Chubby Mommy: Scheming Daddy, Surrender Now!-Chapter 366: The Ruse of Self-Injury

After dinner, Ethan Sterling called Seth Sterling into the room, "Shall we talk?"

Seth furrowed his brows and reluctantly sat on the bed, tilting his head to look at him, "Mom said you should have a good night’s sleep."

"So...what else did Mom say?"

Seth furrowed his brows even tighter and said impatiently, "Didn’t I already tell you? She also said the work over there is very..."

"Stop!" Ethan squinted, "Is there anything else?"

Seth raised a single eyebrow, scrutinizing his father’s face. That suspicious little glance bore an uncanny resemblance to Ethan’s, making the real Ethan feel somewhat uncomfortable.

Seth pulled his legs up onto the bed and squinted his eyes, "Dad, did you and Mom have a fight?"

In fact, he had long suspected it. He just hadn’t found the opportunity to confront either of them, and besides, he felt that even if there was a real fight, since they were deliberately hiding it, it was definitely not something he and Honey could intervene in. Now, seeing Dad’s guilty look, he had serious doubts that his father with a shady history had done something to let Mom down again, causing her to leave on a business trip the day before coming home.

Ethan felt even more uncomfortable being scrutinized by his son’s thieving gaze. After pondering for a moment, he decided to talk to his son about it.

Not a word could be disclosed to his daughter, but given the urgency of the situation, if he could get his son on board as a mediator, it would undoubtedly boost his chances.

But the real reason must not be revealed to his son.

He thought for a moment before speaking, "I didn’t have a fight with Mom, but we had a disagreement on something very important, so...so Mom doesn’t want to live with me anymore."

"What brainless thing did you do again?" Seth crossed his arms in front of his chest, rolling his eyes, expressing his disdain.

Ethan’s temple twitched, staring at the boy’s disdainful look, feeling quite displeased, but then again realizing his son wasn’t wrong.

Ultimately, it was because he wasn’t trustworthy enough, causing her to choose avoidance at the first moment.

He sighed, "Do you still want Mom?"

Seth glanced at him, "To be precise, do you still want your wife? Both Honey and my custody belong to Mom. You haven’t remarried her yet. At most, your current relationship is that of a couple breaking up. Even if I have to worry, it would be about not having a dad."

Of course, he wasn’t very worried about it.

Ethan’s temple twitched again, "Since when did you become so talkative?"

"Growing up with a sister like Honey, how can you be a good brother without good communication skills?" Seth shook his head, feeling his dad was being overly dramatic, had to correct, "Furthermore, I’ve always had excellent communication skills, I just disdain talking to you."

Back at home, other than his dad who always wore a frosty expression, there was Rhonda Sullivan who kept giving him fake smiles, so he naturally didn’t want to waste his breath. But now, things are different.

Ethan took a deep breath and went straight to the point, "So will you help me?"

"How to help?"

"A desperate measure."

Then, Ethan explained his plan to his son in detail.

*

Ruby Sullivan had just gotten out of the car when she heard a soft yet familiar voice, "Mom!"

She turned around to see her son sprinting towards her.

He was wearing a thin puffer jacket, looking a bit plump, and he was extremely adorable as he ran.

Ruby Sullivan didn’t have time to think much, quickly opened her arms to catch her son. She squatted down, rubbing Seth’s red little face, and all the longing from the past few days surged up, giving him a hard kiss first.

"Sweetie, Mommy missed you so much."

Sasha Shaw also stepped out of the car, touched by the mother-son meeting scene. She felt Ruby Sullivan would likely be moving out of her house.

"I’ll head off now."

Ruby nodded, then suddenly remembered to look down the direction her son had come from, only to see Old Black standing there.

"Why aren’t you at school?" Ruby lovingly rubbed her son’s little face, unable to get enough of it.

His presence here meant he must have already known she was lying about the business trip, so she only felt guilty for a moment before accepting it calmly.

Her son was an understanding person; with a good explanation, he’d sympathize with his mom.

Seth pulled his mom’s paws off him because they were making it difficult for him to speak, "Mom, Dad has a high fever and keeps calling your name. I know Dad is a fool and must have done something to upset you again, but seeing that he’s really sick, please go back and see him."

Seth said, dropping golden beans, his soft little face instantly breaking into tears.

Ruby found herself in a dilemma. No wonder her son skipped school to find her. If it had been anyone else telling her this, she could harden her heart, but with her son saying it, she couldn’t bear it; she didn’t want him to think she was a heartless mom.

"Has your dad seen a doctor?"

Seth shook his head, "Dad refuses to see a doctor or take medicine. The medicine Mama Bennett brought in was all smashed by him. By morning, he was talking all muddled, just calling your name. Mom, if you don’t go back, Dad will really become a fool from the fever."

Seth grew more and more upset as he spoke.

Ruby felt her nose sting from what she saw, quickly pulled her son into an embrace, patting his back, "Alright, alright, Mommy’s going back with you now, don’t cry anymore, or you won’t look handsome." She coaxed her son for a while, took out tissues to wipe his tears and snot, and led him to The Sterling Family’s car.

Ruby called Zoe from the car, explaining she had something to attend to today.

Zoe’s proposal for the affordable perfume series had already passed, recently she was completing her assistant duties while working under Ruby’s guidance to craft a new fragrance, so Ruby’s absence wouldn’t leave her without work today.

*

When she walked in the door, Mama Bennett looked as if she’d seen a savior, "Miss Ruby, you finally came back. Ethan’s fever has reached 38.9 degrees and he still refuses to take medicine. It’s really driving me crazy."

"Got it." Ruby replied blandly, taking off her wool coat, and quickly walked towards the bedroom.

Seth saw Mama Bennett about to follow and quickly tugged her arm, "Mom can handle it."

Mama Bennett furrowed her brow in confusion.

"If you go, you’ll just be a third wheel." Seth explained and released her arm, turning to go back to studying in his room.

Ruby stepped into the room and was somewhat frightened by the sight of Ethan on the bed.

His face was stark white, stubbly, with big dark circles around his eyes, and his chapped lips were crusted, seeming much thinner than a few days ago when they had last met, with hollows under his eyes appearing deeper than before.

As she walked closer, she saw cold sweat on his forehead and the tip of his nose, his whole body curled up under the quilt, seemingly shivering.

Upon hearing footsteps, Ethan furrowed his brow, "Leave."

"Are you sure?" Ruby raised an eyebrow.

Ethan slowly opened his eyes, "Am I... hallucinating?"

"I doubt it." Ruby reached out to feel his forehead, finding it burning hot. She cut the chatter, prepared the medicine, and poured a cup of warm water from the cold water bottle, "Take these."

Ethan immediately sat up, opening his mouth with a "feed me" gesture.

Ruby knew this rascal was doing it on purpose, so she kept her face cold and pushed the pills into his mouth, pressing them hard enough for his lips to turn red.

Mr. Sterling seemed not to feel any pain, just watched her with a goofy grin.

Ruby handed him the water, inwardly wondering if the fever had really made him stupid.

In the next second, Ethan abruptly swallowed down five or six sugar-coated and non-sugar-coated pills, grabbing her into his arms and lowering his head to kiss her lips.

Ruby was startled, splashing the water in the cup all over the blanket, yet Ethan remained unmoved, just recklessly biting at her lips.