Chapter69
Around the round table, the family was lively and noisy.
Ellsworth occasionally picked up food for Harriet, and Harriet politely thanked him.
Sitting nearby, Kathie watched the scene and felt there was something fishy between the two.
Across from Harriet, Patsy watched the scene with great
satisfaction, thinking the two of them would never separate.
After nine o’clock, dinner was over. The elders were chatting,
and Ellsworth received a work call, which he took outside in the
yard.
Harriet and Kathie were still sitting on the living room sofa,
chatting.
The two sat shoulder to shoulder. Kathie ate potato chips, her
eyes on her phone, but out of the corner of her eye, she looked
at Harriet and asked, “Hara, what’s going on with you and Ells? I
saw him pick up food for you several times tonight.”
Peeling an orange, Harriet smiled faintly and said, “With so
many people at home, he has to put on a show, make it look
good.”
Ellsworth did pick up food for her tonight, and he took care of her when she was sick, but that couldn’t make her forget how he shook off her hand when he saw Kelsey.
Hearing this, Kathie suddenly understood, “That’s true. My parents and grandparents have been watching closely lately.”
Harriet just smiled and said nothing more. She didn’t mention what happened at the meeting, nor how he shook off her hand,
or the lipstick mark on his shirt.
At this point, none of it mattered anymore.
***
Meanwhile, outside in the yard.
Ellsworth had just finished his call when Kenneth came out of
the villa.
Moonlight spilled over the yard, making it especially bright. The
flowers and plants around were full of life.
Seeing Kenneth come out, Ellsworth put his phone back in his
Chaptere
pocket and greeted him with a smile: “Bro.”
Kenneth walked over, not beating around the bush, and got straight to the point: “What’s going on with you and Hara? Planning to get a divorce?”
The yard light cast long shadows of the two men. Hearing this, Ellsworth immediately laughed and said nonchalantly, “Nothing
like that.”
Kenneth frowned and looked at him. “Then why did Hara say
that after you’re done with work, you’ll go handle the
paperwork?”
Hearing this, Ellsworth laughed even more.
After laughing, he took out a cigarette and a lighter from his
pocket, looked at Kenneth, and asked, “Bro, do you smoke?”
Kenneth replied righteously, “I don’t smoke.”
Since Kenneth said he didn’t smoke, Ellsworth shook a cigarette
out of the pack and bit it between his own lips.
Shielding the wind, Ellsworth lit the cigarette, took a deep drag, and then, with a hint of roguishness, sat lazily on the bench
behind him.
Chapters
His legs spread loosely, head tilted back slightly, he blew a faint
smoke ring toward the sky and said with a smile, “If I didn’t fool
her like this, wouldn’t she pester me every day?”
Before Kenneth could speak, Ellsworth flicked the ash from his
cigarette and said calmly, “Never thought about divorce. I
promised Grandpa I’d marry her, so I never considered it.
Besides, the Ells family doesn’t have that kind of tradition.”
After hearing this, Kenneth sat down beside him and looked at
him. “If you never thought about divorce, then what do you call
these past three years?”
Ellsworth just smiled at that, took another drag, and fell silent.
The night was very quiet. The two brothers sat side by side on
the bench. It had been a long time since they had talked like
this.
After a long silence, Ellsworth spoke gently: “I thought she was
simple, pure. I was wrong about her.”
Kenneth found it odd. “How is Hara not simple? How is she not
pure?”
Since Kenneth asked, Ellsworth didn’t hide it and said bluntly,
“Back then, Grandpa actually wanted to set you up with her. Bro,
(hapter
you turned him down, didn’t you?”
The two brothers had always been close, so Ellsworth didn’t beat around the bush. He figured Kenneth had seen through it long ago, which was why he didn’t agree, and the matter ended
up falling to him.
Ellsworth’s words almost made Kenneth laugh. He said,
“Grandpa wanted to set me up with Hara because it’s hard to find a partner in the army. I turned him down because Hara
liked you. She was more suited to you.”
“Liked me?” Ellsworth laughed. “Ken, there’s no one else here.
You don’t have to save my pride. She gave that impression
because she didn’t want to go to the army with you. She wanted
to join the company. What she wanted was very
straightforward.”
Hearing Ellsworth say this, Kenneth understood.
He thought Harriet was after the Townsend family’s wealth and
power.
