###Chapter 89: Time to Restock

The Hawthorne family’s old residence.

Claire Sinclair had personally cooked a table full of delicious, fragrant, and beautifully presented dishes. The atmosphere at the dinner table was harmonious.

She kept putting food on her son’s plate, her tone affectionate yet reproachful. "Son, how long has it been since you came home to eat with your mother? All you do is work, work, work."

Ethan Hawthorne replied agreeably, "There have been a few key projects recently."

Claire Sinclair got to the point. "Aunt Langdon’s niece just came back from abroad. She studied art, has an excellent disposition, and is very sweet. I’ve arranged for afternoon tea this weekend. Why don’t you go meet her?"

Ethan Hawthorne put down his chopsticks. "Mom, not this again. I already told you I’m not going on any more blind dates."

"Oh, why not? You didn’t do anything after we talked about it last time! Besides, it’s not a blind date. You’re just meeting her. It’s not like you’ll lose anything!" Claire Sinclair said, growing anxious.

Ethan Hawthorne sighed and looked at his mother, an unprecedented seriousness in his eyes. "I’m not going. Because I already have someone I like. For the rest of my life, she’s the only one for me."

Claire Sinclair froze for a moment, then beamed with joy. "Really? What’s her name? How did you meet? What does she like to eat? What color lipstick does she like? What brand of perfume? What style of handbag? When are you bringing her home for Mom to see?!" 𝘧𝓇𝑒𝑒𝑤ℯ𝑏𝓃𝘰𝑣ℯ𝘭.𝘤ℴ𝘮

Ethan Hawthorne: "..."

He knew it would be like this. He could only hope it wouldn’t scare his wife when the time came.

Ethan Hawthorne said, "She’s wonderful. Truly, truly wonderful. She’s the most special, most dazzling person I’ve ever met."

"As for the rest," he said, deliberately being mysterious, "the timing isn’t quite right yet. But I promise you, once everything is settled, you’ll be the first person I bring her to meet."

Claire Sinclair studied her son’s expression carefully. She saw that when he mentioned the person he liked, his eyes held a softness and certainty she had never seen before. A mother knows her son best; she knew he was serious.

Although she was dying to know the details, seeing her son like this, she could only suppress her curiosity. A gratified smile appeared on her face. "Good! As long as you have someone, that’s what matters! Mom trusts your taste. But..."

She didn’t forget to add, "You’d better hurry! A girl this wonderful, don’t make her wait too long, and don’t let someone else snatch her away!"

As she spoke, she thought of the already-married Maxine Rhodes and felt even more strongly that all the good girls were already taken, so her son needed to pick up the pace.

After dinner, once her son had left, Claire Sinclair returned to the living room. Her face still held a look of gratification, mixed with a faint, lingering trace of regret.

Lawrence Hawthorne glanced at his wife, a knowing look on his face. "Still thinking about that Miss Rhodes you’ve been talking about for days?"

"You mean Maxine..."

Claire Sinclair sat down next to her husband and sighed, the feeling of regret welling up again. "I really do like that girl, from the bottom of my heart. It’s rare to see someone with such clear, honest eyes, who is neither servile nor overbearing. You can tell at a glance she’s a girl with her own mind and a solid foundation. You don’t see many young people like that anymore."

Lawrence Hawthorne lowered his newspaper and picked up his teacup. "No matter how wonderful she is, she’s already someone else’s wife."

Claire’s sense of regret deepened. "I wonder which lucky man... Sigh. If only our Ethan had met a girl like that sooner."

Lawrence Hawthorne couldn’t help but chuckle at his wife. "Alright, darling, don’t get hung up on it. Didn’t our son just say it loud and clear? He has someone in his heart, and from the looks of it, he’s serious. It just means you and that Miss Rhodes weren’t fated to be mother-in-law and daughter-in-law. You can’t force fate."

His tone was gentle but held a note of caution. "The way you’re dwelling on her now... when our son really does bring his girlfriend home, you can’t have any thoughts of comparing them, and you certainly can’t neglect her. *She* will be your proper daughter-in-law."

Hearing this, Claire Sinclair immediately sat up straight and shot her husband a glare. "Lawrence Hawthorne! Am I that kind of muddle-headed person? Liking is liking, and regret is regret, but don’t you think I understand the principle here? As long as the person my son likes has good character and treats him well, I’ll definitely dote on her like my own daughter!"

"As long as you know." Seeing that she understood, Lawrence didn’t say any more. He picked up his newspaper again and said slowly, "Our children will have their own fortunes. I think Ethan knows what he’s doing this time. We’ll just have to wait and see."

Claire Sinclair nodded and stood up to clear the table, but then she suddenly remembered something and snatched the newspaper from in front of Lawrence Hawthorne.

"Stop reading! You just finished eating and all you do is sit there. Go on, wash the dishes! Consider it a way to digest your food."

Lawrence Hawthorne wasn’t annoyed at having his newspaper snatched away. Instead, he smiled, stood up obediently, and rolled up his sleeves. "As you command, my lady."

It was nearly ten o’clock at night when Ethan Hawthorne returned to the apartment.

A single, warm yellow light was left on in the entryway. The air held the faint scent of the body wash she always used, mixed with a hint of coffee. She was probably pulling another all-nighter.

He changed his shoes, placed the small, exquisite paper box he was carrying on the dining table, and then walked toward the study.

The door was ajar, and the cold light of a computer screen seeped out from within.

Sure enough, Maxine Rhodes was still at her desk, her fingertips flying across the keyboard as she stared at the data charts on the screen.

She was wearing a pair of blue-light-blocking glasses, her slightly damp, long hair draped casually over her back, revealing the pale nape of her neck. In the glow of the screen, her profile looked focused, yet a little weary.

Ethan Hawthorne didn’t make a sound to disturb her. He simply walked over quietly, his gaze falling on her still-damp hair.

He turned and went to the bathroom, returning moments later with a hairdryer in his hand.

He plugged it in, turned it on, and adjusted it to a gentle airflow and temperature before approaching her.

The warm air and low hum enveloped her, startling Maxine out of her concentration. She instinctively started to turn her head, but he gently pressed a hand on her shoulder to stop her.

"Don’t move." His voice, somewhat low and husky, was mixed with the noise of the dryer. "If you don’t dry your hair at night, you’ll get a headache."

As he spoke, his long fingers were already combing through her cool strands of hair.

Maxine relaxed her body and leaned back.

After her hair was dry, Ethan Hawthorne began coiling the hairdryer’s cord. "I brought you a strawberry cake from ’Twilight’," he said. "The one you said you wanted to try last time."

Maxine’s eyes lit up. She turned to look at him. "That place is really hard to buy from. You have to wait in line for a long time."

"I was just passing by, and they happened to have some," Ethan said nonchalantly, brushing a stray strand of hair from her cheek. "Stop working for now. Take a break. Your eyes are tired."

Maxine let him pull her up from her chair and lead her to the living room.

The small strawberry cake was meticulously placed on a crystal plate. The bright red strawberries and pure white cream were a cheerful sight.

She took a bite, and the long-missed sweetness melted on her tongue. She couldn’t help but close her eyes in satisfaction.

Ethan sat beside her, a soft smile spreading in his eyes as he watched her look of feline contentment.

"By the way," he began, "when I went to buy the cake today, I also restocked on something."

Maxine was busy devouring her cake and asked indistinctly, "Restocked on what?"

Ethan Hawthorne watched her, his gaze lingering for a moment on her lips, which were dotted with a bit of cream. Then, he slowly enunciated two words: "The condoms."

*****