?Chapter 704:


    Thinking it was a regr call, he pulled it out—only for an obnoxiously smug voice to screech from the speaker.


    “Mom,e and give me a good punch. Too bad. You can’t catch me. Hahaha…”


    The second the voice echoed through the room, the middle-aged couple across from him snapped their heads toward him, eyes glinting with ice.


    Ethan’s blood ran cold. He knew he was in deep trouble. “Mom, I can exin…”


    But before he could finish, the phone piped up again.


    “Mom,e and give me a good punch. Too bad. You can’t catch me. Hahaha…”


    “I’ll show you whether I can catch you or not.” Ethan’s mother seized a stick and came charging toward him.


    Ethan fumbled to shut off the phone, but it wouldn’t respond.


    “Mom! Let me exin!”


    “Too bad. You can’t catch me. Hahaha!” the phone kept heckling him. Panic set in. Damn it all!


    “What’s there to exin? You’re not getting any younger, still no girlfriend, and all you do is loaf around the house!” His mother chased him in circles, clearly fed up. “And now you’ve got the nerve to rile me up!”


    “I’m not trying to rile you up, Mom!” Ethan dodged around the furniture like a man possessed.


    “Hahaha!” The phone cackled in perfect imitation of his voice, driving him to the brink.


    He knew, beyond a doubt, that Ellis had orchestrated this prank. To stop things from getting worse, he hurled the phone to the floor, shattering it. Blessedly, the voice cut off.


    Ethan exhaled in relief, grateful he hadn’t stored anything important on that phone.


    “Mom, I—”


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    The stick came down hard.


    Ethan shot up like a puppet on strings, looking utterly ridiculous.


    “Ouch!” His bangs flopped into his eyes as his face scrunched in agony.


    “Take it easy, please!”


    “You dare smash things in front of me? Who do you think taught you that?” His mothershed him again.


    Ethan knew better than to talk back. His mother’s temper was nothing to mess with. “I’m sorry, Mom!”


    “Can I catch you or not?”


    “You can!”


    “Try something like this again, and I’ll beat you till even your father won’t recognize you.”


    “You’re absolutely right.”


    With that quick surrender, the storm finally passed. Ethan wolfed down his dinner and bolted upstairs, clutching his SIM card.


    Thank goodness for backup phones—at least now he could still curse Ellis out.


    Meanwhile, Ellis and Freya were having dinner.


    Freya honestly enjoyed Ellis’s cooking. She wasn’t picky, but she knew good food when she tasted it.


    “Captain.”


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