There were so many questions that Julian did not know where to start, or what to ask first. In his mind, based solely on a few seemingly casual remarks from Ethan, he had already painted all sorts of scenarios.

It was just that... Julian did not know if he should ask or not.

Because he astutely sensed a very slight emotional fluctuation in Ethan when the man mentioned his mother. His eyes, which were usually calm and powerful, now revealed an indescribable emptiness. It seemed as though something had slightly sunk in the quiet space of the room, or perhaps from the very beginning, deep inside, this man had always carried such a solitary demeanor.

For some unknown reason, upon realizing that Ethan was sad, Julian also felt his own heart twinge with intermittent pain. A bitter sense of heartache coursed through his chest.

This must be the profound emotional bond that people often mentioned in novels.

When truly loving someone, one could naturally laugh and cry with them, sharing every throbbing beat of the heart.

Julian’s hand slowly patted Ethan’s broad shoulder, trying to transmit a bit of warmth. His head remained buried deep within the other man’s large hand. This action was both like acting spoiled to seek protection, and like gently coaxing an overgrown child carrying too many heavy thoughts.

Seeing this, a trace of warmth flashed across the man’s eyes. He let out a soft chuckle, his deep voice ringing out to break the subdued atmosphere: "I’m fine."

Julian mumbled in reply, his tone carrying a slight hint of a pout: "Yeah, well, I never said you weren’t."

However, his arms continued to hold the other man tightly and stiffly, absolutely reluctant to let go for even a single second. Perhaps during the early stages of their acquaintance, Julian had acted the part of being grievously pitiful far too successfully, causing this man to feel compassion and thus spoil and protect him to the utmost. Now, with a rare opportunity to reverse their roles, he wanted to use all his strength to try and comfort Ethan, wanting to become a solid pillar of support for the man to lean on.

If the world outside was overly difficult and exhausting, it did not matter. Because right here, they still had each other.

Sensing his sincerity, Ethan slightly tightened his embrace, holding Julian firmly against his sturdy chest. After a brief moment of silence, he still slowly began to explain: "My parents passed away probably five or seven years ago."

Hearing this statement, Julian slightly furrowed his brows. He lifted his head from Ethan’s hand, glancing at the man with a look full of questioning: "Can’t there be a specific timeframe?"

It was true that this matter of life and death was undoubtedly Ethan’s greatest pain, but who in this world would fail to clearly remember the time of their own biological parents’ passing like that? One or two years flying by might cause some confusion, but what did "five or seven years" mean? Specifically, was it five years, six years, or seven years? Such a milestone event could not possibly have such a vague and uncertain measurement of time.

Wait a minute... that was not right!

If it was like what the original novel described, Ethan was raised by Grandpa Arthur! But if it was like what he just said, if those two had only passed away five or seven years ago, then Ethan would have already come of age by then.

The financial news outlets often stated that Ethan was a rare, outstanding talent among the younger generation. They continuously praised the fact that he had just turned twenty when he began following in his grandfather’s footsteps to familiarize himself with the operations at the Caldwell Empire, and shortly thereafter, he independently revealed extraordinary abilities, proving capable enough to shoulder this massive conglomerate with its countless branches.

If going exactly by the words he just said, Ethan’s parents passed away... roughly seven years ago, well, let’s tentatively assume the number was seven years.

Then, in the exact year Ethan had just turned twenty and officially stepped up to take office at the Caldwell Empire, Ethan’s father rightfully should have still been alive and healthy in this world.

It was obvious that the timelines were completely incorrect; the recorded sequence of events did not match up with each other in the slightest. These details contradicted one another, creating a massive logical loophole in Julian’s thoughts.

In a flash, Julian suddenly recalled the moment when Ethan had shown him the contract certifying the holding of the core shares of the Caldwell Empire. At that time, the man had gently said that he would transfer the entirety of the massive profits he had personally held over the past few years into Julian’s name. Ethan had even deliberately added that Julian should consider this as a meeting gift from Ethan’s parents to him.

Although at that time Julian had immediately shaken his head to refuse such an overly immense fortune, the man had still patiently opened the document, directly letting Julian browse through the report and the detailed statistics of the inheritances.

If one looked closely at the numbers written on the paper, that entire colossal cash flow had only begun to circulate and generate profit within the timeframe of the past five or seven years; there were absolutely no traces of transactions from the years prior to that.

Initially, Julian simply assumed that it was because during the prior period, all of these shares were single-handedly managed and held by Grandpa Arthur, which was why the cash flow appeared disjointed like that. But up until the present moment, when linking everything together, it seemed that the story behind this matter was completely not that simple and easily understood.

What in the world was the truth of this matter? What kind of incident had actually occurred within the Caldwell family?

Seeming to notice his incomprehensible bewilderment, Ethan rubbed the soft hair in his hand and chuckled softly: "You feel it’s very strange, right?"

"I don’t know if you’ve noticed, but it isn’t just the death of my parents that is strange. This entire Saint Lawrence City is strange."

Ethan’s voice remained steady and even.

"Actually, if you try to search for information right now, or related articles about my parents’ accident, it will be hard to find any specific details."

"The exact day they had the accident was seventeen years ago, at that time I was eleven years old..."

Julian was nodding along when he felt something was wrong; he hastily stopped the other man: "Wait a minute, did you get something mixed up? Why eleven years old?"

Ethan was twenty-six or twenty-seven this year. If it was seventeen years ago, shouldn’t he only be around eight or nine years old?

Ethan paused for a moment. Julian had thought he was going to say that he remembered incorrectly, but unexpectedly, the man spoke of things that took him by surprise: "There’s so much information that needs to be corrected, I don’t know how to tell you at all. But... I’m ten years older than you."

Wow, that was a gap of half a generation. Actually, Julian felt that a gap of ten or eight years did not make much of a difference. It was just that this matter surprised him; did the heir of the Caldwell Empire also have to falsify his age to earn the title of "young and highly talented"?

But if he was going to fake it, why only by two years?

At this moment, Ethan’s voice rang out again: "Well, since we’re already here, let’s talk about the old days."

"There’s probably no need to introduce my father. Born into wealth and money, he wasn’t a prodigal son, and rarely caused trouble for the family."

Julian was rendered slightly speechless.

Oh Ethan, nobody described their own father like that. Through this man’s mouth, Julian almost thought Ethan’s father was some useless, rich playboy. Someone whose only saving grace was that he rarely brought ruin to the family.

But how could that be possible?

With Ethan being so outstanding, and Grandpa Arthur being so brilliant. How could Grandpa Arthur’s son, Ethan’s father, be an ordinary person?

No, he lived a remarkably glorious life.

Those achievements, the current Ethan was still far from matching.

The era when the Caldwell Empire rested in the hands of Ethan’s father was the era when the Caldwell family held an exclusive, dominant position in Saint Lawrence City. Several prominent families that had existed for hundreds of years, like the Cole family, were nothing in their eyes during that period.

Julian could not hold back a sarcastic remark: "What kind of description of a father is that? Are you jealous because you aren’t as talented as him?"

"What did you just call him?" Ethan suddenly asked, the meaning of his question unclear.

"Father. Why, do I not have the right to call him that?"

"Of course you do." The man pulled Julian tightly into his embrace. "My father is your father too. We’re a family."

Julian buried his head into the man’s sleepwear, his voice muffled and sounding slightly choked up: "Mhm, I only have one father. It’s him."

The Sterling family or whatever, they were nothing but passing clouds in the wind.

Looking back, it felt as if half a lifetime had already passed.