The scene was as touching as seeing a wolf cub meeting its mother. Ethan's behavior didn't match that of a grown man who had six-pack abs at all.
Standing aside, Lawrence was speechless. There was nothing he could do but watch Ethan walk past him and hug Maria.
'Bravo! He is a really good actor,' Lawrence thought.
Every time Maria saw Ethan, her motherly instinct kicked in. He, who was over 1.8 meters tall, threw himself into her arms. The woman was more than ten centimeters shorter than him, so he almost knocked her over.
Watching the scene, James' face darkened as he warned, "Ethan Nan."
Ethan shivered at the sound of his cold voice. He then grabbed Maria’s sleeve and said, "Maria, help me, please! Or I'll die under James' fists."
Maria immediately pulled him behind her, facing the man on the ring. "James, how can you bully someone weaker than you?"
'Weaker?' James couldn't believe she was serious.
Lawrence couldn't bear to keep watching Maria being tricked, so he came forth and said coldly, "Maria, Ethan won the free boxing championship in H City."
"So what? You can't...Wait. What did you just say? What did he win?" Maria suddenly realized she heard the word "championship.”
Although the woman was glaring at him now, Ethan kept his aggrieved expression as he explained in a hurry,
"Maybe James has never won a boxing championship, but he's more skilled than I am! He'll beat me up if I fight against him. Do you really think it matters whether I won a championship or not?"
Maria thought it over and had to agree with him. Indeed, it didn't matter.
The situation seemed a little awkward then. Maria didn't know who to defend in this case. With a cough, she turned to Lawrence. "Hey, since Ethan doesn't want to fight, why don't you go ahead and replace him? I don't think you're afraid of being beaten up anyway."
Ethan agreed promptly, "Yes, that's right. You don't know it, Maria, but I didn't win the championship fairly. I only got the title because of James."
Maria suspected that wasn't entirely true, but she decided to nod instead of exposing him.
Slowly, she came to understand that Ethan had been hiding his real strength all along. She wondered if he had hidden it from James and Lawrence as well. In her presence, he had always kept the act.
Nevertheless, the wolf cub was really a quitter. Lawrence shook his head helplessly and put on his boxing gloves before going into the ring.
Ethan and Maria remained there as mere spectators watching.
James had been dissatisfied with Lawrence for a long time already, and the latter was aware of that. Hence, he was mentally prepared for what might come next.
As it seemed, a bloody battle awaited the two men.
Maria had to confess the scene in front of her was quite alluring. She was probably living every woman's dream. The two most famous handsome men in H City were topless, only in boxing pants, baring their six-pack abs to her. There was also a handsome young man standing by her side.
Crossing her arms over her chest, Maria decided to enjoy this once-in-a-lifetime show.
Unfortunately, the young man next to her couldn't keep his mouth shut. "Maria, have you really caught a cold?"
"Yes, but it wasn't serious."
"Have you taken any medicine?"
"Yep.” At that moment, Maria only had eyes for James and Lawrence.
She felt that compared to James, Lawrence seemed to have been out on a mission all year round and came back with a tan. Glancing at Ethan, she thought he was a little too fair-skinned for her taste. James was neither pale nor dark, so Maria deemed he was the most charming man among the three.
"Oh, that's good to hear. Has James known about your cold?"
"Yes, he has."
Comments
The readers' comments on the novel: A Vengeful Ex-Wife