiancee. At least, I'm not at risk of contacting a deadly sexual disease.”

“Righttt.” I chuckled.

Xavier has been engaged for as long as we could all remember, but the marriage doesn't seem to be happening anytime soon. None of us talk about it, of course, but we all know it. There was no love lost between Xavier and his fiancee.

I parked the car in front of my mother's house and threw the keys to the valet. Every thoughts I'd ignored until now swam back into my mind, but I pushed them back again.

Xavier and I walked into the house. I could hear their chatters coming from the dining area. My mother was sitting across her husband, giggling at something my aunt said. They looked so happy that I almost felt guilty for what I was doing behind their backs. Almost.

It was guaranteed to ruin our family if they ever found out, but I was in too deep anyway. It was too late to back out.

Sam was the one that noticed us first.

“Ethan, why are you standing over there? Come sit with us.”

I plastered a fake smile on and strode towards them. My mother stood up and came to give Xavier and me a hug. It was suffocating as hell but I smiled through it. I couldn't let her sense anything amiss.

Things were just starting to go back to normal between us after our fight about a year and a half ago. The reason for that fight was currently grinning at me like he was happy to see me.

Sam walked up to us and patted me on the back.

“Welcome home, son.”

I bit back the urge to tell me not to call me his son. I had been insisting on it since they got married and he still refused to listen. I think he just called me his son to annoy me.

I gave him a tight smile and strode to my aunt. After all the pleasantries we're exchanged, we settled down for food.

The tension at the table was so thick that you could cut through it. No one wanted to break the silence but we were all clearly uncomfortable by it.

“I thought this was a family dinner. Yet you brought a stranger and Gina's kid isn't here.” Sam started.

My mother elbowed her husband gently, but he was either extremely clueless or he just didn't care. I was certain it was the latter. Sam Chen was definitely not a stupid man.

Regina exhaled shakily. Like me, she couldn't stand Sam. It wasn't exactly shocking. My aunt didn't like most people. Oliver got that from her. But she's always made exception for my mother's husbands. Sam was the only one she seem to dislike a lot.

“It's Regina.” She seethed. “And my son is still on honeymoon with his wife. They sent their regards. And as far as Xavier is concerned, he's much more family to me than you.”

“Hee-Joo!” My mum snapped. It was enough proof that this dinner had already gone to shit. They only call each other their Korean names when they were pissed.

If I didn't intervene soon, Korean insults would start flying across the table, ruining dinner and any family occasion for the next few months.

“Mum, remember that event you were telling me about, how was it?”

I couldn't recall what she'd been talking about that day. I just had to say something to stop the fight from breaking out.

Thankfully, she turned away from her sister and smiled at me.

“Yeah, the Broadway Charity Gala. The Darlingtons are hosting it this year at the Valhalla club. They wanted me to help them with preparations. Would you be attending?”

The Broadway Charity Gala was held every year and rotated between prominent families. It was a chance for all the rich and powerful to flaunt their wealth in the name of charity.

I didn't care much for it, I rarely attend the event. I knew she was only asking me because she was involved in the preparation. It doesn't look good if I didn't attend.

“Uhm…actually, I don't think I'll go. I have this company event I need to attend to that day.”

“Oh!” she said, her face fell.

“What company event will stop you from coming to support your mother?” Piece-of-shit Sam said.

“The kind that made me the CEO of one of the top security agency in the country.” I retorted. I was fed up with his bullshit.

Regina coughed, a clear attempt to hide her laughter, while Xavier didn't bother to hide his smug grin. My mum and her husband didn't look so amused.

When I sensed she was about to reprimand me, I stood up and said,

“Thank you for dinner, Mum, but I have to get going now. Xavier and I have some business to attend to.” I gave her and Regina a kiss on the cheek and quickly rushed out of there.

“CEO of top security agency, huh? Who are you and what have you done to the carefree Ethan?” Xavier snorted when we got back to the car.

“That man just get on my nerves.” I scoffed.

“Well, I've got some news that would definitely brighten your sour mood.” he said.

I glanced at him to see a wicked grin on his face. I arched an eyebrow in question.

“It's about Heather.”