The woman immediately panicked.

Hannah Cooper finally smiled and said, “Then hurry up and get it done. Give it to me early tomorrow. Still daring to talk back to me? I’ll deal with you.”

After the woman left, she casually flipped through the documents in front of her, but found she couldn’t focus at all. She simply stopped reading and continued to sit there, propping up her head in a daze.

Recalling what happened that day, a spark gradually appeared in Hannah Cooper’s eyes, but then she gave a self-mocking smile.

“Heh, I never thought the damsel-in-distress scenario would happen to me.”

“He seemed to be called Ethan Brooks.”

Ethan Brooks wasn’t very tall, nor could he be called handsome, but he looked sunny and gave off a good vibe.

Especially that day, his clean and decisive moves, every punch landing hard—she’d only seen that on TV. Maybe her father’s bodyguards had that kind of skill too, but there’s no way any street thug would dare provoke them.

All in all, Ethan Brooks really wasn’t tall or handsome, but he was still much better than a bodyguard. What set him apart the most was how hurriedly he left that day—that’s what truly made her think of him until now.

The damsel-in-distress scenario mostly happens on TV, but if it really happens, few women can deny its impact.

Maybe there was a bit of rebellion in it too. She’d been pampered since childhood, but it felt like her whole life was predetermined. She longed for a love of her own, even more than most people.

“Sigh…”

Hannah Cooper let out a sigh, then continued to open the files on her desk and focused on reading.

Ethan Brooks had helped her once, but didn’t ask for anything in return. This kind of fairytale scenario—any girl would cherish it in her heart for a while.

But she knew even better that, maybe before long, she’d completely forget about it, and forget about Ethan Brooks too. After all, their paths barely crossed.

……

After three months of hardship, Ethan Brooks certainly wasn’t going to treat himself badly. What’s more, not only did he now have over a hundred thousand yuan in his account, he still had fifty thousand US dollars left in his portable space, so there was no need to save money at all.

He found a pretty upscale hotel to eat at, but he was alone. Unlike others feasting on lavish dishes, he only ordered a few, but finished every bite.

Just as he was about to pay the bill, his phone vibrated in his pocket. He picked it up and saw the profile picture of a middle-aged woman light up on the screen. He hesitated for a moment, but still swiped to answer the call.

Emily Foster had gone home for a bit—he didn’t know if she’d told his parents about his resignation, but probably not.

“Hello, Mom.”

“Ethan Brooks, what are you doing right now?”

“I’m eating out.”

“You see, when you were at home, I told you to learn to cook but you wouldn’t. Now look, eating out is so expensive.”

“Ahem… It’s not that I can’t cook, it’s just that what I make doesn’t taste good.”

“I know you. Are you doing well out there? How’s work? Everything going smoothly?”

Ethan Brooks’s heart skipped a beat. He fell silent for a moment, then quickly changed the subject.

“Mom, I know how to take care of myself. You don’t need to worry. Come on, if you have something to say, just say it. I haven’t paid the bill yet.”

“You brat, can’t a mom call her son just because she misses him? Does there always have to be a reason?”

Ethan Brooks curled his lips and said, “Alright, Mom, I’ll call you back when I get home. Let me pay the bill first.”

The voice on the other end grew anxious: “Hey, wait, what’s the rush? After you finish eating, sit for a while and rest before heading out.”

Ethan Brooks was a bit helpless. “Just tell me, what do you want?”

“You… Your sister just finished the college entrance exam a few days ago, right? She said she wanted to go to the provincial capital with her classmates to relax. She should have arrived yesterday. I figured since you’re in Jinguan City, I told your sister to call you. Did she?”

“Uh… Maybe she hasn’t called yet, or maybe my phone was off.”

Ethan Brooks gave a wry smile. He did have a younger sister, named Olivia Brooks.

But Olivia Brooks was pretty, had great grades, always came in first. Whether it was relatives, friends, teachers, or classmates, everyone praised her. She was also very proud. In contrast, he was the negative example—aside from getting into a prestigious university, he had no real achievements. Olivia Brooks had clashed with him since childhood, and as they grew up, she looked down on him even more.

With a relationship like that, how could Olivia Brooks possibly call him? She probably just agreed to it to brush their mom off.

Ethan Brooks’s mother was named Evelyn Parker.

Evelyn Parker sighed and said, “Sigh, your sister is about to start college and still doesn’t know how to behave. But you’ve been working for a year now, so you can’t be as immature as your sister.”

Ethan Brooks said helplessly, “Alright, I’ll call her in a bit.”

Evelyn Parker nodded on the other end and said, “I don’t mean anything else. It’s just that she’s graduated from high school and is about to go to college. I want you to take your sister to buy some decent clothes, and also help you two bond a bit. You’ve lived under the same roof for over ten years, yet you’re still not close. If people heard about it, they’d laugh at us.”