Substitute Bride: Utterly Pampered by Her Billionaire Husband Chapter 1773: Living Apart

Just then there was a "ding" — a reply came.

Celeste Linden quickly opened WeChat. Ethan Barnes had sent a photo: three dishes and a soup on the table, a few beautifully cooked stir-fries plus a stewed soup; both the colors and presentation were excellent.

Celeste cooked herself, so of course she could tell these were dishes someone had put real care into, and Ethan didn’t cook — he never went into the kitchen.

No need to guess. These were all made by that pretty "big sister" Danielle had mentioned.

Celeste typed a few words, then deleted them, typed a few more, deleted them again. She didn’t even know what she was going to say back.

Just then a series of vibrations sounded — Ethan was calling her on video chat again.

Celeste hesitated for a moment, then hung up. She didn’t answer.

Why didn’t Ethan connect the video?

Celeste said Danielle was asleep, it wasn’t convenient.

Soon there was another "ding" — a voice message from Ethan came in.

Celeste turned the volume down to the lowest setting so she wouldn’t wake Danielle, then pressed the phone to her ear and opened his voice message.

Ethan said, Oh yeah? I think "afraid of waking Danielle" is just an excuse. Not wanting to see me is the real reason, isn’t it?

His low, indulgent voice sounded right in her ear. Celeste listened twice, then replied with a text: I didn’t want to bother you while you’re eating!

As she sent it, Celeste’s face flushed. She couldn’t shake the feeling there was a hint of jealousy in what she’d typed. When had she become like this? Had the fact there was a woman around Ethan already started affecting her mood enough to make her jealous?

Soon there was another "ding" — another voice message from him came: Why do you always type? Do you dare send me a voice message so I can hear your voice?

It was obvious he hadn’t picked up on what was behind her words, and he hadn’t heard the off note of her jealousy at all.

Celeste typed: It’s really late, I’m going to sleep.

The other end went quiet for a moment. Just when Celeste thought he wasn’t going to reply and she was getting drowsy, his message came.

Celeste tapped it open, and her little face went bright red.

Ethan said, I really want to hold you while I sleep.

...

Wrapped in his tender, lingering sweet talk, Celeste slept very well. Even though when she opened her eyes and saw there was no one beside her, her heart still felt a bit empty, she and Danielle slept straight through till morning.

Today was Saturday. Danielle’s good friend Vivi’s mommy had asked Celeste out for tea, so the two mother–daughter pairs went to a café together.

Vivi’s mommy was very talkative. She grabbed Celeste and said, "Danielle’s mommy, did Danielle’s daddy go out on a mission again?"

At the last sports day, Ethan had stood out from the crowd, practically like a movie star, so everyone paid a lot of attention to him.

"Mm, yeah, his job’s really busy," Celeste said.

"Danielle’s mommy, why don’t you take Danielle and go with him? Let me tell you, young couples these days really can’t be apart for too long, especially with a Danielle’s daddy type. Don’t go thinking it’s all safe over there. There are tons of performing troupes, all those girls are drop-dead gorgeous, can sing, can dance, and know how to act cute. What if one of them slips in while you’re not looking?"

"...He probably wouldn’t do that." Celeste found the question really awkward.

"How could he not? Danielle’s daddy looks fit as anything, right in his prime. At the sports day his eyes were glued to you the whole time like a hungry wolf. You two being separated long-term like this is really not good."

Celeste took an awkward sip of her coffee.

Vivi’s mommy kept on, "Danielle’s mommy, I’m saying this for your own good. Take that couple — you know, so-and-so’s parents? They lived apart in different cities for years, and the dad went and got himself a mistress outside. They even have a kid now."