Chapter 466 Drinking Together
That night, Ethan and Jessie crashed at Gerald's place.
During dinner, Gerald and Jared were knocking back drinks like there was no tomorrow. Emily and Jessie just watched them go at it, not even trying to stop them.
Ethan, though? Dude was like a tank. No matter how much he drank, he was totally fine, so Jessie didn't sweat it.
Once they were stuffed, Gerald and Jared hit the sack. Emily, after tidying up, awkwardly approached Ethan and Jessie and said, "Hey guys, there are only two rooms left. You two can take one, and I'll crash on the couch."
"No way. You should bunk with my mom. I'm too old to be sharing a room with her anyway. You two take the room, and I'll just sleep in the car," Ethan quickly shook his head and refused.
Emily tried to argue, but Jessie backed him up. She knew Ethan well enough to know that missing a night's sleep wouldn't faze him, given his Half-Step Grandmaster skills.
After Emily and Jessie went to bed, Ethan slipped out of the house but didn't head to the car. Instead, he made a beeline for Curtis's place.
In two days, he was heading back to the Wilson Villa, and he and Jessie had to be back in Novaria by tomorrow. Tonight, he had to sort things out between Curtis and Jessie. He didn't want Jessie leaving with any regrets.
"Bradley, spill it. You really didn't get mixed up with Jimmy, did you? Were you involved in any of his shady stuff?" Michelle asked anxiously in Bradley's room.
"Mom, I swear, I had no clue what Jimmy was up to. I was just helping him run the company. I had no idea he was into that stuff. I got played, big time," Bradley, still shaken, replied. The day's events had clearly rattled him.
"You better not be lying to me. Otherwise, no one can save you. Do you know this has already caught the governor of Novaria's attention? They're investigating now," Michelle reminded him, still worried.
"This really has nothing to do with me. If it did, would Ethan have let me come back?" Bradley's eyes showed a flash of fear when he mentioned Ethan. To him, Ethan was like a walking death sentence.
"You're right. Did he really say he'd let you go?" Michelle sighed in relief.
"If he didn't, do you think I'd be here?" Bradley said, feeling wronged.
"Then what the hell is Curtis thinking? Why wouldn't he acknowledge such a powerful nephew? Jessie and Ethan clearly came back to reconnect with the family. What could people like them want from us? If we could get in good with them, our family could really take off." Michelle complained, feeling resentful towards Curtis.
"Mom, I think Dad's right. People like them are way out of our league," Bradley said, still deeply intimidated by Ethan, who had almost become his worst nightmare.
"You just don't get it. Ethan's all about family, you can tell by how far he went for Jared. If Curtis acknowledges them, we'd have some serious backup, and no one would mess with us," Michelle said, almost exasperated with Bradley, who usually had her back but now seemed to be siding with Curtis.
Curtis, clueless about Michelle and Bradley's chat, was sitting alone in the courtyard, sipping his drink in silence.
Under the dim streetlight at the gate, a shadow stretched into the courtyard, making Curtis frown.
When he looked up and saw the figure standing outside the iron gate, his face twisted into a mix of emotions.
"Drinking alone, huh?" Ethan asked, flashing a faint smile at Curtis.
Curtis, stunned for a few seconds, didn't say a word or open the door for Ethan. He just kept drinking like Ethan wasn't even there.
After a while, not hearing any movement from Ethan, Curtis glanced at the gate again, only to find it empty. Ethan was gone.
Curtis walked to the gate, looked around, but still didn't see Ethan. He sighed, his face a mix of confusion and relief.
Just as Curtis turned to sit back down, he was shocked to see Ethan strolling out of his house, holding a bottle of wine he had snagged from the village store.
"Couldn't resist seeing you drink. Hope you don't mind me grabbing a bottle," Ethan said with a grin, plopping down on a nearby chair and taking a sip.
Curtis was stunned for a long moment before snapping out of it.
"How'd you get in?" Curtis asked, surprised.
"Not to brag, but your little courtyard isn't exactly Fort Knox. Are you really planning to shut your nephew out?" Ethan raised an eyebrow, smiling.
Curtis fell silent. He had indeed wanted to send Ethan packing, but hearing Ethan call himself his nephew made him pause.
"I've only been back with my mom for less than two months," Ethan suddenly said after a long silence.
"What do you mean?" Curtis was puzzled.
"My mom was missing for a long time, and my dad's still MIA. For a few years, I felt like an orphan," Ethan explained casually, taking another sip of wine.
"How did your mom go missing?" Curtis hesitated for a moment before sitting down in front of Ethan with a chair.
Ethan smiled. "Let's have a drink first, and I'll tell you the whole story."
Curtis hesitated, looked at his bottle, then at the one Ethan handed him, and finally clinked bottles with Ethan before taking a swig.
Ethan took a sip. "You've always been thinking about my mom, haven't you?"
"Is there any point in talking about this now? Do you know how long I waited for her? I always thought she'd come back, but I didn't expect to wait for twenty years," Curtis said in a muffled voice.
"She wanted to come back, but in the first few years, my dad's health went downhill, and she had to stay by his side to take care of him. There are some things I don't know how to explain to you, but she really had her reasons," Ethan said after a moment of silence, sighing bitterly.
"You said your mom and dad both went missing. What happened?" Curtis asked, frowning.
Ethan broke it down in simpler terms, knowing Curtis, an ordinary guy, might struggle to grasp the whole Wilson family drama.
After hearing Ethan's story, Curtis fell into a long silence.
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