Chapter 50: Chapter 50: I’ll Give You 10 Minutes, Make Them Get Lost
### Chapter 50: I’ll Give You Ten Minutes. Get Rid of Them.
Ethan Hawthorne had appeared by her side at some point, his gaze also falling on the bench.
Maxine Rhodes whipped her head around to look at him, her eyes filled with incredulous shock.
’How did he get here? And how did he know about this time of day?’
In high school, she loved sitting on this very bench at this exact time to read for a little while. It was her most relaxing, solitary moment of the day—just a tiny, insignificant, and extremely private habit.
Ethan Hawthorne looked at her slightly furrowed brow, knowing what she was thinking.
Because back then, he would always sit in the academic building across the way, watching from a distance he never dared to cross as the light and shadows outlined her profile while she read.
She was the only light in his otherwise bleak youth.
Just then, Rose Joyce’s affected shriek shattered the silence. "Benjamin! Look! Your old basketball photo is still up there! You look so handsome!"
Her cry successfully drew everyone’s attention to the honor roll display.
A smug look had just reflexively appeared on Benjamin Sterling’s face, but Maxine Rhodes’s sharp gaze had already skipped past the basketball photo to a list for a highly prestigious math competition next to it.
The name at the very top was, shockingly: Ethan Hawthorne.
Maxine Rhodes looked at the man beside her, her eyes filled with disbelief. She had just been wondering why he was here, and the answer was suddenly revealed in this completely unexpected way.
"You were also... in our year?"
"Yes." Ethan Hawthorne met her gaze. "I was in Class Three."
"Mr. Hawthorne?! You... You’re an alumnus too?"
Just then, Benjamin Sterling heard the familiar voice, turned to see it was Ethan Hawthorne, and hurried over.
The business titan who outshone him at every turn was actually connected to him like this? This was a golden opportunity to curry favor, dropped right from the heavens!
Although he always felt infuriated by how Ethan Hawthorne toyed with him, he could set aside such personal grudges in the face of immense potential benefits.
Only then did Ethan Hawthorne slowly turn his gaze to him. His eyes held a trace of all-knowing, condescending pity, as if he had already seen through all of Benjamin’s petty schemes.
"Yes. Is there a problem?"
Hearing the confirmation, Benjamin Sterling strode forward, trying to get closer. "Since it’s such a coincidence, why don’t we walk around together? Maxine and I were just about to take a trip down memory lane. Mr. Hawthorne, you can tell us about your glory days!"
He deliberately said "Maxine and I" in an intimate way, attempting to establish a special connection between himself and Maxine Rhodes in front of Ethan Hawthorne.
Ethan Hawthorne gave a playful smile, but his eyes were frosty. "Alright."
Along the way, Benjamin Sterling acted like a peacock eager to display its feathers, deliberately striking up conversations with Maxine Rhodes to show off his past masculine charm in front of Ethan Hawthorne.
"Mr. Hawthorne, you have no idea. Back then, Maxine Rhodes used to bring me breakfast every single day, worried I’d get hungry during practice."
He watched Ethan Hawthorne’s reaction out of the corner of his eye as he spoke. Seeing the other man’s indifferent expression, he grew even more enthusiastic.
"And that time I got injured playing ball, she stayed by my side in the nurse’s office all night. Her eyes were all swollen from crying."
He shook his head as if helpless, but his tone was full of bragging. "This woman was so foolish back then, treated me incredibly well."
With every word Benjamin spoke, the darkness in Ethan Hawthorne’s eyes deepened, and the hand in his pocket slowly clenched into a fist.
Benjamin Sterling was completely oblivious to the danger. He thought Ethan Hawthorne was listening intently and performed with even more gusto. "The thing that moved me the most was when she saved up for three months, scrimping on food and expenses, just to buy me that pair of limited-edition basketball shoes..."
"President Sterling."
He was right in the middle of his story when Ethan Hawthorne suddenly spoke, his voice so cold it could freeze the air.
Benjamin Sterling’s words died in his throat, and he subconsciously turned around.
The moment he turned, Ethan Hawthorne took a seemingly casual half-step forward, his shoe precisely tripping Benjamin Sterling’s ankle.
"Oof!"
Caught completely off guard, Benjamin Sterling stumbled, lost his balance, and pitched forward, landing solidly on the ground with a dull thud.
Just as he was seeing stars, dazed from the fall, the gleaming sole of Ethan Hawthorne’s leather shoe came down squarely on the hand he had used to break his fall!
"Ngh—!"
Benjamin Sterling’s face twisted in pain, but he didn’t dare cry out loud, only managing to force a suppressed grunt from his throat.
Ethan Hawthorne then seemed to notice what was under his foot. He slowly moved it away, looking down at the pathetic sight of Benjamin Sterling on the ground. His voice carried a trace of utterly insincere concern. "President Sterling, how could you be so careless?"
He leaned down slightly. "Then again, President Sterling, your stance doesn’t seem quite as steady as your basketball skills would suggest."
"Pfft—"
A very soft, irrepressible laugh escaped Maxine Rhodes’s lips.
She quickly pressed her lips together and turned away, her shoulders trembling almost imperceptibly.
’I never thought Ethan Hawthorne could be so childish,’ she thought. ’But for some reason, it feels so satisfying.’
Benjamin Sterling pushed himself up using a tree trunk, his face alternating between red and white. He was overwhelmed with shame and anger but didn’t dare lash out at Ethan Hawthorne.
Ethan Hawthorne, however, acted as if nothing had happened. He leaned in close and, in a voice only the two of them could hear, spoke word by word, each one like an ice pick. "Benjamin Sterling, to trample someone’s sincere feelings underfoot and use them as fodder when you’re wagging your tail and begging for scraps—"
He paused, the contempt and disgust in his eyes unconcealed.
"This side of you is truly hideous."
Sprawled on the ground, Benjamin Sterling felt a piercing pain shoot through his hand. His face burned with a shame so intense he wished he could find a hole to crawl into and disappear!
He clenched his jaw, looking up at Ethan Hawthorne. He couldn’t figure it out. ’Where on earth did I offend this man? Why is Ethan Hawthorne always targeting me?!’
But he didn’t dare ask a single word.
After speaking, Ethan Hawthorne didn’t spare another glance at Benjamin Sterling’s instantly pale face. He walked straight to Maxine Rhodes, the terrifying pressure around him instantly vanishing. His tone returned to its usual composure. "I remember there’s a small garden up ahead with a nice view. Instead of listening to pointless old stories here, why don’t we go for a walk over there?"
Maxine Rhodes glanced at Benjamin Sterling’s miserable expression, like he’d swallowed a fly but couldn’t spit it out, and a knowing smile flickered in her eyes.
"Okay." She nodded cheerfully and walked away side-by-side with Ethan Hawthorne, leaving the ashen-faced Benjamin Sterling and the dumbfounded Rose Joyce completely behind them.
Once they were some distance away, Ethan Hawthorne stopped, took out his phone, and dialed Erza Sinclair’s number directly. "Erza, I’ll give you ten minutes. Find a reason to make Benjamin Sterling and that woman with him leave Jaxen. Immediately."
"I don’t care what reason you use. I just want results."*****
