CHAPTER 377: CHAPTER 377: DRIVEN TO DESPERATION

Ethan Sterling wasn’t surprised at all when she said this. He put down the water cup and stood up immediately.

At this moment, Honey, rubbing her sleepy eyes, said, "Mom, can’t we let Dad stay today? He can sleep in my room."

When Dad was leaving, she woke up. She hadn’t slept deeply since and heard noises outside, thinking Dad might have returned. But after waiting a long time without seeing him come inside, she groggily got up and just happened to hear Mom sending Dad away.

She quickly walked over, leaned on her mom’s side, and pleaded, "Mom, can Dad stay with me today?"

"Be good, Honey. Dad will come to see you another day," Ethan Sterling said as he began to walk out.

Honey got a bit anxious and quickly rushed to hug Dad, "Mom, why must you make Dad leave?"

Ruby Sullivan, looking at her daughter’s earnest yet confused eyes, felt a little pain in her heart, "Alright, but just this once."

Honey didn’t want to investigate what ’just this once’ meant, she just knew she was happy Dad stayed, "Dad, just this once, Mom agreed, hehe."

Ethan Sterling rubbed his daughter’s fluffy head, and his constantly stern face softened. He picked Honey up in one swoop, "Then let’s go to bed, otherwise, you’ll be sleepy at school tomorrow."

Honey leaned on Dad’s shoulder and whispered, "Aren’t you going to keep Mom company for a bit?"

Ethan Sterling smiled and whispered back, "No, just in case I get sent away by Mom again."

"True, then let’s go to sleep."

Ruby watched her father and daughter walk away, lowering her eyelid disdainfully. She heard it all, didn’t she? So rude!

After a while, Mama Bennett came over, "The bathtub is filled with hot water. Do you want me to add more hot water in the washbasin?"

"No need, I’ll just take a soak in a bit." Maybe the bath helped her circulation, but when Ruby Sullivan tried moving, it surprisingly didn’t hurt much anymore.

"Alright." Mama Bennett responded, looking at her hesitantly before saying, "I see Mr. Sterling is still quite concerned about you. When he heard you sprained your ankle, he quickly put on his clothes to go out. He didn’t even dress warmly, so I insisted on giving him a down jacket."

"Mama Bennett." Ruby Sullivan frowned slightly.

"I just feel sorry for you." She didn’t know why the two of them suddenly separated. At first, she thought they had some big plan and had to do it, but after questioning Ruby Sullivan for a long time, the result was disappointing.

Even though she was close to Ruby, she was just a servant and couldn’t speak too harshly, just worry in vain.

Ruby Sullivan took the towel from Mama Bennett’s hand and dried her foot, "We parted, each finding peace in our own lives. It’s quite nice."

She put on her slippers to take a bath, and before going to sleep, she turned off her phone alarm. Knowing it would cause so much trouble and still not being able to sleep now, she might as well have had a good night’s sleep in R City and come back after waking.

Ethan Sterling ate breakfast and sent the little ones to school, without further inquiring about anything related to Ruby Sullivan.

After Honey got out of the car, Seth couldn’t hold back his question, "Dad, will you and Mom get back together?"

"I don’t know." Ethan Sterling didn’t want to make promises he couldn’t keep to his son.

Seth sighed, "Do you not love Mom anymore?"

"When you grow up, you’ll understand—loving someone doesn’t necessarily mean being with them."

Seth pouted, "Isn’t that something only jerks would say?"

Ethan Sterling frowned, "Don’t look at those messy things online."

"Dad, don’t you want to see Mom smile like Honey?"

Ethan Sterling thought of Ruby Sullivan, then Honey, "I think your mom is smarter... a lot more than Honey." However, he indeed liked watching Ruby Sullivan’s silly smiles. It was different from Honey’s—Honey’s silly smile came from her naturally silly nature, while Ruby Sullivan’s silly smile appeared only when she let go of her anxieties occasionally without thinking about anything.

In his eyes, her silly smile was much more precious than his daughter’s.

Seth glared at him, "Dad, can’t you stop nitpicking these details? I just want to see Mom smile like that. But I know only you can make her smile that way. Look, she’s been so busy lately, almost unable to smile; she’s under a lot of stress."

"Everyone has to take responsibility for their own choices. You are not a fish; how do you know the joy of fish? Maybe your mom prefers her current life."

Seth puffed his cheeks angrily, "Dad, have you turned back into a jerk?"

Ethan Sterling lowered his gaze, pretending not to hear what he just said.

After that, the father and son didn’t speak until Seth got out of the car and they exchanged, "Goodbye."

Left alone in the car, Ethan Sterling immediately took out his phone and called Howard, "Who did Ruby Sullivan go on a business trip with yesterday?"

Howard, who was having breakfast, hastily put down his fried egg, "Me, why?"

"Who else?" Ethan Sterling’s face grew darker, recalling the man from last night.

"No one else."

"What was the business for?"

Although Howard thought there was no issue telling Ethan Sterling, he still had professional ethics to consider. Moreover, Ethan Sterling and Ruby Sullivan’s relationship was currently delicate. Howard was someone who valued the past but would never do anything to harm Ruby Sullivan.

"Mr. Sterling, can I ask you a question first?"

"Go ahead."

"Did you have a hand in the breach of contract by the OEM factory?"

"Yes."

"Why?" Howard frowned, his tone becoming very unfriendly.

"To push Ruby Sullivan to a dead end."

Howard was stunned.

He didn’t know why the two separated, but as a man, he found Ethan Sterling’s actions very distasteful, "Mr. Sterling, I think you could stand by and do nothing, or even make things worse, but you shouldn’t be the one digging the pit. In the future, don’t ask me about anything related to Nirvana anymore." After saying that, he hung up the phone, the first time in all these years he had ever hung up on Ethan Sterling.

On the other side, Ethan Sterling’s expression darkened even more, but upon thinking of how loyal that young man was to Ruby Sullivan, it softened a bit.

Driver Old Black coughed twice.

Pretending to be deaf and mute ought to be the driver’s usual duty, but hearing Ethan Sterling’s last words made him feel uneasy. From the rearview mirror, he sneaked a few glances at Ethan Sterling, several times wanting to speak up but hesitating.

As they were almost at the company, he finally spoke up, "Mr. Sterling, I think acting too harshly towards Mr. Sullivan would not be good for the children." He had thought about it for a long time, feeling that mentioning the children would be the most appropriate and gentle reminder.

In truth, his thoughts were straightforward, just like Howard. Even if they’ve separated, and are practically strangers, they don’t need to become enemies or resort to ruthless retaliation.

Ethan Sterling glanced at him coldly, "We’ve separated; the children don’t even have a complete home, either, which isn’t good."

"That’s true..." Old Black’s attempt to speak further was blocked by the cold tone, and he sighed, saying nothing more.