Becoming A Tech Tycoon Begins With Regression novel Chapter 68

Chapter 68: You’re Not Gay....Are You?

Ethan’s sleep was cut by the sound of his ringing phone the next morning. At first, he just ignored it, since it was a bit too far for him to reach and end the call.

But then the ringing refused to stop which annoyed him, so with his face buried in the pillow, he ordered, "Athena, please turn off my phone."

{I don’t think that’s a good idea,} Athena responded, causing Ethan to raise his head from the pillow.

His face was sleep-swollen, eyes half-lidded with dark circles underneath as he muttered, "And why not?"

It felt like he had just gone to sleep a few minutes ago before the call came in and he had planned to sleep away the tiredness.

{Because the call is from María,} Athena answered.

Ethan immediately sat up, walked towards the work desk, where his phone was and sure enough, the caller ID showed María’s name.

Picking the phone up, he put it in his ear and said in a drowsy voice, "hello?"

"Dios, Ethan," María’s voice came through, "you’re still sleeping at this hour?"

"What time is it?" He muttered, walking towards the curtains.

Since they were drawn, the room was pretty dark so he didn’t know what the time was. Pulling the blackout curtains back, Ethan was met with the bright rays of the sun.

As if a vampire, he immediately flinched when the sun hit his eyes, it was so high up that his eyes needed a few minutes to fully adjust.

That definitely wasn’t a morning sun and María’s next words confirmed it.

"What time is it?" She repeated, "it’s afternoon Ethan, if you were sleeping till now, does that mean you skipped breakfast?"

Ethan rubbed his face with one hand, the phone still pressed to his ear. "Skipped breakfast, skipped lunch... what’s the difference?" His voice was dry.

"¡Ay, Dios mío!" María exclaimed, her tone was a mix of both exasperation and concern. "This is not healthy. You work too much, and now you even forget to eat? Ethan, are you trying to worry me into an early grave?" 𝘧𝓇𝑒𝑒𝑤ℯ𝑏𝓃𝘰𝑣ℯ𝘭.𝘤ℴ𝘮

A faint smile tugged at the corner of his lips, even now, she cared this much for him.

"Don’t worry, María. I’ll grab something to eat soon." He assured

"You always say that," she sighed, "but then you bury yourself in that computer of yours and forget. I should come over there and cook for you myself."

This reminded him of his university days, especially during exams. María’s cooking was the only thing that prevented him from eating instant noodles as breakfast, lunch and dinner.

As much as he was trying hard to push her away, he really did appreciate that she was stubbornly insistent on taking care of him.

"You’re welcome anytime, María." Ethan said, the sleep now completely gone from his eyes.

There was a moment of silence on the other end before she spoke up, "you seem different Ethan."

"Different how?" He asked, knowing exactly the answer to that question.

"Up until a few months ago, you seemed to to trying to stay away from me," she explained, "but these days, it seems different."

It was Ethan’s turn to be quiet. The reason he had been pushing her away was because he was scared, scared that her kindness was all a facade, kind that she’ll let him get used to it, only for her to leave him, like the orphanage had told him his parents did.

But experiencing the future had made him realize, María would never abandon him, on the contrary, he was the one that ended up abandoning her, he was the one that let her die alone and he was going to fix all that this time around.

"I’ve grown ever since I moved to Atlanta," he answered, "I now realize how important you are to me, María."

"I know I’ve said this before but, thank you María," he added, "for everything."

There was a sharp inhale on the other end as it seemed like she was trying to sort out her emotions.

"You’re welcome, Mijo." Was all María could say.

There was a moment of comfortable silence between the two when she suddenly spoke up, "that’s right, I called you for a reason."

"All this emotional talk made me forget."

This caused Ethan to chuckle a bit before asking, "And what reason was that?"

"It’s about Isabela," she started, Ethan could almost feel her teasing grin through the phone, "have you made any progress?"

With a sigh, he said, "No, María. I haven’t."

"Ay, Ethan," she said, sounding a bit disappointed, "you have a beautiful girl under your roof for days now and you haven’t made a move yet?"

"I’ve been busy with work," he simply said.

There was a pause on the other end, then María’s voice came again, this time softer but laced with curiosity. "Ethan... can I ask you something?"

"Of course."

"You’re not..." she hesitated, almost as if searching for the right words, "you’re not gay, are you?"

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