William Carter's expression started twitching again. "Of course I was waking you up, but you bit my finger like you hadn't eaten in days and wouldn't let go..."

"Oh."

Ethan Lane nodded blankly, finally realizing what had happened. She looked up at William Carter in disbelief, took a deep breath, her chest puffing up, and then—

"Ah!!!!!!"

"Get—get out!"

Utterly mortified, the young girl grabbed anything she could get her hands on and threw it at William Carter, her face flushed as she shouted angrily, "Pervert! Bastard! Creep!"

In the end, the outcome of the wake-up incident was that justice triumphed over evil, with William Carter being driven out of the room in a sorry state by a barrage of pillows and stuffed animals.

With no other choice, he could only lean helplessly against the wall.

He knocked on the door beside him and called out loudly, "Breakfast is ready, come out and eat."

After a long while, a faint voice came from inside: "Oh."

Perhaps out of shyness and hesitation, it took Ethan Lane quite a while to get dressed. When she finally came out of the room, her face was red and her head was lowered.

Seeing her silent demeanor, William Carter sighed helplessly. "I'll go serve the rice. You go wash your face and brush your hair."

"Okay." Ethan Lane nodded softly and followed William Carter down the stairs.

A few minutes later, after freshening up, the young girl sat at the table with breakfast already laid out in front of her.

Ethan Lane ate breakfast while William Carter lounged on the sofa watching the morning news.

It seemed there was another report about an earthquake somewhere. On TV, the stern-faced anchor said in a deep voice, "Liang Gongzheng, chairman of Hong Kong Qingshan Group, expressed his deep condolences for this disaster, wishing the people in the affected area a swift return to normal life, and has donated..."

On the other side of the table, Ethan Lane quietly glanced up at him and asked in a low voice, "Why aren't you eating?"

William Carter shook his head and, forcing himself to sound pained, said, "I was starving this morning, so I already ate."

"Oh." Ethan Lane nodded and lowered her head to continue drinking her porridge.

No longer watching the ambitious entrepreneur on TV, William Carter lowered his head and said softly, "About earlier... I'm sorry."

Ethan Lane's movements paused for a moment, her face growing even redder.

After a brief silence, she nodded gently. "I understand."

For some reason, William Carter quietly let out a sigh of relief. "I have some things to do this morning, so I'll be out for a while. You might have to watch the house by yourself."

Ethan Lane looked a bit puzzled for a moment, but seeing that he didn't elaborate, she nodded earnestly. "It's okay, I can take care of myself."

Noticing her slightly disappointed expression, William Carter smiled. "Don't be afraid. Just pretend those people don't exist. If they dare to make any demands again, just call me."

Holding her bowl of porridge, Ethan Lane mumbled, "Mm, I know."

Watching her wolf down her food, William Carter could only shake his head helplessly and continue watching the news.

After a long while, William Carter suddenly heard a faint voice from behind the table: "William Carter?"

"Yeah?" He turned to look beside him. "What is it?"

Ethan Lane, her face red, poked at her porridge with her chopsticks and said softly, "From now on, you're not allowed to pinch my nose."

Stunned for a moment, William Carter showed a helpless expression. That was what she cared about?

But Ethan Lane's expression seemed very serious, so he could only nod in response. "Okay."

"And, and..." Ethan Lane lifted her flushed face slightly, stammering.

"What else?"

Facing William Carter's question, she quietly glanced at William Carter's right hand. "You're not allowed to secretly lick it."

William Carter was taken aback. "Lick what?"

He quickly noticed the two rows of teeth marks on his right thumb and couldn't help but burst out laughing.

"What are you thinking?" He reached out and ruffled Ethan Lane's hair vigorously. "Such a mischievous little thing."

...

In short, after all the dawdling and playful bickering, breakfast was finally finished. And this was also the morning when Ethan Lane smiled the most since her parents passed away.

Before leaving, William Carter reminded Ethan Lane once again.

Things like, "Don't pay attention to those relatives, just pretend you didn't hear anything they say. Make sure all the important room doors are locked so they can't go snooping around..." He went on until she was almost annoyed, then finally left the house.

He habitually wanted to go push his bicycle, but after searching for a while, he remembered that the bike had gloriously broken down yesterday... so he had to take a taxi.

Winter mornings were so cold they made you shiver. William Carter only managed to flag down a cab when his feet were nearly frozen.

"Driver, to Renmin Hospital."

Sitting in the back seat, he yawned sleepily, watching the monotonous scenery outside the window fly by, and couldn't help but zone out.

While he was spacing out, the phone in William Carter's pocket suddenly started vibrating. Because he was so tired, it took him a full half minute to fish the phone out of his pocket.

The moment he looked down at the screen, his expression instantly became quite interesting.

There was just a single simple name on the screen: Emily Carter.