Though paralyzed, still radiantly charming!

Chapter 111: The person she loved didn’t love her back

“No worries, keep talking on the phone.” Jessica stood outside the car, a cigarette dangling from her lips, as she aimed her phone at Ethan’s face, flashing a peace sign with her other hand. “Come on, give me a ‘peace’.”

Ethan looked utterly confused, staring blankly at the camera.

“Click.” Jessica snapped a frontal photo of him, then leaned her hands on the car window, still smoking, with a mischievously smug smile.

“Ethan, you wouldn’t want your Aunt Scarlett to find out about your side gig as a male escort, would you?”

Ethan’s mouth twitched. He had only met this friend of his aunt’s once before, when she was in her police uniform, looking sharp and formidable.

Today, however, she was casual, in a T-shirt and jeans, laughing heartily. She seemed easy-going and approachable, a beautiful woman with a generous smile.

On the phone, Ethan told Joseph, “I’ll send you an address in a bit, we can talk more in person.”

After hanging up, he addressed Jessica through the car window, “Officer Jessica, I’m working as a male escort to make money and lighten the load for Aunt Scarlett. It’s tough for her, supporting the family on her own. If you tell her about this, it’ll just worry her.”

“If you think being a male escort is inappropriate, I’ll find another job right away,” Ethan pleaded with genuine eyes. “Can you please keep this between us?”

He had initially taken the escort job to investigate someone named Victoria, and making money was just a side benefit.

Now that his goal was achieved, there was no need to continue.

Ethan felt that as Scarlett’s best friend, Jessica really shouldn’t make things difficult for him.

“Hmm?” Jessica tilted her head, the cigarette still in her mouth, her smile teasing. “Ethan, you’ve got it all wrong. I just want to see the look on Scarlett’s face when she finds out the truth. It’d be quite the show.”

Ethan’s mouth twitched again,this cop sure loved stirring up trouble.

Seeing his astonished expression, Jessica’s smile widened slyly, her fingers flicking the cigarette as she shook her phone. “How about this? You do one thing for me, and I’ll keep your secret.”

“What is it?” Ethan squinted, not overly worried about his aunt finding out, but curious about the deal.

“Actually, I’m a fan of yours. I saw online that you were performing here today, so I came to check it out. How about a private show for me when I’m off duty?” Jessica winked at him. “It’s a deal.”

With that, she waved and walked away coolly.

Ethan stuck his head out the car window just in time to see her disappear. He pulled back and turned to Blair. “Is my aunt’s best friend always this quirky?”

Blair shrugged. “I haven’t seen her much either.”

“Let’s go meet Joseph,” Ethan decided, putting the odd encounter behind him. Despite her pretty and approachable appearance, Jessica turned out to be quite the character.

Their car wove through the night market of Capitol City.

They stopped outside a coffee shop not far from the hospital.

Entering the cafe, Ethan and Blair saw Joseph sitting in a corner, forcing a smile as they approached.

“Two orange juices, please,” Ethan ordered, not in the mood for coffee late at night. After dismissing the waiter, he turned to Joseph.

“Mr. Joseph, you know we’re in this together.”

“Mr. Ethan,” Joseph promptly pulled out a check and placed it on the table. “I just spoke with your brother on the phone. Here’s the agreed-upon ten thousand dollars.”

Ethan chuckled, waving the check in the air. “I’ve said before, we’re here to fulfill the last wishes of the dying, not to be insulted with money.”

Joseph looked uneasy, watching Ethan not handing back the check.

“Tell me the truth,” Ethan demanded naturally, passing the check to Blair to put away. “The person Victoria was cheating with… it’s you!”

He stared into Joseph’s eyes.

It wasn’t hard to guess.

Victoria and her husband had no love left, and though she had a lover, her husband’s impending death still left him unhappy. There was only one reason.

The person she loved didn’t love her back.

Joseph fit the bill perfectly.

“Me.” After a moment of silence, Joseph gave a bitter smile. “My parents died early, and it was my brother who raised me.”

“So, there was an illicit relationship between you two?” Ethan narrowed his eyes. He had pretty much pieced together the relationships among them.

What kind of regular guy makes gourmet lunches every day?

Joseph shuddered, then nodded, covering his face with his hand. “Victoria was in love with my brother, and he wanted to escape that relationship, so he chose to marry her.”

Joseph’s expression was complex. “He still can’t accept women.”

Ethan, although he had guessed most of it, still felt his worldview shattering when he heard it confirmed.

Rubbing his nose bridge, he said, “If that’s the case, why wouldn’t he leave the inheritance to Victoria? He’s the one at fault here.”

Michael’s dying wish was that his wife should not inherit his wealth.

How heartless.

Joseph sighed deeply, his expression still complex. “My brother was planning to divorce her and then provide a financial settlement. But my sister-in-law didn’t know about my brother’s sexual orientation issues and couldn’t accept it.”

“I… I saw her crying every day, and I knew it was because of me. I felt guilty, so I went to comfort her.”

Ethan leaned back, “When you say ‘comfort,’ do you mean emotionally or physically?”

Joseph was startled and quickly waved his hands, “I just treated my sister-in-law as a good friend, chatting with her, going shopping with her.”

“Her smile gradually returned, but one day, she suddenly confessed her feelings to me.”

Ethan’s mouth twitched. Victoria really hit the jackpot of bad luck to end up with these two brothers.

“Then you rejected her, and that’s why she became so self-destructive.”

Joseph was silent for a long while, then smiled bitterly. “I accepted. After getting to know my sister-in-law better, I realized I might also like women. I went to talk to my brother, hoping the three of us could live together.”

A “pfft” sound came from the side as Blair spat out her juice onto the table.

Ethan, too, was frowning, his mouth agape in surprise.

Joseph, unfazed by their reactions, just gave a wry smile. “Sorry, I know it sounds absurd, but that’s how irrational love can be. When you like someone, you just do, and you can’t lie to your own heart.”

“You’ve really elevated it, haven’t you?” Ethan was at a loss for words.

“My brother disagreed. He felt like my sister-in-law had stolen me from him. Later, when my brother was diagnosed with cancer, he refused to leave the inheritance to her,” Joseph finished, falling silent.

Ethan was silent too. He had expected the relationships to be complicated, but not this complicated.

Looking at Joseph, he didn’t know whether to criticize or what. How do three people even live together, with you in the middle?

Is this person a hero of true love or a cuckold?

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