Chapter 99 A Scorpio Man
Chapter 99 A Scorpio Man
The unexpected encounter finally put a smile on Maria's face. Then, raising her voice, she asked casually, "Mr. Nan, could you give me a ride?"
Immediately, Ethan said to Lorenzo's back, "Lorenzo, stop the car. Maria needs a ride."
Lorenzo didn't say anything. Instead, he glanced at the silent man in the back seat from the rearview mirror, not wanting to pull over.
Seeing that the car had already passed by Maria, Ethan became a little anxious. He patted James' shoulder and said, "James, Maria is sitting on the roadside alone. What if something happens to her? It's late!"
James was amused by his words. How could Ethan believe something would happen to a skilled woman like Maria? James opened his eyes and answered in a flat tone, "She won't die."
Ethan felt helpless. "James, she doesn't seem to be in a good mood. You should have more compassion for her. Please!"
James looked at him, speechless.
Two minutes later, the Harkim made a U-turn and pulled over in front of Maria. The moment she stood up to get in the car, the back door was opened and Ethan was kicked out. As the door was closed again, the car roared off. Têxt belongs to NôvelDrama.Org.
Maria looked into Ethan's pitiful puppy eyes, and neither of them said a word.
While they walked in silence along the side of the road, Ethan glanced at Maria's high heels a couple of times and couldn't help asking, "Don't your feet hurt?"
Whenever he was on a date, his female partner would cry out that their feet were sore after only taking a few steps in their high heels. He wondered if Maria also felt the same.
Noticing the concern in his voice, Maria smiled. "I'm used to it. Thanks."
Ethan nodded, scratching the back of his head. He really admired her for walking on those high heels for so long without complaining. "Forget it. James is too ruthless. He won't come back for us. I'll just call us a ride." Pulling out his phone, Ethan made a call and requested someone to pick them up.
As they waited for the car, a woman passed by them, pushing a baby stroller with a crying infant in it. Once they were distant enough, Maria whispered, "Ethan, do you know what day it is tomorrow?"
"No," Ethan replied in confusion. He was aware that the Mid-Autumn Festival was coming soon, but it wasn't tomorrow. Maria glanced at the puzzled young man and laughed at him. Changing the subject, she confessed, "To be honest, I envy you a lot."
"Envy me? Why? Is it because of my wealth or my power?" Ethan couldn't hide his interest.
"Neither!"
"Then what is it?" He had already thought of a way to refute each option he gave her, but Maria didn't answer as he expected.
Sighing, she replied, "I envy your personality as a whole." Ethan was an easy-going, lively, and cheerful young man who was always up to anything and had nothing to worry about. Maria, on the other hand, was too resentful to open her heart and lead a life free of worries like him.
"Oh! I thought you meant something else!" Squatting on the roadside, Ethan explained, "My zodiac sign is Aries. We're born optimistic, energetic, and lively. What about you, Maria? What's your star sign?"
Maria was taken aback by his question. She should have guessed that a guy as naive as Ethan would believe in such things as zodiac signs like a child would. Nevertheless, she thought about it for a moment and answered, "I'm a Virgo, and James is a Scorpio. Arthur was born under the same sign as you. He's an Aries as well."
It was the first time that Ethan had heard her mention Arthur so naturally. He took a moment to study her expression but didn't find anything out of the ordinary. Then he asked carefully, "Really? What's his birthday?"
"March 29th."
"Wow, he's indeed an Aries. I was born on April 16th!"
As she heard this, Maria looked at Ethan, unable to stop herself from comparing him with Arthur. She couldn't help wondering if Arthur had been given the chance to grow up, he might have become an outgoing, bright young man like Ethan was.
When Ethan met her gaze again, he was ready to say something else, but all of a sudden, he noticed the unusual way she was looking at him and gave up. In fact, Maria stared at him so tenderly, as a mother would look at her son. Ethan choked on his own saliva before saying, "Maria Song! Wake up! I'm Ethan Nan, not your son!"
