One Hundred and ninety three

CHAPTER 193

"I think it was an accident." Uncle Chuck shrugged his shoulders, then looked at Alicia again. He continued with the words he was supposed to say to calm Alicia down. "You don't have to feel guilty. Who would have guessed that we would see a dead body in the river? It was a cold night, everyone really wouldn't have expected that. And about you being kidnapped, that was also an accident. Ethan was just hit, he's fine. Right, Ethan?"

It wasn't a small blow, Ethan wanted to protest. But what he did was Ethan smiled reluctantly. He nodded his head, agreeing with Uncle Chuck's opinion to make Alicia comfortable. "I'm fine, my head is hard as a rock and you can hit it a few times."

"That sounds like an exaggeration, Ethan," Alicia said, rolling her eyes lazily. Alicia crossed her arms over her chest, looking at the two men before her in turn. "But I'm serious about this. Last night, when I was kidnapped, he was my ex-boyfriend. His name is Ace, a police fugitive, he escaped from prison a few weeks ago."

Hearing Alicia's explanation, Ethan and Uncle Chuck were suddenly shocked. They were speechless, not knowing what to say.

"What... is he a mafia?" Ethan asked honestly, he couldn't stop himself from asking.

"Ethan, you shouldn't ask such a personal question," Uncle Chuck muttered, the man smiled pretentiously. Uncle Chuck waved in the air and again assured Alicia that everything would be fine. "It's no big deal, Alicia. He's just an ex-boyfriend, your current boyfriend is a policeman, which is a good change. The policeman will protect you from your ex-boyfriend, right?"

There was a moment's pause, before Alicia finally gave a long mumble and explained, "He was a fugitive and, well, you should know, he went to prison because he killed some people."

"That's worse than I thought," Ethan said innocently.

Ethan's eyes almost popped out of their sockets when he heard Alicia's story. Meanwhile, Alicia chuckled with amusement at Ethan's innocent behavior. He really was an attractive young man. Meanwhile, Uncle Chuck was more thoughtful. He didn't express much respect for Alicia's feelings.

"That's right, Ethan. And apparently, he's trying hard to catch up with me." Alicia shrugged her shoulders and put her hands in her pants pockets. "These few days I really feel like I'm being watched by someone, I feel insecure, it's a feeling that ends up making me always feel guilty towards you two, especially you, Ethan."

Ethan pointed at himself and raised both eyebrows high. "Me? Do I look very worried?"

"You threw up and almost fainted from seeing a corpse."

The young man in front of him rolled his eyes lazily. Ethan pointed at Alicia while whining. "Ah, you're so annoying! Let's not talk about that again."

But Alicia smiled bitterly in front of Ethan. "That's what I'm worried about. What if we find another corpse? Not only will you throw up, you'll probably pass out, or worse."

"Oh my God," Ethan sighed, making Uncle Chuck make up his mind.

Uncle Chuck interrupted their conversation. "All right, Alicia. It looks like you're having a tough time right now. We're trying to understand your current situation. But, you know what, you wait here, I'll pay your salary."

"I've only worked a few days," Alicia said uncomfortably, she smiled. "You don't need to pay me. You already gave me a bonus a few days ago. That's enough."

Refusing, Uncle Chuck then tried to make another suggestion. He muttered, then raised his hand in the air. "Wait here, I'll bring you something to take home. Don't go anywhere."

Alicia and Ethan exchanged glances, Ethan shrugged his shoulders and said, "I've only just gotten to know you, but the experience with you has been truly amazing, Alicia. I'm so sorry that you had to get involved with such terrible things."

"This is the destiny I have, Ethan."

As Uncle Chuck left to get something for Alicia, the atmosphere in the room remained tense. Ethan couldn't shake the feeling that they were stepping into a much darker world than they had anticipated.

Alicia sighed, her gaze fixed on some distant point, as if replaying the events in her mind. "Ace wasn't always like this," she began, breaking the heavy silence. "We were high school sweethearts, and everything seemed perfect until one tragic event changed that."

Ethan leaned in, his curiosity piqued. "What happened?"

Before Alicia could answer that question, Uncle Chuck interrupted their conversation.

Uncle Chuck returned with a bag, breaking the somber mood. "I brought some bottles of milk for you, Alicia. You know that I have a very clean farm that produces a lot of quality milk, right? You should at least take some of this milk and get fatter. Your body is nice, but it would be great if you fattened up a bit."

Alicia chuckled, appreciating the gesture. "Thank you, Uncle Chuck. You're really doing a great job. And yeah, you're very considerate."

Uncle Chuck winked. "Think of it as a small reward for the unforgettable experience you've had with us."

Ethan took out a bracelet from his pants pocket, he looked at the black colored object and considered before finally thrusting the bracelet and saying, "Can I give this to you, as a token of gratitude for such a wonderful and memorable friendship experience?"

Alicia's eyebrows furrowed deeply. "Can the experience of seeing a dead body and fainting after being hit be called memorable, Ethan?"

It was a sarcastic sentence, but Ethan actually laughed after hearing it. He handed the bracelet back to Alicia, then continued, "Come on, you can take this. This is all I can give you. And, about that experience, it was indeed an extraordinary experience. Not everyone gets to see a dead body in person, right?"

"Gosh, you're cool, Ethan, very, very cool," Alicia said, and accepted the bracelet. She put it on and smiled while shaking the bracelet in the air. "Thank you for the gift. It means a lot to me."