Chapter 15 Ethan’s Request

“Yes, of course. Could it be that I’m lying to you?” George laughed aloud heartily and said, “Tell me, what is your request?” Ethan sniggered twice. Looking toward Faye, he got down on one knee and shouted aloud, “Mr. Carter, I have only one request. I hope that Mr. Carter is willing to betroth Faye to me!” His voice echoed through the entire room, reverberating in the air. Everyone could feel the longing in his heart. Faye’s charming face blushed scarlet at once. Ethan’s actions threw her into a flurry of panic, and she was at a loss as to what to do. Frankly, Ethan had been pursuing her for many years. She never had feelings for Ethan, and the most she could say was that she found him tolerable. Nevertheless, after witnessing Ethan doing everything he could to save Thomas from Adrian two days ago, she was touched. Any woman would fall for a powerful, masculine man. Ethan’s strength gave her a sense of security that she had never experienced before. Conversely, Zayn was far worse, and favorable impressions were often born out of comparison. Zayn’s expression darkened instantly. Ethan had simply gone too far in bullying others! He had actually declared his intentions in front of Zayn, so it was obvious that he had no respect for him! Everyone looked toward Zayn all at once. Their eyes were filled with schadenfreude and mockery. It was as if they were looking at a clown. He clenched his fists tightly. His eyes were widened to their limit, and his chest was filled with a raging fire. George said meaningfully, “Ethan, Faye is already married. Don’t you mind that?” He asked whether Ethan minded that and not whether Ethan was suitable for Faye. “I don’t mind at all!” Ethan said in all sincerity, “Mr. Carter, frankly speaking, I fell in love with Faye at first sight. My love for her is so deeply rooted that I firmly believe that Faye is my happiness! That is why I had the courage to plead that you betroth Faye to me here, Mr. Carter!” Ruby’s face flushed scarlet from excitement from under the stage. She approved of Ethan 100% because he was good-looking, came from a wealthy family, and showed respect to her. He was simply the epitome of a perfect son-in-law. A few Carter women looked at Faye enviously, wishing they could marry Ethan. George’s face was beaming and his heart was bursting with joy. Even though the Zeus Group was not considered a large company, they had a few million dollars worth of properties in their possession. At its peak, the Carters were still less than the Zeus Group. If Faye were to marry Ethan, it would be a boon for the Carters! As for the son-in-law that married into the family, Zayn did not figure into his plans at all. In George’s eyes, Zayn was not truly a person but a dog capable of speech. George said to Faye with a smile, “My sweet grandchild, would you accept Ethan’s proposal?” “I…” Faye’s mind was in a chaotic mess and she was at a loss for words all at once. Ethan got down on one knee before her and took out a delicately designed ring box from his pocket. He opened it to reveal a dazzling diamond ring that appeared quite expensive. “Fifi, from the first time I laid my eyes on you, I fell deeply in love with you! I wasn’t brave enough to tell you this in the past. The biggest regret in my life is watching helplessly as you throw yourself into the arms of another man!” Ethan stared at Faye passionately. “I’ve figured out that I have to strive for happiness on my own. I love you, Faye Carter, and I love you from the bottom of my heart! I swear that I will make you the happiest woman in this world. Will you marry me?” As he spoke, he took out the ring and was about to put it on Faye. Zayn was furious. How could he endure this anymore? He charged forward at once and tugged at Faye before sending Ethan tumbling over with a kick. “Ethan, I’ve put up with you long enough! Faye is my wife. Who do you think you are to propose to her?” Ethan was not angry despite being kicked over by Zayn. On the contrary, he was elated and cracked into a cunning smile for having his way. He compelled Zayn to hit him on purpose. The more ludicrous Zayn acted, the more Faye would loathe him. Faye was immediately vexed when she saw Zayn hitting Ethan just as expected. She scolded Zayn aloud, “Zayn Larson, what the heck is wrong with you?!” Next, she rushed over to help Ethan to stand up. “Are you alright?” Zayn did not cause any serious damage to Ethan with his kick, yet Ethan pretended that he was badly injured on purpose. “Faye, I’m fine…Cough cough cough…You shouldn’t scold Zayn anymore. It’s my fault for rushing into things…Cough cough…Yet I genuinely do love you very much. I don’t think that there’s any meaning in my life without you.” Ethan’s acting was so skillful that he was capable of slyly gaining her sympathy and made her even more revolted by Zayn. George was furious at once. He smacked the table abruptly and shouted ferociously, “This is absurd! You’re a useless piece of sh*t, Zayn. Who gave you the permission to beat up the heir to the Zeus Group here?! You don’t even deserve to clean his shoes! Send someone to pin down Zayn for me!” A few young lads in the Carter family heard George’s order. They took action at once and subdued Zayn by pinning him against the ground violently. They seized the opportunity to kick him a few times too. The smile on Ethan’s face could not be concealed anymore upon witnessing the scene. He looked at Zayn proudly with a gaze that seemed to be saying, ‘Can a good-for-nothing stand a chance against me?’ As soon as Faye looked toward him, he resumed feigning injury. He was extremely cunning. “Fifi, will you marry me? My love for you is sincere!” Ethan wanted to grab Faye’s hand, but Faye avoided him in a panic. Faye’s mind was very confused, and she had no idea how to make up her mind. Ruby had already stepped forward, shoved her, and chided her softly, “Why are you staring blankly, silly girl? Answer him quickly! It’s not easy to find a good man like Ethan. Could it be that you still want to spend the rest of your life with that scoundrel Zayn?” Faye raised her head to look at Ethan and then at Zayn. She realized that Ethan was far superior to Zayn in every way. Realizing that she was going to say yes for real, Zayn hastily shouted aloud, “Fifi! Don’t say yes to him! He’s a liar! He doesn’t love you sincerely! He’s only hungry for your body! I heard him telling someone with my own ears the other day that he’s only trying to get his hands on you. He has a fiancee!” Ethan immediately panicked upon hearing that. Ethan yelled in agitation, “Bullsh*t! My love for Fifi can endure any test. If you can’t make Faye happy, it’s best if you leave now, you wastrel!” George walked over, glared icily at Zayn, and said, “Toss him out.” Zayn struggled with all his might and shouted, “Let me go! I have something to say! I have something to say!” “Let him go. What else do you have to say for yourself?” Everyone stared at him coldly including Faye. All the sentiment she once had in her eyes had gone. Zayn took a deep breath and said, “You’ve always thought of me as an utterly useless good-for-nothing, but I haven’t told you the truth yet. Now, I’m going to reveal to you that Adrian let Thomas off willingly the other day out of respect for me. It’s totally unrelated to Ethan.” Upon saying that, Ethan burst out laughing aloud at once. “Hah-hah-hah-hah, I’m going to die laughing. Zayn, oh Zayn, how did you get such confidence? How do you have the nerve to say that aloud?” Waine and Ruby were laughing as well. They were amused by Zayn. Faye was not laughing because her disappointment for Zayn had already reached its peak. She wanted to retain some respect for Zayn initially by rejecting Ethan’s proposal. It seemed that it was no longer necessary anymore judging by the current situation! “What’s going on? What’s going on?” The rest of the people began gossiping out of curiosity. Ethan narrated the incident that took place the night before yesterday in an exaggerated manner and mocked Zayn when he was done. “I think that you should at least make sense when you bluff, Zayn, right? I’m afraid that you don’t even know what kind of person Adrian is, right? Let me tell you this, he is a young Larson. The Larson family is the most powerful family in Waltz City with a few billion dollars worth of holdings. Would he show respect to a useless man who married into his wife’s family and couldn’t even get a job? You must have assumed that everyone here is an idiot, right?” Faye said, “Leave, Zayn. I don’t want to see you anymore.” Zayn hastily said, “Faye, you must trust me. I’m telling the truth. It was true that Adrian did let Thomas off willingly out of respect for me. Moreover, I’ve already told Adrian about this. He will be coming over with the Larsons’ patriarch Jordan in a while to extend their birthday wishes to Grandpa. I told you that I am going to boost your reputation, so I swear that I’m not lying to you!” Despite his efforts, Zayn’s remark did not stir up any emotions in Faye. On the contrary, Faye’s gaze grew even colder and more disgusted as she looked at him. In fact, her gaze was even tainted with a wisp of sympathy. She had already considered Zayn to be mad. Only a madman would say something like this. Ethan was laughing so hard his face hurt. He had never met anyone so foolish as to make such ludicrous statements. “Zayn, I think that you must be delusional, right? Do you think that you are related to the Larsons just because your last name is Larson? You’re making nonsensical claims, hah-hah. Could it be that you don’t know that there are over 50,000 people with the last name Larson in Waltz City?” Zayn struggled free from his restraints and made his way to the front of Faye. He gazed at her deeply. “Fifi, it really was me who saved Thomas. It had nothing to do with Ethan…” “Leave.” Before he could finish his sentence, Faye spat out the word frostily. Zayn panicked. “Fifi, you have to believe me!” Faye spoke louder, “Leave! I’m asking you to leave!” In a moment of desperation, Zayn attempted to hold Faye’s hand so he could explain himself properly. Faye slapped him across the face with all of her might. The force of the blow was unusually loud. “Zayn, you disgust me. You’re more repulsive than the maggots crawling inside the sewage! Marrying you has really been the biggest mistake of my life! Leave! Leave now!” Approaching the end of her sentence, she was almost screaming hysterically. Zayn’s entire body was frozen as if he had turned into stone. His eyes had reddened and his heart was aching so much that he could barely breathe. He covered his chest and felt that all of his strength had been drained completely. He stumbled a few steps back and almost fell. He wanted to laugh to ease the agony he felt, but he could not. The nerves on his face felt as stiff as if they were injected with cement. He could only crack into the dreariest of smiles and said to Faye, “Fifi, we’ve been married for four years. Have you never loved me even just for a moment?” If Faye was in her calm state now, she would give the true answer. It was yes. However, at that moment, she was too furious, disappointed, and disgusted by Zayn. As a result, she did not care about Zayn’s feelings anymore, so she could only answer coldly, “No.” Zayn staggered. He closed his eyes and let his tears stream down his cheeks soundlessly. “I’m sorry for putting you through such inconvenience for the past four years. From now on and for the rest of your life, I hope that you can be happy.” Upon saying that, he turned around and left resolutely. Behind him, the crowd was chanting ‘leave, leave, leave’. Someone even threw something at him. Not long after he left, everyone was seated once again. Faye was preparing to say yes to Ethan and put on the diamond ring when all of a sudden, a voice shaking with excitement came from the entrance. “Oh god, oh god, it’s the Larsons! It’s the patriarch of the Larson family, Jordan Larson! He’s here in person to celebrate Grandpa’s birthday!”