[?]
Just a simple question mark. Nothing else.
Grace Howard froze.
What did that even mean?
She was just about to reply with a row of question marks when it hit her, something was off.
While she was eating noodles, she must've accidentally unlocked her phone in her jeans pocket... and called him!
And he had actually picked up, listened for over a whole minute before hanging up!
Oh my god. How embarrassing!
What if he heard her sniffling? Or worse, talking to her boss like that?
As Grace panicked over how to reply, her phone suddenly lit up. Ethan Hugh was calling her.
She sucked in a breath, pulled herself together, and answered. "Hello?"
"Where are you?" Ethan's voice was calm. Too calm.
It wasn't loud or angry, but there was this quiet pressure in it that made Grace's heart jump. It was weird.
He was just some PR guy, so why did his voice sound like... someone powerful?
"I-I'm at Emperor City..." she said, her voice dropping down like she was hiding something.
"Add me on this number's messaging app. Send me your location." He didn't even wait for a reply before hanging up.
Grace stared at her screen in shock.
What kind of attitude was that?! Was this how he usually treated rich women? Like, hello? Who's paying who here?
Still grumbling to herself, she added him on WeChat.
The profile had no picture. The username was just one word: Huo.
So his last name is Matt? She blinked. Now she was kind of curious what his full name was.
He accepted her friend request super fast. So to keep up the act, she sent her location before he could even ask, and threw in a sweating emoji too.
But... what even was he doing? Was he planning to fly to Emperor City from Wen City just because of one phone call?
Still confused, she went back to finishing her bowl of noodles.
Right as she was about to slurp the last bite, some noise stirred up outside the noodle shop.
"Woah, that's the super expensive Aston Martin, right?" someone outside gasped.
"Look at that build! Is he a male celeb? Wait... I don't recognize him…" someone else said, clearly a fangirl.
The door creaked open.
Grace instinctively lowered her head, slurping up noodles, and then looked up casually.
That one glance nearly made her choke.
No way.
PR Ethan?!
What the heck?!
Wasn't he in Wen City?!
Since when did he get to Emperor City?!
There he was, Ethan, wearing sunglasses and a clean dark suit tailored so perfectly it looked custom-made.
He had that icy aura around him that made the whole tiny noodle shop feel like a 5-star restaurant just by standing there.
Only Grace "knew" he was a male escort.
Anyone else walking in would've 100% thought he was some world-class celeb doing a travel show.
His whole vibe lit up the shop. People were literally staring instead of eating.
Ethan looked straight at her. "What brings you here?"
"I…" Grace looked around nervously at all the eyes on them and didn't know how to answer.
"Get in the car," he said coolly, like he wasn't even slightly bothered. Then he turned around and walked off without waiting.
Grace, totally dazed, threw some cash on the table, bowed a little to the auntie behind the counter, and hurried out to find Ethan's car.
She didn't know much about cars; to her, they were all just four-wheeled vehicles, just like how she didn't really get the details of Ethan's super fancy suit.
But she could immediately tell the car was crazy expensive, not just from the weird car model names being whispered by the people nearby, but from the straight-up envy in their eyes.
Wow, a car like that must cost... tens of thousands?
Years of living on a tight budget had made Grace scared to even dream too big.
Ethan Hugh politely opened the passenger door and motioned for her to get in.
Grace Howard carefully climbed into the car, curling up a bit like she was scared she'd break something or mess it up.
Ethan hit the gas, leaving behind the curious crowd that had gathered.
Watching him so calm and chill as he drove, Grace couldn't help but mutter, "Being a male escort must pay really well if you can afford a car like this."
Ethan gave her a glance. "You still haven't said why you're here."
Grace looked down and slowly told him everything, about her uncle, her aunt, and her grandma's family. Stuff she had never told anyone else before.
It was weird, honestly. She wasn't the type of person to just share her feelings out loud. Usually, she just bottled it all up and kept it to herself.
But for some reason, right now, she couldn't stop herself. She was just spilling it all to Ethan, her pain, her anger, her disappointments, like it didn't matter anymore.
"When Uncle Morris and them bullied me, I used to dream that one day my mom would come back and defend me... but now I've lost my mom too, and I never even had a dad. I'm basically a total orphan now," Grace said, her voice shaking as her eyes filled with tears.
Ethan kept driving, his tone super steady. "You'll get used to these kinds of things."
Grace rubbed her eyes. "Yeah... I guess I will."
It was strange.
Ethan's voice wasn't warm or comforting, and he didn't look all that sympathetic either, but somehow, she felt comforted anyway.
Like, just hearing him talk calmed her down.
Even though Ethan never talked about his own life, and never said anything like "you think that's bad, my life is worse," Grace could tell, just by his vibe and his crazy handsome face, that something major must've happened to him.
Something really serious.
Even if he was just acting and not actually selling himself, being a male escort wasn't exactly a respected job.
A lot of people would just assume the worst.
A guy like that, with a past people would gossip about, probably couldn't even get married easily.
His reputation was probably ruined.
And how could someone like that ever show his face in front of his girlfriend's parents?
Unless he had no other choice, why would a guy this good-looking choose to sell... smiles?
Wouldn't becoming a celeb or something be way better?
While Grace was lost in her own thoughts, Ethan suddenly stopped the car.
She finally noticed he'd brought her to some place that looked like a tropical park.
There was a quiet little river, flowers blooming everywhere, trees swaying in the wind. The whole place was so pretty, and it was super peaceful, no crowds, no noise, no one else in sight.
"This is…" Grace Howard looked around, totally surprised.
In a busy place like Emperor City, was there really a place this quiet and hidden? She was pretty sure it wasn't far from downtown either.
"This is my backyard," Ethan Hugh said, and smiled slightly.
He didn't say the full truth: it was just one of his many homes.
Grace's jaw dropped.
You've got to be kidding me.
This was Emperor City, where literally every square foot of land cost a fortune. And this whole giant place... was just his backyard?!
She had just walked around the Su family's estate earlier, and compared to this?
Ethan's place wasn't just on the same level, it was actually better.
"You… You must be joking…" Grace stammered, her tongue totally tripping over itself. "How much does a place like this even cost?"
"I don't know. The housekeeper bought it. I don't bother with those things," Ethan said super casually.
Grace stared at him like he was from another planet.
"WHAT?! You have a housekeeper too?!"