The Billionaire’s Secret Quartet



Ethan was seriously ticked off, not in the mood for wordplay. "I don't give a damn how I phrase it! All I'm saying is, your advice sucks, man. It's not practical at all!"

"All I wanna know is, did you guys go grab a bite or not?" Alaric was unfazed by Ethan's bad mood.

After all, he and Hertha had cleared up their misunderstandings, tied the knot, and were blissfully together now.

He was on cloud nine every day, nothing and no one could dampen his spirits.

"We did, but she was still all guarded around me, didn't even crack a smile," Ethan lamented.

"Did you guys hit up the Rose Garden booth?" Alaric probed further.

"Yeah!" Ethan couldn't deny it.

"And was there a moment, just a moment, when you locked eyes and felt the temperature in the room go up?" Alaric pressed on.

Ethan fell silent, replaying the scene in his head.

Suddenly, he remembered that fleeting moment when he and Lydia locked eyes, the air thick with tension, his blood boiling with the urge to kiss her.

But then, the moment was shattered by the waiter coming to serve their food.

Thinking back, Ethan was both thrilled and furious!

If it wasn't for the waiter interrupting that warm atmosphere, he and Lydia might have held hands, lingered over dinner a bit longer, and wouldn't have bumped into David and Rosalind as they were leaving. That encounter had set him and Lydia back to square one.

With that thought, Ethan blamed everything on that waiter!

"So, got nothing to say? That means there's hope, buddy. Don't worry, you still have a shot!" Alaric said confidently, without waiting for Ethan's reply. He was a pro at this game, a champ in the field of flirtation.

Understanding women was his forte, and he knew once a woman had felt a spark for a man, if the guy kept at it, she was almost definitely his. Encouraged by Alaric's words, Ethan's frown finally eased. "I'll take your word for it. Gotta

go now."

"Hold up, pick up Dr. Lydia tomorrow morning, will ya? Walk her to work," Alaric added just before Ethan could hang up.

"She lives a stone's throw from the clinic. It's just a few minutes' walk," Ethan felt it was unnecessary.NôvelDrama.Org (C) content.

"Are you dense? You think I'm telling

you to walk her just for the sake of it? Walking her to work is even better. It's perfect for chatting. How do you not get this?" Alaric would have facepalmed if Ethan was in front of him.

Ethan had an epiphany. "Got it, I know what to do."

The next day, Lydia was up early.

She usually got to the clinic before eight, leaving her house at half-past seven.

Walking through the alleyway she took every day, she noticed two guys arguing.

They looked familiar.

"Jesse, did you mess up? We agreed on five grand each, but why did you only transfer two thousand to me yesterday?" one of the guys demanded.

Jesse, nursing a hand wrapped up

like a mummy, retorted, "Dude, that woman nearly twisted my wrist off Spent two grand at the hospital! got injured on the job, gotta take out some for medical expenses, right?"

swne

"Jesse, that's not how you do the math. We agreed on cornering Mr. Ethan for five grand each. We all took part can't shortchange us now. You and Henry got hurt, go ask Mr. Ethan for the medical bills, not from our cut," the other guy reasoned with Jesse.

Lydia froze in her tracks, recognizing them as the thugs who had ambushed Ethan the day before.

Their conversation was a bombshell.

Ethan was their employer?