Chapter 4 I Am Your Aunt.

"Kristina, I know you hate me... But you don't love uncle, doing this is very cruel..."

"Is that so? But unfortunately, 'auntie' here has already agreed. Be good, and wait for the New Year, auntie will give you two big red envelopes."

After finishing, Kristina saw Ethan's car arriving. She confidently walked past Kendall and Martha towards it... Hmm, not a bad feeling at all. Climbing into Ethan's car, she felt extremely at ease, and he, seeing her like this, could only offer a light laugh as if she had caught the hidden smile in his expression, prompting her to sit up straight and ask:

"What are you laughing at?"

"Nothing, just seeing you seem quite pleased with yourself."

"Well, why shouldn't I be? A playboy and a green tea b*tch got what they deserved."

"So, marrying me doesn't seem too bad then?"

"Of course, it's extremely satisfying."

After speaking her mind, Kristina realized she had spoken too soon, her face, previously smug, suddenly flushed with embarrassment, and she couldn't bring herself to look at him anymore. At that moment, Ethan said:

"What's wrong? Why stop talking, Kristina? I'm listening."

"Don't tease me."

Ethan just laughed out loud, seeing through the rearview mirror that her face had already turned pink. He decided not to tease the bashful girl any further.

Suddenly, Ethan handed her his phone, puzzling Kristina as he said:

"Save your number in this and scan the QR code to add me as a friend. We're about to get married, and I don't even have my wife's number?"

Kristina quickly did as instructed, her obedient demeanor making Ethan very pleased. She had been so fierce just moments ago, but now she seemed like a docile little bunny.

After saving her number and scanning the QR code, she handed the phone back to him. But before she could, she saw a call coming in from an unsaved number on the screen. She was about to mention it to him when Ethan said:

"Answer it, put it on speaker."

"Oh."

Obediently, Kristina answered the call on speakerphone.

The voice on the other end was a woman's, probably a friend of Ethan's?

"[Ethan, are you still in Thunder Bay?]"

Such familiarity must mean she's a friend, but Ethan didn't respond. Kristina wanted to remind him, but the woman continued:

"[If you're free this afternoon, could we meet at the old cafe? It's just a small gathering of old friends... Ethan, you'll come, won't you? I'll save a seat for you.]"

"Two seats, thanks."

After his curt reply, Ethan hung up, leaving the woman, and even Kristina, puzzled by his behavior.

Ethan then looked at her and asked:

"Are you free this afternoon?"

"Wait... You told her to save two seats, for me?"

"Yeah."

The more Kristina heard, the more she felt something was off. Clearly, the woman's tone suggested she wanted Ethan alone, yet he intentionally brought along his supposed wife.

What was this man thinking? Did he genuinely not understand women, or was he pretending not to?

"But... who is she?"

"Mariam Neal, an old classmate of mine."

"Just an old classmate?"

Ethan heard it and couldn't help but smile, then glanced at her, whispering:

"Do you notice?"

Kristina's small face blushed with the tease, but he just looked at her briefly and laughed a little, saying:

"Don't worry, I only have one ex-girlfriend, but she's already married. I'll introduce you to her when the opportunity arises."

"You... only have one?"

"Are you saying that's too few?"

"Who's saying? Not me."

After that, Kristina and Ethan didn't talk to each other for the rest of the way home.

Until they arrived at the Dean family's house, Ethan still got out of the car, taking a small gift from the car, preparing to go in with her, but Kristina was still bewildered... Huh?

Meaning... She thought today was just Ethan dropping her off, right? Meeting her family seemed... like it hadn't been mentioned yet?

Ethan saw her standing there dumbfounded and said:

"Sooner or later it would come up, might as well get it over with now, come on... Kristina."

"But... But I haven't told my mom yet."

"No problem, I'll do the talking, you just need to sit there and nod."

Before Kristina could process what Ethan had said, he had already rung the doorbell. Now, even if she wanted to run, she couldn't... Was she really going to marry her ex-boyfriend's uncle?

Actually, Kristina wasn't too shocked, but her mother... probably would be very surprised... What should she do?

The first step to affirming Ethan and Kristina's relationship was to "hold hands", and of course, he took the initiative to grab her hand, but Kristina was surprised and wanted to pull away, yet how could she escape from his grasp.

Ethan held her hand tightly, looked at her, and said:

"What's the matter? Planning to run?"

"Who's running? This is my house."

He just let out an "Oh" in encouragement, but then he wanted to laugh, as Kristina's petite and cute face started showing signs of embarrassment. If not for Ethan holding her tight, she surely would have run for real.

By then, her sister-in-law had already come out to open the door, but she was a bit surprised to see Ethan, even more so to see him holding Kristina's hand. But all Kristina could do was give a wry smile, saying:

"Sister-in-law, this is Ethan... He's... He's..."

"Hello sister-in-law, I'm Ethan, Kristina's fiancé."

Kaylee was stunned for a moment, but then Kristina just laughed bitterly, saying they should come in first, and she would explain later. What surprised Kaylee wasn't Kristina getting married; it was why Ethan was there? Even though Kaylee hadn't been to the company for a long time, she knew exactly who Ethan was.

Moreover... Moreover, Ethan was the uncle of Kristina's ex-boyfriend? From uncle to fiancé? Kristina was really going for it, huh?

As the three of them entered the house, they saw Lorelei holding a baby girl, the daughter of her elder brother and sister-in-law, named Lola Dean, or Lola at home, who was almost two years old now.