Obedience No More He's the One I Deserved novel Chapter 204

Ethan leaned back lazily and gave a casual "mm," then added, "If it comes to a fight, I'll try to go easy."

Tara sighed.

In the living room, Dawn and Austin sat across from each other. She rubbed her hands lightly, her mind searching for the right words.

"Dawn, what are you so guilty about?"

It was Austin who finally broke the silence, his tone carrying a trace of mockery. "It seems that ever since I walked in, you haven't looked me in the eye."

Dawn lifted her head.

He sat there with his legs casually bent.

His posture looked relaxed, yet no matter his expression or the way he held himself, it screamed control.

"Does it mean anything whether I look at you or not, Uncle Austin?"

When he first came in, Dawn thought making eye contact would just be awkward. Later, Ethan kept tickling her palm under the table, and she had held back her laughter so hard her face flushed red—of course, she could not look up.

"It doesn't mean anything," Austin said, his gaze fixed on her, voice low. "But you're putting on an act even in your own house. Isn't this just your way of forcing me to back down? Dawn, that's enough."

Dawn opened her mouth but found herself speechless.

Why was it that no matter how many times she told him, he just wouldn't believe her?

She was exhausted from explaining.

Seeing her unable to answer, that strange panic in Austin's chest seemed to ease a little. "You can throw tantrums at me all you want, but marriage isn't something to joke about. Dawn, don't be reckless."

Dawn did not know how else to get through to him. After a moment's pause, she simply pulled out her phone.

She had a photo of their marriage certificate.

"If words don't get through, then you should at least understand this, right?"

She held up her phone to him, her voice steady as water. "I might've been reckless before, but I'd never joke about marriage. I really am married to Ethan."

The backlight cast the entire living room in shadow.

Austin's deep gaze darkened, growing colder by the second.

After a long silence, his hoarse voice finally came: "A picture you Photoshopped in advance? What do you want me to say? That I accept you marrying him? Or that I ... "

"What you say doesn't matter, Mr. Osborne."

Another voice cut in. Dawn looked up to see Ethan wearing his usual easy smile.

He sat down beside her, his crisp, clean presence spreading through the space. "Mr. Osborne, did you forget? When we sealed that last deal, I already told you that it was my way of thanking you for raising Dawn. So why would you think we're joking?"

Ha.

Win-win, huh?

Austin clenched his jaw, his breathing heavy.

He could not even name the emotion tearing through him. It was like sand slipping through his hands—the tighter he tried to hold on, the more it escaped.

Ethan studied his icy expression, then calmly took Dawn's hand and stood. "We'll be staying here for the next few days. If you have an issue, Mr. Osborne, you know where to find me. Oh, and ... "

He paused, then smiled. "Our wedding's set for Valentine's Day. Uncle Austin, you'd better be there."

That last "Uncle Austin" was sharp as a knife, cut sharp as a knife.

Even after the two of them left, Austin sat frozen, unable to come back to himself.

Jessica came down from upstairs and found her son sitting there like a statue.

The sight filled her with silent heartache.

She sighed, walked over, and gave him a kick.

"Who are you putting on a show for by sulking like this? Don't you have a fiancée of your own? So what if she's married now?"

Austin looked up, eyes bloodshot, a trace of confusion flickering in them.