Chapter 654: Caught Red-Handed by Her Father-in-Law
Chapter 654: Chapter 654: Caught Red-Handed by Her Father-in-Law
Renee Jennings’s lips moved slightly as she slowly began to speak. "Hello, Lucky. I’m Renee Jennings. Ethan asked me to ask you something. Did you hear me just now?"
Lucky stared at the person on the screen, a whimper escaping his throat. "Woof-whine~ I haven’t forgotten. I think about Dad every day."
Renee Jennings frowned slightly and asked in a soft voice, "Lucky, what happened that day?"
Lucky became lost in his memories.
It was a beautiful, sunny weekend. White clouds drifted lazily across the sky, and the sunlight was pleasantly warm.
Morvan, Ethan, and Ethan’s younger brother had gone to the hospital to visit a sick friend.
Ethan’s Dad had planned on going too, but when he realized the date clashed with his zodiac sign, he turned back halfway and took a taxi home.
Lucky often thought, ’If only Dad hadn’t come home that day.’
’If Dad hadn’t come home that day, he wouldn’t have collapsed, never to wake up again...’
When Ethan’s Dad arrived home, the first thing he saw was an unfamiliar pair of men’s sneakers in the entryway.
He glanced at the silent living room, then reached down to pat Lucky’s head and asked in a hushed voice, "Is someone here?"
Lucky let out a low whimper. "ARF~"
Ethan’s Dad muttered to himself, ’A burglar?’
But on second thought, that didn’t seem right. ’Why would a burglar take off his shoes?’
Ethan’s Dad tiptoed further inside. The doors to the other rooms were all open; only the door to his son and daughter-in-law’s bedroom was shut tight.
Ethan’s Dad frowned. He remembered his daughter-in-law saying she was going to visit a close friend who’d just had a baby.
’My son isn’t home, and my daughter-in-law isn’t home, so what is a stranger doing in their room?’
After a moment’s hesitation, Ethan’s Dad tiptoed to the utility closet and grabbed a hammer for self-defense.
Just as he was about to break down the door, a familiar voice drifted out from the room.
"Honestly, you’re too much. My husband and them barely walk out the door before you show up. Aren’t you afraid they’ll suddenly turn back?"
Ethan’s Dad’s expression instantly darkened.
It was his daughter-in-law, Maeve Sloan.
’She knows the owner of those sneakers?’
Then, a man’s voice followed. "My dear sugar mama, can you blame me when you’re so irresistible? If I go a single day without seeing you, I miss you so much it drives me crazy."
"Oh, stop it, you silver-tongued devil!" Maeve Sloan purred. "You’re so much more fun than that stuffed shirt I call a husband."
Hearing this, Ethan’s Dad tightened his grip on the hammer, rage churning in his chest.
"My dear sugar mama, if your husband is such a bore, why did you marry him in the first place?" the man teased. "You should divorce him and be with me instead."
"I married him precisely because he’s a boring, gullible oaf," Maeve Sloan said, her voice dripping with derision. "He’s completely obedient; he’d never dare to question anything I say. He never pries into my private life and just hands over his paycheck every month... A fool like that is a rare find."
The man clicked his tongue. "TSK TSK. So that’s how it is. My dear sugar mama, you’re a wicked woman, aren’t you?"
"So what?" Maeve Sloan said haughtily. "You have a problem with that?"
"How could I possibly object?" The man laughed. "If you weren’t so wicked, sugar mama, I wouldn’t get to have my way with you like this~"
"You have no idea. Marrying a simpleton like my husband is even better than being single," Maeve Sloan said, gloating. "He’s always busy at work, pulling overtime until the crack of dawn. By the time he gets home, I’m fast asleep. I have all his money to spend, and I don’t even have to sleep with him."
When Ethan’s Dad heard that, his face turned livid with rage, and his breathing grew rough and heavy.
"Sugar mama, your husband earns money for you to spend, you spend that money on me, and I sleep with you and make sure you’re... very well taken care of. It’s the perfect arrangement!"
"Then why have you stopped? Get back to taking care of me~"
"Maeve Sloan!" Ethan’s Dad furiously shoved the door open. The scene inside made his vision go black, and he had to clutch the wardrobe to keep from collapsing.
’His daughter-in-law, who always seemed so refined and proper, was straddling another man!’
The two naked people on the bed were terrified.
"AHH!!!" Maeve Sloan let out a sharp shriek and yanked the blanket around herself, covering her body completely.
She glared at her father-in-law, who had just burst in. Her voice trembled, thick with shame and indignation. "Dad, how could you just barge into my room without knocking?"
"Maeve Sloan, you depraved, degenerate woman! You are utterly shameless!" Ethan’s Dad raised the hammer and pointed it at her, his knuckles white from his grip. His face was a mask of purple rage, and he bit out each word as if forcing it through his teeth. "How could you do this to my son?!"
The pretty boy fumbled with his clothes in a panic, unable to even fasten his belt. Holding up his pants, he saw his chance while Ethan’s Dad’s fury was directed at Maeve Sloan, and he bolted out the door.
Maeve Sloan hadn’t expected the guy to run off so quickly, which only made her own anger flare hotter.
Since her father-in-law had caught her red-handed, she figured she might as well drop the act.
Clutching the blanket, she looked at him with contempt. "Dad, how can you blame me for this? If anyone’s to blame, it’s your son!"
"Blame my son?" Ethan’s Dad was so furious he laughed. "You said it yourself! He’s a good, honest man who gives you every penny he earns! What more could you possibly not be satisfied with?"
"I blame your son for being completely unromantic," Maeve Sloan sneered, her face twisting with disgust and contempt. "I’m in the prime of my life, beautiful as a flower, and what about him? He works overtime every single day, leaving me to sleep in an empty bed. What’s the difference between this and being a widow?"
"He works all that overtime to make money so you can have a good life!" Ethan’s Dad’s heart ached for all his son’s sacrifices. "You mention wanting a big villa, and he nearly kills himself working for it, skipping meals just to get ahead. What more do you want from him?"
Maeve Sloan let out a derisive snort. "Fine, if it’s not your son’s fault, then it’s yours. If the father wasn’t so useless, the son wouldn’t have to work so hard!"
"You—" Ethan’s Dad clutched at his heart. A terrifying tightness seized his chest as a sharp pain shot up along his ribs. All the color drained from his face in an instant, and his body swayed uncontrollably once more.
"What’s wrong?" There was a gleam of amusement in Maeve Sloan’s eyes. "Did I hit a sore spot?"
She laughed, her voice arrogant and cruel. "You old fossil, if you don’t want to ruin your son’s family, then you’ll be smart and pretend you saw nothing. You do that, and I’ll still acknowledge you as my father-in-law. I’ll even be a ’filial’ daughter-in-law to you, right alongside your son."
Ethan’s Dad shut his eyes, his whole body trembling with rage. Cold sweat trickled down his temples, and his voice was thick with seething hatred. "Maeve Sloan, you’re absolutely pathetic!"
"What?" Maeve Sloan’s expression turned cold. "What’s that supposed to mean?"
Ethan’s Dad took a deep breath, his words sharp and clear. "I’m going to tell Keenan everything—every single detail! I’ll make him cut ties with you completely. A promiscuous, morally bankrupt woman like you doesn’t deserve him!"
With that, he turned to leave.
Lucky stayed right by his side.
Maeve Sloan’s heart clenched in fear that he would actually go through with it. "You wouldn’t dare—" she yelled in a panic.