Chapter 62: Chapter 62: Sorry, as a repayment, I'll take good care of your mother

Chapter 62: Sorry, as a repayment, I’ll take good care of your mother

“Happy birthday, Ryan! Look what I brought you.” Ethan said, sitting in his wheelchair, holding a shopping bag.

“Man, Ethan, you shouldn’t have brought anything,” Ryan said with a resigned smile, taking the shopping bag from him. He opened it to find six comic books.

“Love of a Widow,” “Lonely Weekends of a Mature Woman”…

Ryan’s mouth twitched. “What on earth are these?”

Ethan chuckled awkwardly, “You’re always buried in those serious novels. Thought you might enjoy some comics to relax a bit.”

“Sorry, I didn’t have any spare cash, so I could only afford some discounted adult comics.”

Ryan paused, feeling a pang of guilt. “Damn, I really should’ve…” He held the comics carefully. “I’ll make sure to read them.”

“Good,” Ethan nodded, knowing full well he wasn’t short on cash. These comics definitely had another purpose.

“Ethan, thanks a lot. Let’s have some cake,” Mrs. Miller said as she walked into the room with a small cake in her hands.

“Sure,” Ethan replied with a bright smile. “I’ll light the candles.”

Mrs. Miller took out the candles, watching her son and this young boy getting along so well, feeling both relieved and conflicted.

After that last absurd suggestion, Ethan hadn’t brought it up again, which caught her off guard.

It seemed like Ethan’s intentions were as pure as he claimed, just wanting to ease Ryan’s pain.

“Mrs. Miller, could you turn off the lights?” Ethan said with a smile.

“Sure.” Sofia gathered her thoughts and turned off the lights.

“Happy Birthday to you~” Ethan started singing, and Ryan joined in. As they reached the part where you make a wish, Ryan glanced at his mother.

Sofia, watching her son, caught the look.

Her mind was filled with thoughts of making love with Ethan, just to give her son some peace. That sudden glance made her think of Ethan’s words.

“Ryan has been in a lot of pain, just putting on a brave face so you wouldn’t worry.”

Could it be that her son’s wish was truly for her to find happiness?

“I hope mom stays healthy,” Ryan wished silently, then blew out the candles.

“Oh~” Ethan played up the atmosphere.

The birthday mood was great,the three of them ate cake and chatted casually.

When it was time to head back to the hospital room.

“Mrs. Miller, sorry to trouble you again,” Ethan said with an apologetic smile.

“No, thank you for coming,” Mrs. Miller replied, pushing Ethan’s wheelchair. These days Blair would just drop him off and leave.

So it was Sofia who helped him back.

The two were silent as they walked down the corridor.

After the last incident, Sofia tried to keep her distance, and Ethan only spoke when she initiated conversation. All this made Sofia gradually relax, thinking this kid was actually quite easy to get along with.

As Sofia pushed him to the door of the hospital room, she suddenly asked, “Is Ryan really in a lot of pain?”

“I don’t know,” Ethan simply shook his head. “After all, I’m not him. Ryan is his own person,how could anyone else know what he’s thinking? But…”

Ethan looked up at Sofia, his face breaking into a sunny smile. “I think, as a son, seeing his mother happy must be his greatest wish. As long as his family is happy, I’d be at peace when it’s time for me to go.”

Sofia felt a mix of emotions and nodded slightly, “Sorry, I asked you some weird questions.”

“It’s okay, being with Ryan and Aunt Sofia feels like being with my own family. I’m really happy,” Ethan said sincerely.

“Hmm,” Sofia felt conflicted. This kid was treating her like family, but just a few days ago, he had expressed a desire to be her lover, highlighting a contradiction. “I should head back.”

Sofia glanced back at the hospital room before turning to leave.

Ethan watched her graceful figure, smiling to himself, knowing exactly what she was thinking.

He didn’t see a contradiction in considering Aunt Sofia as family and wanting to sleep with her,in fact, he found it doubly thrilling.

“I’m back,” Blair said as he opened the door to the hospital room and wheeled Ethan back in.

As the door closed, Ethan stood up from his wheelchair. Walking was still exhausting for him, but he made it a point to walk when no one was around to keep his body in shape.

“Mom’s busy with her exams these days, so she won’t come,” Blair said, not surprised to see him standing.

The two of them had no secrets between them.

“Is it already time for the teacher qualification exam?” Ethan walked over to his bed and lay down. “If Auntie passes and I get better, she might end up being my teacher.”

“Yeah, that could happen. Get well soon,” Blair replied, lying back on his bed and playing with his phone.

“I better complete my mission soon,” Ethan muttered to himself.

The next day, Ethan visited Ryan’s hospital room as usual.

“Ethan, do you think older women can really find happiness? Or is marriage that important?” Ryan asked, flipping through the comics Ethan had brought, feeling oddly empathetic.

“Well, good people exist at every age, right?” Ethan smiled. “Imagine, getting older and knowing someone is waiting for you at home. That must give you more hope.”

Ryan was silent. He knew that once he was gone, his mother would truly be alone.

Just the thought of that scenario filled him with immense guilt—it was all because of him.

“Is it really because of me? Because of me, my mother can’t find happiness?”

“I don’t know,” Ethan shook his head. “But I think, Aunt Sofia loves you, she puts you above herself. That’s what mothers do.”

“Ah,” Ryan put down the comic and sighed deeply.

Ethan felt quite shameless, exploiting the love between this mother and son.

“Sorry, as a repayment, I’ll take good care of your mother.”

That was his goal, to manipulate Ryan’s perceptions.

Since Ryan usually just read books and couldn’t go out much, with limited exposure to the outside world, it was easy for Ethan to reinforce certain ideas under his deliberate guidance.

Like the idea that his mother was rejecting happiness just to take care of him.

A woman needs a good husband to be happy in the future.

Ryan also hoped that after he was gone, his mom would have someone to rely on.

Originally, these thoughts were just in his mind, but under Ethan’s deliberate influence, he had come to believe that his mother was refusing happiness because of him.

That evening.

“Mom,” Ryan suddenly said, looking at his mother. “If possible, I hope you can remarry. After all, dad has been gone for many years.”