Unveiled: The Survivor's Triumph
Chapter 203 The Mercy of God

Ethan stayed cool, not putting up a fight, like the big reveal didn't even faze him.

"Ethan, seriously? Letting a woman take a bullet for you? What kind of man are you?" Faris raised his fist, ready to throw a punch, but Ethan caught it with one hand.

"If you wanna yell or fight, do it after my kids are fed," Ethan said calmly.

Hunter and Harper were bawling their eyes out, and nothing I did could calm them down; they were probably starving. Hearing the kids cry, Faris snapped back to reality. He slowly let go of Ethan, his face saying, "I'll deal with you later."

Ethan straightened his clothes, which Faris had messed up, and walked over to grab two baby bottles.

"I already sterilized them," he said.

The kids were crying like there was no tomorrow, and nothing I did helped.

Hot-headed Faris, who had been ready to brawl, now walked over to help. He opened the formula and started scooping it into the bottles. "Water first, then formula," Ethan reminded him.

Faris paused, not wanting to take orders. "Is there a difference?"

"Yes, there is," Ethan said seriously.

Faris snorted. "You act like you're some expert. How many times have you actually taken care of the kids?"

Ethan didn't bother responding, knowing it was a waste of time.

Faris didn't add the formula because he wasn't sure about the water amount. He set it down and waited.

Once Ethan prepared a bottle, Faris handed him the other empty one and took the prepared formula.

Both kids were still crying, and Faris hesitated, unsure which one to feed. "As the older brother, he should let his sister go first. Let's feed the sister first."

He then frowned, looking awkwardly at the two kids. "Which one is the brother, and which one is the sister?"

This was probably because of that time in the hospital when Ethan dressed his son in pink.

"This one is the sister," I reminded him.

Even though they were fraternal twins and looked almost identical, I'd been taking care of them for months and could tell them apart from subtle differences.

He brought the bottle to Harper's mouth, and she stopped crying as soon as she started drinking, holding the bottle with her little hands. She must have been really hungry.

Ethan quickly prepared the other bottle and gave it to Hunter. Finally, the kids were quiet and drinking their milk.

The two men stood by the bed, watching the kids and seemingly forgetting their earlier argument.

I couldn't quite figure out Faris. He was so ticked off at Ethan, but when he looked at the kids, there was this softness in his eyes.

The kids fell asleep while drinking, and I couldn't fight off the sleepiness either, so I dozed off. When I woke up, they were gone.

Not long after, Jason walked in with a medical kit, saying he was there to change my bandages. Hearing that, I got a bit nervous. The spot where I was hurt was pretty sensitive, and it would be awkward having him apply the medicine. Ethan followed him in, and from his expression, he probably knew what I was thinking.

Jason seemed to read his mind and smiled. "What's the problem? I'm a doctor, and she's a patient. Or you can get another doctor; that's fine too."

Ethan shrugged and smiled helplessly. "Need any help?"

Jason chuckled lightly. "Yeah, boil the herbs I just brought. After I change the bandages, give them to Emily to drink."

Ethan nodded. "Alright, thanks."

After he left, it was just Jason and me in the room, and the awkwardness was thick.

He walked to the bed, put down the medical kit, and sat on the stool by the bed.

I was so nervous my body was tense.

He didn't move for a while, then laughed. "Emily, are you shaking?"

I closed my eyes awkwardly. "No, no."

Jason smiled knowingly. "Emily, although I care about you, there are many ways to show it. Right now, you're a patient to me. Besides feeling sorry for you, I have no other thoughts. I swear to God that my feelings for you are pure." His sincere words made my tense body slowly relax.

I gave him a grateful smile. "Thank you."

Jason smiled back. "Shall we start?"

I took a deep breath and nodded.

Jason put on some gloves, unbuttoned my shirt just enough to get to the wound, and started cleaning it. I wasn't wearing a bra because of the injury, but he only exposed what he needed to.

As he applied the medicine, his gentle touch and focused expression helped me relax, even though I was nervous at first.

Jason asked, "Emily, thinking about it now, your decision to leave Starlight City might have been the right one. Why did you come back?"

While applying the medicine, he probably wanted to ease my tension through conversation.

I thought carefully. It was probably because I missed him too much.

I said, "In life, we do things without knowing why. It's often just impulse. Leaving was an impulse, and so was coming back."

After saying that, I smiled again. "I guess a bullet isn't that big of a deal. I remember Ethan got shot in the arm last time, and he still drove out to buy breakfast that night."