At the sound of that, Maria was brought back to her senses. With a slight cough, she apologized, "Ahem. I'm sorry, I couldn't help comparing you two."
Ethan pursed his lips, wondering if she had done it on purpose. She wouldn't dare to use her own son to take advantage of him, would she?
Maria didn't want to show any sadness in front of Ethan, so she changed the subject again. "What about the Scorpio sign? Do you know anything about it?"
"Of course! The first thing you should know is that there's nothing a Scorpio man can't do. He's also the most possessive among the twelve signs, so you must be careful in the future!"
"Be careful of what?" Maria didn't get it.
With a mysterious look on his face, Ethan explained, "Dealing with a Scorpio man is like taking a glass of strong liquor. It may look harmless from the outside like a glass of plain water, but if you drink it by mistake, you'll be drunk before you know it."
Maria nodded at his words. They did make a lot of sense. However, she would prefer to refer to James as a glass of liquor, which was also drugged. Once someone gulped it down, they wouldn't come back to themselves without some lasting damage.
"Besides, a Scorpio man isn't tolerating. If you make a mistake, he'll be ruthless enough to give you a silent treatment!" added Ethan.
Maria gaped. Ethan was damn right. Indeed there was nothing James couldn't do, but most of all, he was also ruthless.
Getting carried away, Ethan gave her a serious but gentle warning. "The main problem is that you're too strong to arouse a man's desire to protect you. Since James is as strong as you are, he might require a woman who relies on him more. I think you should adjust yourself a little to meet this need of his."
"Ha-ha!" Amused, Maria laughed at him. "I guess maybe you should change your profession. Why did you become a vet anyway? You should seriously consider working as an astrologer. I'm sure you'll make a fortune out of it!"
At that moment, a black car stopped across the road, but neither Maria nor Ethan noticed it. In fact, they were too busy laughing and chatting with each other.
Shaking his head, Ethan said, "Honestly, I'm not that interested in zodiac signs myself. When I was still a freshman in college, several girls in my class would take astrology books wherever they went. Inevitably, I overheard some of their conversations, and I remembered just now a few things about it."
Maria parted her lips, ready to reply to Ethan but swallowed her words as soon as she saw the black Harkim approaching them and finally stopping by the roadside.
The rear window was rolled down, revealing the stony, cold face of the man in the back seat. "Ethan, get in."
James could easily leave Maria behind, but not Ethan.
Excited, Ethan ran over and leaned on the window. "I knew you wouldn't leave us here alone!" Then he turned around and waved to the woman standing behind him. "Maria, come on in ! Let's go!"
Surprisingly, Maria shook her head and said, "No, thanks. My hotel is in a different direction from where you're going."
After chatting with Ethan for a while, she was finally in a better mood and wanted to keep it that way. Hence, she didn't want to get affected by James.
However, the said person took the initiative to speak, his tone slightly unkind as expected. "Why are you making a fuss now?" Wasn't she having a good time with Ethan just a second ago? James witnessed the same relaxing smile on her face that he hadn't seen for years. He wondered why she got so defensive like a hedgehog as soon as she saw him.
Maria was confused by his question. What did he mean by that? She simply didn't want to get in his car. She didn't see it as "making a fuss," as he just called it.
Not in the mood to explain anything to that jerk, Maria sneered and rolled her eyes at James. The next second, she turned around and walked away in her high heels.
As he saw the woman leaving, James' eyes darkened. Then he looked at Ethan, who also seemed puzzled, and asked, "What were you talking about just now?"
Ethan answered him honestly, "We were talking about zodiac signs. Maria told me that you're a Scorpio, she's a Virgo, and your son used to be an Aries. Oh, James! In fact, Maria took advantage of me!"
James' heart skipped a beat as he took in Ethan's words. He hoped the young man didn't mean it the way he was thinking. Then he asked him straightly, "What do you mean?"
Failing to notice the concern in James' eyes, Ethan told him exaggeratedly, "The moment she heard I had the same star sign as your son, she looked at me with tenderness as if she was looking at him! Can you believe her?"