Julian Sterling curled his lips into a smirk upon hearing Ethan Caldwell's words. In truth, he had long guessed that Ethan knew about the tricks he had played with the stock brokerage account.
It was ridiculous. How could a CEO casually toss his credit card to someone else without checking exactly where the money was flowing?
Even if it were merely a matter of losing money on stocks, Julian believed that Ethan would certainly dig deep to find out how the cash flow was moving.
Julian pouted and replied, "That money is my retirement fund. Who do those Sterlings think they are to touch my money?"
Ethan burst into laughter at that. Sometimes, he really could not understand what was going on inside that little head of Julian's. Was that bit of money really enough for him to retire on?
Although he thought this, he did not voice it. Ethan picked up a piece of fruit and fed it to him, quietly waiting for Julian to continue speaking. Julian still had not answered his question.
"What do I want to do?" Julian chewed the fruit, narrowing his eyes in thought for a moment. "Nothing much. Just try to study well, then transfer majors and become a painter."
"You need to try? If I'm not mistaken, you just don't want to show off." Ethan pinched Julian's nose. He thought to himself, how could someone like Julian, who could silently manipulate the stock market in such a short time and funnel Ethan's money into his own private account without anyone noticing, possibly struggle with his studies?
Ethan even suspected that the only reason he had discovered this was because Julian had intentionally left a back door open. If Julian had wanted to hide it, even if Ethan had his suspicions, he would never have found any evidence.
It seemed that Julian had deliberately left clues, paving the way for this very conversation today.
"Oh, why should I show off?" Julian sprawled lazily in Ethan's embrace and said, "Actually, sometimes people are very despicable."
"When they discover their biological child has been suffering out in the world, they weep and insist on bringing him home, feeling guilty towards him." Julian stopped abruptly here and asked Ethan a question. "Ethan, do you have a white moonlight?"
"What white moonlight? I only have a red rose, and that is you." Ethan raised an eyebrow, not understanding why Julian would ask such a random question out of nowhere.
But Julian did not answer his query. He just let out an "Oh" and continued, "People often mock men for lingering between white roses and red roses; if it is not the white moonlight, then it is the vermilion mark. However, in reality, it is not just men who are like that."
"That is simply human nature. The things we cannot have are always the most beautiful."
"When the biological child hasn't appeared yet, they feel that blood ties are the most important thing. Once he is there, they suddenly feel that the adopted child is both pitiful and sensible. In the end, it is all due to a greedy nature, longing for things that do not belong to them."
Julian wiggled out of Ethan's embrace and turned to face him. "Tell me, what would have happened if I had been a truly capable and sensible child back then, brilliant enough to top Saint Lawrence University?"
Although it was a question, his tone was flat, and he had no intention of letting Ethan answer. He continued on his own, "Perhaps they would feel that their son is so mature that he doesn't need anyone to take care of him. Aaron is different; he is so small and has been sheltered for so many years. If he were abandoned now, how would he survive?"
"Obedient children don't get candy, so I wanted to be a spoiled child. But then they felt that such a spoiled brat was not worthy of being their son."
"Sometimes I didn't know if I was doing something wrong or not, until that moment…" Julian paused for a while, his eyes reddening slightly and his voice choking up. Ethan knew he was referring to the time Julian had attempted suicide upon learning he was to marry him.
Ethan said nothing, only trying to listen intently to what Julian was about to say.
"It wasn't until then that I realized, no matter what I did, I would always be wrong. Because Aaron is the white rose that became the brilliant, untouchable white moonlight. And me? I am just a vulgar, withered rose that became a mosquito blood stain on the wall. Filthy and foul."
"Precisely because we don't have it, we keep craving it. Am I not the same? Being a despicable person clinging to them, without a shred of dignity, utterly shameless."
Julian's voice choked up. He gave a scornful laugh, gritting his teeth as he spat out each word, "Human nature is always despicable like that."
A transparent droplet slid down and landed on the back of Ethan's hand. That scorching sensation made him panic for a split second. Ethan reached out, pressing Julian into his chest and patting his back. He could feel the slight trembling of the body in his arms.
He did not know how to coax someone, nor did he know how to comfort them; he could only use his actions to let Julian understand that Ethan was still there by his side.
Julian quietly hugged him back, neither crying nor saying a word.
The room remained silent for a long time.
A moment later, Julian, with his face still buried in Ethan's chest, curled his lips upward and laughed softly.
He had played this emotional card perfectly.
Was Aaron really the only one who knew how to pretend?
In this world, it is not only the manipulative innocents who know how to feign helplessness. In truth, if the villain decides to put on an act, they can be far more pitiable.