Chubby Mommy: Scheming Daddy, Surrender Now!-Chapter 119: Irreparable Fractures

Even Americans probably wouldn’t choose to honeymoon in Novaniel. Ethan Sterling’s words, sure enough, can’t be trusted.

After a long flight, when Ruby Sullivan arrived at the hotel, she just wanted to take a hot shower and go to sleep. She had just taken off her clothes when Ethan Sterling entered the bathroom. "Together?"

Ruby was momentarily taken aback. Although they had been intimate countless times, it still felt a bit unnatural. She turned her back to him and replied with feigned nonchalance, "Sure."

Ethan had already taken off his tank top, revealing his well-toned upper body, "I’m tired too, just thought we’d save some time."

Actually, he wanted her to see the results of his exercises over the past few days, but she didn’t seem interested.

Seeing her back turned to him, he added, "If you don’t like it, I can wait."

"No problem, I also want to sleep early." Ruby said as she stepped into the circular bathtub and turned on the shower.

Soon, she felt Ethan hugging her from behind. His body was somewhat warm, but his hands stayed respectfully around her waist.

He took a deep breath, his head rested on her shoulder, and whispered in her ear, "I thought of many places you might like, but in the end decided to come to Novaniel with you. I think, no place would make you happier than seeing your father."

Ruby frowned.

His deep voice was very seductive, just the timbre she liked. Every time he whispered in her ear like this, it made her heart race and her resistance crumble, as if no matter what he said, she’d believe him. But after all, she was no longer that naive girl; when the passion faded, she’d assess the truth of his words.

So when she heard him mention her dad, it made her heart ache.

She always felt she had dragged her dad down. If she hadn’t insisted on marrying Ethan, if she hadn’t been useless in maintaining her marriage, perhaps her dad wouldn’t be in this state.

She didn’t want to confront him at such a time, lacking energy and necessity. She quickly rinsed off the soap and left the bathroom.

Ethan watched her leave with a heavy heart.

Lately, he’s been wanting to hold this woman tightly. Yet, every time he hugged her tightly, he feared that the next moment she’d turn and walk away, leaving him unable to hold onto her.

Ethan didn’t know when he started to care about her this much. Was it when Leon Sterling expressed desire to steal her away or when he learned she was indeed Ruby Sullivan?

When he dried his hair and came out, she seemed to have fallen asleep, still facing away from him.

Ethan wanted, as usual, to turn her shoulders around, but today, looking at her back, he suddenly felt that doing it every time was so pointless.

He didn’t understand what love was, but he knew that a woman needing effort and uncertainty to keep wasn’t likely to be his, just like those deals destined not to close, or partners impossible to collaborate with.

He turned off the bedside lamp, tucked the quilt, and slowly closed his eyes.

At that moment, Ruby turned over, resting her foot atop his. In the dark, he heard her yawn and murmur, "Goodnight."

Ethan was taken aback, then replied "Goodnight," lowering his hands that were crossed in front of him to hold hers.

He didn’t even realize it, but his lips curled upward, his breath lighter.

The next day, they went to the hospital where Brandon Sullivan was staying.

Brandon was well cared for here; every day, a nurse used professional equipment to give him a full-body massage to prevent muscle atrophy, truly worth the high daily costs.

The attending doctor’s assessment wasn’t much different from those back in their country. Brandon’s condition wasn’t without hope of waking, but it required family members to stay by his side and chat with him. Although each day a specialized nurse would read him the news or tell stories, considering Brandon barely understood English, it was almost pointless.

But given the current circumstances, Ruby simply couldn’t stay in Meridia with Brandon.

"Would you consider transferring dad back to the home country? It might make visiting him more convenient for you." Ethan proposed. 𝓯𝓻𝓮𝙚𝙬𝓮𝙗𝒏𝙤𝒗𝙚𝙡.𝒄𝒐𝓶

Ruby sat by the bedside, looking at her dad. He seemed to be sleeping, and his complexion appeared better than hers despite her continuous overtime and adjusting to the time zone, as if she could wake him up just by calling his name a few more times.

"No need, I finally had Nathaniel find this hospital, bringing him back would be wasted efforts, wouldn’t it? Besides, I’m so busy with work now, I don’t have time to regularly accompany him." Ruby held her father’s hand, hoping he would hear these words and not blame her.

These words were for Ethan, as she dared not bring dad back.

Even though Rhonda Sullivan consistently controlled the company, her shares couldn’t be transferred to Ethan without dad’s signature, so Rhonda remained a shareholder of The Sullivan Group. Though Ethan could force the company’s stock down to make Rhonda’s shares worthless, if one didn’t want to turn The Sullivan Group into an empty shell and start anew, they’d have to wait for Brandon to wake up and sign.

Ruby couldn’t rule out Ethan’s underlying motives in suggesting bringing dad back.

She no longer wanted to find herself in a destitute situation; at least with dad staying here, she could take him away if necessary, outside Ethan’s control.

After speaking, she got up, "Let’s go. I’ve never been to Novaniel before. Aren’t you familiar with this place? Show me around."

Ethan assumed it was because she wanted to avoid the sadness of seeing her father this way, so he nodded and led her out of the hospital.

He didn’t know that Ruby was merely diverting the conversation due to her distrust of him.

For half the day, Ethan took Ruby to various famous attractions, snapping tourist photos, and then led her to his favorite three-star Michelin for a candlelit dinner.

Though nothing novel nor particularly arranged, the flickering candlelight and precisely orchestrated violin accompaniment, paired with wine and rich cheese dishes, still made Ruby feel intoxicated without needing drinks.

Ruby swirled her wine glass, smiling as if immersed in a beautiful dream. She truly wished she was still that naive chubby girl, because if she were, sitting here now, she’d probably faint from happiness.

But the current her could only smile.

Watching her, Ethan swirled his wine glass, smiling, "Ruby, I brought you here this time just to tell you that I will make up for all the things you should’ve experienced long ago."

Ruby’s eyes were a bit hazy, pursing her lips in contemplation for a while, unable to find the right words, so she simply said, "Thank you."

Make-up, how was he going to make up for them? Her son was lost, would merely giving her another sperm count as compensation? Then... what about her youth and innocence?

When Rachel Lawson asked her to give him more time, she had wanted to say she used to know how to love deeply, willing to give everything for the person she loved. But thanks to him, she couldn’t be that brave and fearless anymore.