"Ethan got shot in the arm?" Jason frowned like he didn't know about it.

Ethan didn't go to the hospital last time he got hurt; he had a doctor come to the house. Besides Dennis and me, probably no one else knew.

I wasn't sure how to explain or if I even should.

Luckily, Jason didn't push it and just sighed. "You know that you're different? That bullet of yours almost hit your heart."

So, surviving was kind of a miracle for me.

The bullet hit just above my breast. Considering Ethan was taller than me, if I hadn't taken that bullet for him, it would've hit his heart directly. Thinking about it made me feel both scared and lucky.

Thankfully, I came back, overheard Drew's plan, and took that bullet for him-probably God's mercy.

Jason seemed to catch that bit of relief on my face and sighed, fixing my clothes and buttoning them up.

"Emily, you're a woman. Don't compare your body to a man's, and don't force yourself to bear what you shouldn't, okay?"

I felt immense gratitude and guilt towards Jason.

The biggest guilt was that I couldn't reciprocate all his kindness.

To help take care of the kids and me, Ethan hired two nannies.

One afternoon, a few days after I started recovering, the kids fell asleep.

Worried that I might feel too cooped up in the room, he personally carried me downstairs.

A bean bag chair was already set up under the eaves outside the living room. He placed me directly on the chair.

The snow outside was still thick, so the temperature was pretty low.

Ethan brought me a hand warmer and a thin blanket, wrapping me up like a cocoon.

"Are you cold?" he asked.

I couldn't help but laugh. "You're about to make me sweat."

Ethan smiled reassuringly, walked into the yard, and started shoveling snow into a pile to build a snowman.

After finishing the snowman, he came over and sat beside me, hugging me.

Seeing his hands were red from the cold, I wanted to hold them. He didn't touch my hand but held my arm, tucking my hand into the blanket.

"My hands are cold; I can't touch you," he said.

Since my injury, he had been spending almost every day at home with me. Even though it was the Christmas holiday and he should have had lots of social engagements, he turned them all down.

The two nannies were in their thirties, college-educated, formally trained, and very experienced.

When the kids were asleep, they chatted with me and always praised Ethan for how well he treated me. They said they had worked for many wealthy families but had never seen a husband treat his wife so well, which made my heart feel like it was filled with honey.

Earlier, while watching the snow, I asked about what went down on the yacht that day.

"Did they catch Drew?"

Mentioning him made Ethan's expression turn serious.

"No, but they got all his accomplices. The police searched the sea later but didn't find him. He was injured, and the sea was freezing, so the chances of him surviving are slim."

I was puzzled about the grudge between Drew and Ethan..

"Drew was after you, but I remember the police said he was a fugitive for ten years. Ten years ago, you were only 20. It couldn't have been a business rivalry. What kind of grudge could you have with him?"

As soon as I asked, Ethan suddenly kissed me, stopping all my questions.

Now that there were more people in the house, including two nannies, he didn't avoid anything, still kissing and hugging me like before.

He often bought blood-tonic medicines and had the nannies remind me to take them. He said I had lost too much blood during childbirth and again from the injury, so I needed to replenish it.

Ethan set up a small bed next to ours, insisting that the kids slept in the same room with us.

He made formula at night. Whenever the kids cried in the middle of the night, he would wake up before me, kiss me, and say, "The kids are hungry. You sleep; I'll handle it."

Our days felt like they had gone back to when he treated me so well, and I was lost in his love and protection. The difference now was that we had two kids.

I used to be afraid to say the kids were the result of our love because I never dared to hope for love between us. Even if there was love, I thought it was one-sided.

But now, his love showed in every word and action, and with that restored recording, I believed he loved me too.

So now, I could say the kids were a result of our love.

My wound was slowly healing, and Ethan held me as I slept every night. He would kiss me but wouldn't go further. I could clearly feel his desire, but I also felt his restraint. I liked to think that this restraint was because he didn't want to hurt

me.

I managed everything at Seabreeze Harbor through phone and video calls. I promoted a highly regarded beautician to the position of general manager of the Seabreeze Harbor store, giving her enough authority to handle all the business of Emberlyn Beauty Retreat there.

This way, I could stay in Starlight City longer to take care of the kids.

One day, I was playing with the kids on the couch when the doorbell rang. The nanny went to answer it.

The visitor was an old friend who brought some very bad news.