Now Ethan Brooks was sizing up the woman in front of him, looking at her figure and waistline, trying hard to recall— the two of them had held hands before, hugged, it felt great, hmm, and after that? He was all ready to cover his eyes for prosperity, democracy, and harmony, but in the end... there was nothing after that!

Damn it, still a virgin!

After all that, he got nothing out of it. So all those caring words, all that accommodating—buying gifts even when he couldn’t afford to eat—turns out he was the one being taken advantage of for free?

What kind of bad karma did the previous Ethan Brooks rack up?

“Ethan Brooks, we’ve already broken up. Watch where you’re looking. Can’t you act a little more proper?” Grace Sullivan lifted her chin, her gaze tinged with anger. Ethan Brooks never used to dare act like this. She noticed his eyes were especially brazen, especially lively and unrestrained, something she’d never seen before, which made her a bit flustered, as if she’d been stripped bare in front of him, and so she felt a sudden, inexplicable irritation.

Over there, among the wary men and women, Peter Lane saw the tense atmosphere and had already walked over, standing beside Grace Sullivan, looking down at Ethan Brooks from above, trying to create some so-called aura, giving her a sense of security and support.

Ethan Brooks looked at Grace Sullivan, “Do you have ten thousand yuan? Lend it to me for a bit, I’ll pay you back later.”

Grace Sullivan’s eyes widened slightly, then she said in surprise, “You’re asking me for money for your retake fees? You don’t even have the guts to tell your parents!? Ethan Brooks, do you think this is what success looks like?”

Oh, no money to be had from the ex-girlfriend.

First, eliminate one tool person. Pass!

Grace Sullivan paused, then said, “Also, you made such a big scene today, a lot of people messaged me, it’s driving me crazy... What exactly are you trying to do? Do you think this will work? It won’t change anything, and it looks bad, really bad... Ethan Brooks.”

In those eyes of Grace Sullivan, often praised as beautiful as autumn water, there was a look of sorrow for his misfortune and anger at his lack of effort. “Can’t you just grow up a little?”

“……”

“Mr. Bennett.” Ethan Brooks waved at Peter Lane standing next to Grace Sullivan.

Still caught up in her emotions, Grace Sullivan froze, as if she couldn’t believe Ethan Brooks wasn’t taking her bait.

Peter Lane glared at Ethan Brooks, “My surname isn’t 尹.”

“Doesn’t matter, it’s all the same. You two must stay together and be happy.” Ethan Brooks was especially sincere.

Peter Lane choked for a moment, then said, “That’s none of your business.”

Grace Sullivan gritted her teeth, glaring at him with hatred, “Ethan Brooks... don’t you dare slander me. My breakup with you has nothing to do with President Lane, don’t drag him into this! And between me and Peter Lane, we’re just classmates working in the same club. You just want everyone to think I, Grace Sullivan, broke up with you because someone else got involved? Get it straight, this is your problem!”

“You hang out with people like Henry Cooper all the time, failing classes, skipping lectures, and now this incident—do you know how much criticism I have to endure? Have you ever thought about me? I really can’t stand people pointing fingers at me behind my back!”

Ethan Brooks looked at her for a long while. Grace Sullivan thought he was about to argue and make excuses as usual, her gaze cold.

But unexpectedly, his voice was gentle, making the icy look on Grace Sullivan’s face falter for a moment. “Sorry for embarrassing you. I really am.”

“I know an idiot. This idiot would go all the way off campus every time his girlfriend had her period to buy her brown sugar rice wine eggs. When his girlfriend lost her temper and gave him the cold shoulder a hundred times, he’d coax her back a hundred and one times. When his girlfriend had a stage performance, he’d hold her coat and wait outside in the winter for two hours until his nose was running from the cold. He once got scolded by his girlfriend for wrapping flowers in newspaper because it wasn’t classy enough, and he felt bad about it for a long time.”

“Later, something happened in this idiot’s family, they got into debt, his parents could barely give him living expenses, and he barely had a penny to his name. But he was proud, or maybe just more afraid of losing her, so he didn’t dare tell the girl. He thought he was just a loser, not good enough for a hardworking, ambitious girl, and that it was only right for her to drift away from him.

He couldn’t give her the life she wanted, couldn’t even take her out shopping a few times, because he was afraid he’d see something she liked in her eyes, see her in beautiful clothes he couldn’t afford to buy for her.

He was afraid she’d buy him things, and he’d have to accept her gifts without being able to give anything in return...”

“What could possibly happen to your family... Don’t think you can just make something up to get sympathy...” Grace Sullivan stared at him, those eyes that used to make others afraid to look now filled with anger and a hint of doubt and surprise.

Ethan Brooks ignored her interruption and just kept talking, “That idiot actually had a lot more he wanted to say to that girl, but in the end, he felt that since she didn’t choose him, it was a kind of relief.”

“When we were kids, we probably all experienced this: liking something so much that we’d take a long bus ride, walk a long way, even spend all the money we’d saved up, just to buy it. Even if it might hurt us, just having it made us feel satisfied.

So there’s really no such thing as ‘suitable’ or ‘not suitable’—it’s just about whether you like it enough.

On behalf of that idiot, I wish you and Mr. Bennett a long and happy life together.”

Ethan Brooks waved, gave her a brilliant “goodbye” smile, picked up that bag of instant noodles—like it was his only treasure—and turned to walk toward the other end of the tree-lined path.