Bankrupt Tycoon? No Problem – This Villainess Will Make Him Rich Again

Chapter 135: Chapter 138: Deliberate Use

"!!!"

Sonia Quincy’s mouth dropped open. She stared at Ethan Lockwood with what could only be described as horror, as if his compliment were some terrifying beast.

Ethan Lockwood was amused by her reaction. "What’s wrong?" he asked, a hint of resignation in his voice. "Are you unhappy that I called you beautiful?"

"..." Sonia Quincy hurriedly backed away, letting her actions speak for themselves.

"..." Ethan Lockwood seemed wounded by her retreat. He froze for a few seconds before letting out a sudden sigh. "Ah..."

"We may have had our share of unpleasantness, but that’s all in the past. I’m not holding onto it anymore, so why are you still holding a grudge?"

Sonia Quincy had no patience for his ramblings. "If you have something to say, say it. If not, shut up."

Ethan Lockwood chose to keep talking anyway. "You’re pregnant. Instead of resting in the hospital in the middle of the day, where are you off to with your bag?"

"Hmph," Sonia Quincy sneered. "Cecilia Quincy should know where I’m going. Why don’t you go ask her?"

At the mention of Cecilia Quincy, Ethan Lockwood didn’t look sheepish, as he usually did. Nor did he show the sweet bliss one would expect when hearing his fiancée’s name.

He frowned, his eyes showing a clear flicker of irritation.

Sonia Quincy noticed his mood sour and asked gloatingly, "What’s wrong? You two have a fight?"

"...We didn’t fight." Ethan Lockwood’s eyes narrowed slightly, his expression visibly darkening.

Sonia Quincy blinked, a gossipy look on her face. "Then what is it? Why do you get upset the moment I mention her?"

Ethan Lockwood took a deep breath, then slowly exhaled. "It’s nothing. Just... Cecilia’s family has run into some trouble lately, and she cries all the time."

"She’s crying... and shouldn’t your heart be aching for her?" Sonia Quincy raised an eyebrow. Her look was purely mocking, without a trace of jealousy or irritation.

Ethan Lockwood disliked her expression and said deliberately, "There’s a limit to sympathy. She cries twenty-nine days out of the month. Wouldn’t you find that a little annoying?"

Sonia Quincy shook her head, her expression one of complete indifference. "How would I know if it’s annoying? I’m not you."

Ethan Lockwood was speechless.

Seeing that Sonia still wasn’t giving him the reaction he wanted, he pressed on. "I don’t know why. Before, whenever Cecilia cried, my heart would ache for her. But now that she cries so much, all I feel is exhausted and irritated."

"..." Sonia Quincy looked up at the floor indicator in the corner of the elevator, which had finally begun its descent. She ignored Ethan Lockwood’s pointless, boring chatter.

But Ethan Lockwood stared at her intently, and the last bit of warmth in his eyes slowly chilled to ice at her silence and indifference.

"Sonia?" He had planned to wait her out, to force her to speak first, but for some reason, he couldn’t hold on for more than two seconds before calling her name.

"What?" Sonia snapped impatiently.

His expression cold, he asked hesitantly, "Don’t... don’t you have anything to say?"

"..."

’Five, four, three, two, one!’

Sonia Quincy silently counted down with the descending elevator floors. When the display finally showed "1," she let out a sudden sigh of relief.

"Something to say..." She repeated Ethan Lockwood’s question, then after a moment’s thought, offered, "How about ’Congratulations and be prosperous’? Or ’May you have a son soon’? Or maybe, ’May you have 108 children in one go, and may they all be legendary hell-raisers’?"

"You—" Ethan Lockwood started.

DING—

The elevator doors opened, and without waiting for Ethan Lockwood to finish, Sonia Quincy turned and strode out.

Watching her nonchalant retreat, Ethan Lockwood’s irritation and frustration instantly peaked.

’He had been blatantly giving her an opening to get close to him, but she’d acted as if she didn’t understand, either playing dumb or ignoring him completely.’

’What, has it only been a few months? Has Sonia really fallen in love with that bankrupt Felix Preston? Is she really going to settle down, be his wife, and have his child?’

Ethan Lockwood stared at the slowly closing elevator doors as his mind raced uncontrollably. The very possibility sent a wave of inexplicable panic through him.

’After all, the old Sonia, if she heard me say a single bad thing about Cecilia, would have rushed to comfort me, to confess her true feelings. But now? No comfort, no confession. Just cold indifference.’

The stark contrast set Ethan Lockwood on fire; no matter how deeply he breathed, he couldn’t calm the heat rising within him.

DING—

"Elevator going up."

The elevator’s automated announcement, muffled by the surrounding din, faintly reached Sonia Quincy’s ears. She quirked a corner of her lips into a malicious smile.

’Some men are just scumbags,’ she cursed inwardly. ’They don’t cherish what they have, but covet what they can’t. I’m about to become a mother, and now Ethan Lockwood is getting ideas about me again. He’s absolutely shameless.’

’But... this is good, too. Ethan acting like this... it gives me a rare opportunity...’

"Sister-in-law!"

Just as she walked out of the hospital’s main entrance, Evan Yates’s voice called out from the nearby parking lot.

Sonia spotted him, gave him a wave, and walked straight toward him.

SLAM!

The car door shut, and Sonia diligently pulled the seatbelt across and buckled herself in.

Evan Yates started the engine and skillfully maneuvered the black Mercedes out of the hospital parking lot.

It was lunchtime, and the streetscape outside the window was bustling and vibrant.

But half an hour later, that vibrancy was replaced by desolation and stillness.

Sonia watched the greenbelts flash past the window. "Evan," she asked, puzzled, "aren’t we going to see Yvette Fuller?"

"We are," Evan Yates confirmed.

Sonia: "Then why are we taking such a desolate road? Does Yvette Fuller live out in the suburbs?"

Evan: "Not her home. The hospital her husband is in is in the suburbs."

"Hospitalized?" That one word made something click for Sonia. She turned to Evan and asked tentatively, "Is her husband sick?"

Evan hummed in confirmation. "Her husband was in a car accident half a year ago. A really bad one. He lost so much blood he passed out on the spot. When he woke up, he found out his right leg had been amputated high up on his thigh. He couldn’t accept it, and he’s slowly tormented himself into a state of sickness."

"It’s unclear if it’s depression or mania, but whatever it is, it’s serious. He can’t function in normal society anymore. Yvette Fuller had no choice but to put him in a sanatorium in the eastern suburbs. She moved, too—rented a place just outside the grounds so she could be nearby to take care of him."

"Oh my God..." Sonia was deeply shocked by the news. "So much has happened to Yvette in just half a year."

Evan let out a long sigh. "Just wait until you see her," he said, his tone heavy with meaning. "You’ll realize that’s not even the half of it."