Seeing these two, who looked like a golden boy and jade girl... no, it should be a jade boy and golden girl, bickering with each other, a faint smile finally appeared on Mrs. Smith’s usually tense face. However, she still didn’t know how to get along with Miss Emily from the Duke Zhao’s household, so she quietly slipped away and called Mrs. Clark from the kitchen to help tidy up the rooms in the inner courtyard.

Although he was a bit uneasy, Ethan Bolton didn’t provoke Miss any further. Instead, he led the others on a tour of his home, inside and out. The house had two courtyards, front and back. In the outer courtyard, the east and west wing rooms were occupied by Old Clark and Mrs. Clark, the couple, along with Sam. The main hall was locked up at night. For the past three years since recovering from his illness, Ethan Bolton had lived alone in the main room of the inner courtyard, while Mrs. Smith stayed in the east wing of the inner courtyard, and the west wing was left empty.

Since the place was so small, the tour only took a short while. As expected, he heard Miss’s surprised sigh: “Why is it so small...”

Ethan Bolton couldn’t help but chuckle. “The house is humble, Miss, please forgive me. After all, compared to those hardworking farmers, my home is already considered luxurious.”

Seeing Emily Brooks fall silent, he added, “Of course, being able to live in this house is all thanks to your father.”

Emily Brooks was a bit displeased. “Are you planning to do what you did when you mocked Charles Brooks before—recite a couple of poems to ridicule me for not knowing the hardships of the common people?”

Ethan Bolton shrugged. “It’s easy to go from frugality to luxury, but hard to go back. That’s human nature. Your family’s wealth was earned by your father risking everything. Why would I mock you? But, if your maid isn’t coming, that’s one thing, but what about your clothes?”

If it was just the maid issue, Miss Emily was confident she could manage. But now, faced with this major, non-negotiable problem, she was momentarily stunned.

For ordinary people, not changing clothes for a day was nothing. But for her, it was unthinkable!

She often changed outfits several times a day at home! There were riding clothes for horseback riding, special outfits for visiting guests, different attire for entering the palace, casual wear for staying at home, and even for feeding birds or boating in the back garden, she had to change!

What annoyed her most was that Ethan Bolton not only didn’t try to find a solution, but was making things worse, kicking her while she was down.

“Besides, we don’t wear silk at home, only cotton. Miss, you probably wouldn’t be used to it. Also, you’re tall, and my mother is shorter than you, so her clothes wouldn’t fit you either. Why don’t I have Old Clark and Sam hitch up the cart and take you to catch up with your people?”

“Ethan Bolton, are you that eager to get rid of me?” Emily Brooks finally exploded.

I stayed behind to help you! If I kept staying in this rural place, wouldn’t people like Charles Brooks look down on you? Do you know how hard it was for me to come up with an excuse to stay?

Of course, if you were just a handsome but shallow man who would flatter me or fawn over my status as a member of the Duke Zhao’s household, I wouldn’t have stayed...

Just then, Mrs. Smith hurried out of the main room. She happened to hear Ethan Bolton and Emily Brooks seemingly raising their voices, and seeing Emily Brooks’s aggrieved expression, she thought they were arguing. But after asking what was going on, she laughed.

“Ethan recently had two new summer outfits made, both of silk, which I specially prepared for his birthday. I haven’t had a chance to tell him, so of course he hasn’t worn them yet. You two are about the same size, Miss, so you can wear them for now. I’m sure the Duke Zhao’s household will send your things over tomorrow.”

Ethan Bolton had worked so hard to create an atmosphere where Miss couldn’t stay, but Mrs. Smith ruined it completely, leaving him almost speechless.

Emily Brooks, on the other hand, was overjoyed. Just from Mrs. Smith’s one sentence that left Ethan Bolton at a loss for words, she could finally stay with peace of mind, and she was grateful! Although Charles Brooks’s way of addressing Mrs. Smith flashed through her mind, she quickly pushed it aside.

Her eyes twinkled as she smiled and said, “Alright, I’ll listen to Aunt Smith! By the way, since I’m staying at your house, don’t call me Miss anymore. My grandmother and father both call me Lily!”

Having been stung earlier by Charles Brooks’s words about not being a proper mother-in-law, Mrs. Smith still felt uneasy. Now, hearing the Miss—whom she had thought was spoiled and willful—say this, she was both surprised and delighted. She had just started to protest, “How could I—” when she saw Emily Brooks looking a bit unhappy, and immediately changed her tune.

Thinking quickly, she pointed at the smiling Ethan Bolton and said, “Then Lily, you should call him Ethan like I do!”

Seeing Ethan Bolton immediately pull a long face, Emily Brooks was secretly delighted, but had to pretend to be nonchalant: “Then I’ll follow Aunt Smith and call him Ethan!”

She hadn’t thought much of it before, but now that she called him that, she really felt the name was rather plain. It was like the kind of nickname wealthy families gave their children to ward off bad luck...

Seeing Miss call him Ethan twice with a big smile, Ethan Bolton was utterly helpless. But with his own mother undermining him, what could he do?

However, what he didn’t expect was that Mrs. Smith suddenly made another shocking suggestion: “Ethan, tonight you can sleep with your mother.”

“Absolutely not!” Ethan Bolton rejected the idea without thinking.