My Amnesic Ex Married My Sister, So I Married His Uncle-Chapter 50: The Girl Rhodes Has Thought of for Many Years
Ethan Rhodes turned around and, sure enough, Kiana Sterling was walking toward him.
He felt an inexplicable wave of annoyance. For some reason, he really didn’t want to see her right now.
Faye Rhodes brushed past Kiana Sterling. Kiana smiled, about to greet her, but Faye didn’t even spare her a glance.
Ethan Rhodes closed his eyes, pinching the bridge of his nose as he sat down on a nearby seat.
Kiana Sterling walked to his side, her delicate fingers gently massaging his temples. "Tired?"
Without opening his eyes, Ethan Rhodes just grunted in response.
"Then let’s head back and get some rest. The party’s ending anyway."
Ethan’s tone was flat. "Okay. You head back first. I need to stop by the office." He added, "I haven’t finished my work in Veridia, and I have to rush back tomorrow. You should go home and rest. Have the driver take you."
As he spoke, Ethan gently nudged Kiana toward the exit.
Kiana detected the impatience and dismissiveness in his tone.
Her expression faltered. She stopped and turned back to look at Ethan, her eyes welling up with tears.
"Ethan, are you mad at me because of what happened tonight?" 𝘧𝘳𝘦ℯ𝓌𝘦𝒷𝘯𝑜𝑣𝘦𝓁.𝒸𝘰𝓂
Ethan looked at Kiana’s tearful eyes, but the image of another pair of eyes kept flashing through his mind.
He seemed to zone out for a moment. Kiana caught it instantly and pressed him in a soft voice, "Ethan, you were spacing out. What are you thinking about?"
Ethan snapped out of it, suddenly feeling emotionally drained.
He sighed. "You’re reading too much into it. I’m just tired. Work has been intense lately, and I haven’t been sleeping well. Don’t worry about it."
He’d said a lot, yet not a single word had directly answered her two questions.
Kiana secretly clenched her fists. "Ethan, if you’re angry about tonight, I’m sorry. I only get like this because I care about you so much."
As she spoke, she gently wrapped her arms around his shoulders. "Ethan, I love you so much. You’re the reason for everything I do. Please don’t be mad at me, okay?"
A tremor went through Ethan, and he hugged her back. "I love you too. It’s getting late. Your health is delicate, and you’ve had a long day, so go home and get some rest. I’ll finish up at the office as soon as I can and come home to you, okay?"
Kiana nodded obediently, pulled away from his embrace, and gave him a soft kiss. "Come back soon."
The moment she turned away, all the warmth vanished from her eyes.
...
「In the parking lot.」
Silas Jacobs had a cigarette dangling from his lips, one hand braced on the roof of a car as he peered toward the parking lot entrance.
He and Ariana Grant had made plans to grab a drink, but Ariana was worried about Stella Sterling and said she wanted to check on her first.
He hadn’t even finished his cigarette before he saw her approaching from the entrance.
Silas Jacobs raised a hand and gestured. "Over here."
The two of them then headed to the Qillian Club.
The music on the first floor was deafening. Silas Jacobs and Ariana Grant found a booth.
Ariana Grant scanned the menu and ordered everything she felt like drinking in one go.
When it came to someone like Silas Jacobs, Ariana Grant had met her match. They were two peas in a pod.
Both were seasoned pros when it came to bars, and they knew how to have a wild time.
Before long, the two had become "bosom buddies."
Ariana slid a depth charge across the table and cut right to the chase. "So, what’s Owen Rhodes like?"
Silas Jacobs raised an eyebrow. "What’s this? Vetting him for your best friend?"
"Yeah. Got a problem with that?"
Silas clinked his glass against hers. "Loyal to a fault, aren’t we, Miss Ariana? So, what’s the verdict? What’re you going to do if he doesn’t pass muster?"
A smirk played on Ariana Grant’s lips. "I’ll kill him."
Silas Jacobs’s eyebrow shot up, and he let out a long, low whistle in her direction.
Silas Jacobs might have been a screw-up most of the time, but he grew serious when talking about this.
"Rhodes is a good man. Someone you can rely on. He’s not a degenerate like me, always out on the town. The guy’s a total bore. You bring him to a bar and he has no idea what to do, you know? You, Miss Ariana, you’re more my speed."
Their glasses clinked again. "Why thank you for the compliment, President Jacobs."
Now that the ice was broken, Ariana didn’t hold back. "Tell me more. That girl, Stella, has no clue how to be in a relationship. I’m gathering intel for her."
And with that, Silas Jacobs opened the floodgates.
It was just that Owen Rhodes’s life was incredibly dull. In school, it was all work and studying. Now that he was working, it was all work and more work.
There wasn’t much else to tell.
Still, Silas added loyally, "But Rhodes is a clean guy. I can guarantee that."
Ariana shot back brazenly, "How can you guarantee that? Have you tried him out yourself?"
Silas was even more shameless. "I wanted to, but I failed. If I’d succeeded, he wouldn’t be clean anymore, would he?"
Speaking of which, Silas started worrying like a mother hen again. "Ah, Rhodes... he’s just *too* clean. You don’t think... after all these years of disuse... his equipment might be broken, do you?"
Ariana recalled her previous phone call with Stella Sterling, and her expression turned serious.
"I don’t know if it’s broken or not, but I do know that Rhodes of yours is still a virgin. He’s not gay, is he? I will not let my Stella Sterling be some guy’s beard!"
The two were seasoned drinkers, their tolerance for alcohol about equal.
After a few more drinks, Silas wasn’t drunk, but he was definitely buzzed.
And when he got buzzed, his mouth got loose.
"No way. I can guarantee that. He’s straight. Straight as an arrow."
Silas Jacobs leaned in close, glass in hand, and lowered his voice. "Ariana, I’m only telling you this, so you can’t tell anyone else."
’Ariana?’
’He certainly made himself at home quickly.’
Ariana shot him a cold glance, but decided to let it slide until after she got her information.
"Go on."
"Rhodes has been in love with a girl for many, many years. Pined for her forever. She’s the reason he worked so hard to get where he is now, so that Old Man Rhodes couldn’t control who he married. I just don’t know who the girl is. Rhodes doesn’t drink, so he’s hopelessly tight-lipped."
Ariana Grant’s brow furrowed, and she scoffed. "Do all you men have to have some ’white moonlight’ you can’t get over?"
Silas held up his hands in surrender. "Not me, at least. I can’t stand that ’one true love’ bullshit."
Ariana smiled. "Same here."
After finishing her drink, Ariana was no longer smiling. She stood up and left before Silas could even try to stop her.
He let out a drunken burp and suddenly remembered what Ariana had said about Owen Rhodes still being a virgin.
’What the hell? The guy’s been married for this long and he’s still a virgin?’
Silas felt a surge of exasperation for his friend.
He pulled out his phone and fired off a cloud drive link to Owen Rhodes.
"Study up. Don’t go out there and embarrass me."
Thirty seconds later, a reply from R: "Fuck off."
Silas Jacobs: "Rhodes, be honest. Is it not working anymore? We can’t just ignore the problem, man."
Ten minutes passed with no response from Owen Rhodes.
Silas Jacobs: "Say something!!!"
A bright red exclamation point popped up on the screen: [R has enabled friend verification. You are not on their friends list. Send a friend request to chat.]
Silas Jacobs: "...Son of a bitch!"
Just then, Ariana Grant returned. "Give me Owen Rhodes’s phone number."
