And yet, instead of gratitude, he behaved like a heartless ingrate.
Despite the stench burning my nose, I couldn’t bear to leave Mr. Hayes like that.
I contacted the funeral home to give him a proper farewell.
He had always been a man who valued cleanliness, so I paid top dollar for a mortuary makeup artist to restore his face so he could leave this world with dignity.
Even though my father was in poor health, he forced himself to attend the funeral—he and Mr. Hayes had been close friends for years.
“Where’s Ethan? How could he not be here for such an important moment—his own father’s farewell?”
I didn’t want my father to worry, so I made up an excuse.
Seeing sweat bead on his forehead, I called a car to send him home first.
As we brushed past each other, Ethan rubbed his eyes.
“Strange… was I seeing things? Like a ghost in broad daylight?”
Chloe tugged his sleeve.
“Come on, Ethan! After Buddy recognizes his new daughter, we still have to rush back to work on the paper!”
“I already leaked your latest results to the press—you’re going to be the first in the world to break species barriers!”
“And I’ll get second author and land on the Dean’s List!”