My Wife Never Knew Who I Really Was

"M-monster..."

The masked man lifted his head in terror and stared at Ethan with trembling eyes.

He had countless things he wanted to say, but in the end, only that one word came out.

His entire body shook. Other than fear, there was nothing left in his eyes.

Looking into that terrified gaze, Ethan suddenly felt that being feared was much more comfortable than being looked down on.

During his three years as a live-in husband, people had called him a freeloader, a parasite, a pretty boy, a useless waste.

Compared with those names, monster was almost pleasing.

Without another word, Ethan lifted his leg and kicked again.

Fast as lightning.

Straight into the man's chest.

Bang!

The masked man flew backward, tracing a neat arc through the air before landing perfectly beside his partner outside the store.

The two men lay side by side on the floor, one clutching his chest, the other clutching his stomach, groaning one after another.

At that moment, mall security finally arrived.

Seven or eight uniformed guards rushed over, panting hard.

The captain swallowed and waved. "What are you standing around for? Take them away. Send them to the nearest police station."

Several guards nodded, swarmed forward, lifted the two robbers, and dragged them off.

After security took them away, the store gradually returned to order, and the staff began cleaning up the scene.

Ethan turned and walked toward Vivian.

When he saw her expression, he smiled and asked, "Who made you unhappy? Why the long face?"

Vivian glared at him fiercely.

"Are you insane?"

Her voice was much louder than usual. "That was a gun. A real gun. What if something had happened?"

The more she spoke, the more emotional she became. Her chest rose and fell quickly.

"Can you value your own life a little?"

Seeing her like this, warmth rose in Ethan's heart.

He could tell that Vivian was truly worried about him.

Ethan raised a hand and slung his arm around Vivian's shoulders like they were old buddies.

Then he leaned closer with a careless smile. "What? Is President West worried that if I die, no one will marry you?"

Vivian lifted her elbow and struck him hard in the waist.

"Hiss."

Ethan pretended to suck in a breath from the pain.

Vivian still glared at him with an expression that was not threatening at all, and even a little cute.

"Who do you think I am? I'm Vivian West."

"Forget the whole country. Even just in Northbridge, there are at least a hundred men who want to marry me, if not a thousand."

She stepped closer and emphasized every word. "You'd better not die. Otherwise..."

Vivian snorted. "I'll marry someone random just to make you regret it so badly that you won't even get the chance to reincarnate."

After saying that, she turned her head and refused to look at Ethan.

But the slight tremble of her eyelashes betrayed what she truly felt.

Ethan looked at her stubborn, soft-hearted face and tightened the arm around her shoulders.

"Fine, fine. I won't die, and you won't die either."

He leaned his face closer and tilted his head until it rested lightly against hers. "We'll stay together for a long, long time."

Vivian stiffened at the sudden intimacy.

She wanted to say something, but in the end, she could not hold back and laughed from sheer exasperation.

"Get lost. You're never serious."

She raised a hand and pushed him, but the force was so light it was almost like a touch.

Her mouth scolded him, but the corners of her lips would not stop rising.

Before long, two people hurried onto the scene.

One man and one woman, both in formal attire, both with anxiety and lingering fear on their faces.

The man was a little heavyset, wearing gold-rimmed glasses, and looked to be in his early forties.

The woman was in her thirties, wearing a professional suit with polished makeup.

They quickly walked to Ethan and stopped in front of him.

The man looked Ethan over from head to toe. After confirming that he was unharmed, he finally breathed out in relief.

Then he bowed slightly and introduced himself.

"Sir, my name is Daniel Reed. I am the general manager of this mall."

He gestured to the woman beside him. "This is Lydia Bennett, the manager of this watch store."

Lydia also bowed, her face full of sincere gratitude.

"Sir, thank you so much for what you did today. If not for you, our store would have suffered a terrible loss, and someone might have been hurt."

Daniel nodded, took a card from inside his jacket, and held it out to Ethan with both hands.

"Sir, this is a small token of appreciation from our mall. It is a shopping card worth two hundred thousand dollars and can be used at any store here. Please accept it."

Ethan did not refuse. He took it casually.

"Then I won't be polite."

"Of course. Of course," Daniel said quickly. Seeing Ethan accept the card, he finally looked relieved.

Lydia stepped forward as well.

"Sir, the watch you just purchased is on us."

She paused, then added, "Also, you may choose another watch for yourself. Any model, any price. Consider it our store's thanks."

Vivian accepted for Ethan directly.

"Then we won't stand on ceremony."

Perfect timing.

She had wanted to choose a watch for Ethan anyway. This counted as borrowing flowers to offer them to him.

Vivian did not hesitate at all. She turned and walked to the display case.

Her gaze swept over the watches and finally stopped on one.

It was a men's mechanical watch, simple and elegant.

Vivian pointed to it. "Please take this one out."

"I'll do it."

Lydia personally stepped forward, opened the counter, and carefully took out the watch.

Vivian accepted it, returned to Ethan, took his hand, and lowered her head to fasten the watch around his wrist.

After securing the clasp, she examined it for a few seconds and nodded with satisfaction.

"Mm. It suits you."

Ethan glanced down at the watch on his wrist. It really did look good.

He answered with a smile, "As expected of President West's taste. You never miss."

Standing nearby, Lydia did not feel any pain over giving it away.

Compared with the loss Ethan had helped recover and the danger he had prevented, what were two watches worth a few hundred thousand?

Those goods in the bag were worth millions.

If they had truly been stolen, she would have been cursed to death by the owner and might even have had to pack up and leave.

As for Daniel, he was even more relieved.

If someone had died, the mall's losses would not have been something a few hundred thousand could solve.

Customers would feel unsafe. Who would still dare to shop here?

If the reputation collapsed, business could collapse with it.

Now all he had given away was a two-hundred-thousand-dollar shopping card. It was more than worth it.

After choosing the watch, Ethan and Vivian prepared to leave.

When they reached the entrance, Daniel and Lydia stood on both sides and bowed deeply.

"Please take care. We hope to see you again."

Their attitude was so respectful it looked like they were seeing off executives.

Ethan waved and walked away with his arm around Vivian.

They entered the elevator.

The doors slowly closed.

The numbers began to change.

Leaning against the elevator wall, Ethan suddenly remembered something.

He turned to Vivian. "Did we forget something?"

Vivian was still looking down at the watch Ethan had personally chosen for her.

Hearing him, she looked blank. "Did we? What did we forget?"

She blinked and tried to think.

One second.

Two seconds.

Three seconds later, her eyes widened sharply.

"Oh no."

She remembered.

Their original purpose in coming to the mall had been to pick a meeting gift for Celeste.

And what happened?

From beginning to end, neither of them had remembered to buy it.

Vivian pressed a hand to her forehead, looking utterly defeated.

People who knew the truth would say they came to buy a gift.

People who did not know might think they had come here specifically for a date.

Ethan saw through her thoughts and could not help laughing.

"Tell me," he deliberately teased, "did we come here to buy your best friend a gift, or did we come here on a date?"

"You still have the nerve to say that?"

Vivian shot him a resentful look.

She said it, but she did not actually deny it.

Mainly because she could not.

If this was not a date, then what was it?

"Let's go," she said. "Hurry up."

"We still have almost an hour. We can make it."

Author's Note:

This story will continue updating here.

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Thank you for reading.