Ethan asked further.
Joanna smiled and did not answer. She merely lowered her head and sipped her tea.
"If you won't tell me, I'll just look it up myself."
Ethan took out his phone and typed in the relevant keywords in the search engine. He quickly got the answer he was looking for, which he read out loud, "The language of sunflowers is: "You're the only one in my eyes"… Is that how you feel about Ace?"
Joanna turned away and stared at the sea of sunflowers, maintaining her silence.
Ethan was very untactful and insisted on getting to the bottom of things. "So you actually love Ace that much. He's the only one in your eyes. I thought you just love his money and status!"
Joanna shook her head and denied it, "Correction. I used to love him so much that he's the only one in my eyes. Now, I've woken up from that dream. I realize now there's plenty of fish in the ocean. I've already vacated my heart; it's ready to receive the right person when he comes along!"
"Hold up!"
Ethan keenly captured the key point. He asked, "You said you've emptied your heart and it's ready to receive the right person when he comes along… meaning, you haven't met the right person yet?"
"Well…"
Joanna swallowed hard. She realized that she had said something wrong.
After all, as far as Ethan knew, she should be pregnant with Liam's child. How could she possibly not have met "the right person" yet?
"There's no need to be embarrassed. Sometimes it happens in the heat of the moment. It's normal…"
Ethan expressed his understanding of Joanna's situation as someone who had experience in these matters. He added, "I can tell with one look that there's only lust and no love between you and Liam. Liam Blackwood is just a brat. He's even more immature than I am. If you wanna know what I think, I think you should just get an abortion and break up with Liam as soon as possible."
"Oh, umm… I'll think about it."
Joanna secretly heaved a sigh of relief.
She was still stressing about how to explain herself, but fortunately, Ethan had already thought of an excuse for her.
"I'll give abortion some serious thoughts, so… you have to help me keep the pregnancy a secret, for the sake of our close friendship. Otherwise, it'll be hard for me to re-marry anyone!"
Joanna took the opportunity to remind Ethan again.
"You can't let Ace know that I'm pregnant! "
"Don't worry, I don't have a big mouth."
Ethan was quiet after saying that. Certain emotions seemed to be surging deep inside him.
He took a deep breath and waited for a long time before pretending to probe casually, "So, from what you said, it sounds like you're completely over Ace now, while you and Liam were just a spur of the moment thing. Does that mean there's no special someone in your heart currently?"
Joanna's heart raised her eyebrows and said somewhat casually, " You can say that."
"Since you've vacated your heart, does that mean… you might fall in love with another man in the future?"
"If I do meet the right person, I'd like to experience a magnificent love."
Although she had been severely hurt by love, Joanna's heart did not falter. She still believed in love and looked forward to love…
"Then, I…"
Ethan was about to say something.
But Joanna suddenly frowned and said with an alert expression, " Ethan, do you smell something strange?"
Ethan took a deep breath and said casually, "Nope. I only smell tea"
"No!"
Joanna's senses had always been sharp. She frowned and said, "I think I smell smoke, and it's really strong!"
"Smoke?"
Ethan inhaled again, and this time, he could indeed detect the smell of smoke, but he did not think much of it. He waved away her concern and said, "Who cares? Maybe your neighbor's having a barbecue party."
"I'll go outside to take a look."
Joanna could not sit still any longer. She immediately stood up and went out of the tea room to investigate.
"Ah!"
What she saw shocked her.
The ground floor was on fire, and the fire was spreading to the second floor along the stairs. The entire house was filled with smoke.
"Holy crap, why is the house on fire?!"
Ethan was shocked too.
The fire was getting fiercer and seemed to have spread everywhere. The staircase was made purely out of wood, so it had completely caught fire and looked like it was about to collapse.
"What should we do? We have to get out of here, now…"
Ethan was nervous. He squatted down, pointed to his back and told Joanna, "Hurry, I'll carry you downstairs!"
Joanna was slightly stunned.
She did not expect him to stay and help her. The first thing he thought of in the face of disaster was not to run as hard as he could, but to save her first…
She would remember this favor.
"Can't you see that the stairs are about to collapse? We'll die if we take the stairs."
Joanna looked at the spreading fire and calmly analyzed the situation.
"Then what should we do? We'll die if we just stay here too… Shit, the fire is spreading really quickly. If we don't run now, we'll actually die!"
Ethan was so anxious that he was sweating all over. He wished he could just knock Joanna out and carry her away.
After all, Joanna was pregnant. She was like a delicate flower in a greenhouse which must be carefully protected.
But why was she so calm about this whole situation? As a pregnant woman, she should be worried!
"The fire hasn't reached the second floor yet. Come inside first."
Joanna pulled Ethan into the tea room and slammed the door shut. The tea room was big and had good ventilation. The large windows were their only escape route now.
Joanna did not panic in the face of danger. She tore two pieces of cloth and wet them. She used one to covered her mouth and nose and handed the other to Ethan, telling him, "We can try escaping through the window!"
Ethan ran to the window. He saw that it was not very high and there were footholds that they could use to climb down. A tall, healthy man like him could reach the ground safely if he was careful.
"Good idea…"
Ethan squatted down again and gestured with his head for her to climb on. "We don't have much time. Hurry up, or we'll be in trouble when the fire reaches us!"
"No way!"
Joanna firmly refused. "It'll take too long for you to carry me downstairs, not too mention too dangerous. Why don't you climb down alone first and look for help?"
Although the window was not very high and the climb was not that difficult, it would be a different story if he was carrying someone on his back. She did not want to be a burden to him.
"Nonsense! I'm not a coward! I'm not gonna run away by myself and leave a pregnant woman here to die! I can't do that…"
Ethan urged, "Stop wasting time and hop on. I'm actually a skilled rock climber, so it won't be a problem for me."
The fire burned ever fiercer. Even the tea room's door was burning by now, pouring black smoke and embers into the room. The situation was pressing…
Joanna touched her belly. There were two living beings inside, so she did not dare take risks.
Therefore, she steeled herself and climbed onto Ethan's back. She put her arms around the man's neck, held on tightly and thanked him. "Okay, I'll leave my life and my babies' lives in your hands!"
Ethan took a deep breath and said solemnly, "Don't worry, I'll make sure we all get out of here safe and sound!"