Every Tutor Quit on the Billionaire’s Daughter — Until a Single Dad With a Secret Military Past Changed Her Forever
Chapter 9
Victor wanted Ethan to stay permanently.
Not as a tutor.
As director of private security.
Ethan refused.
“I don’t want a corporate security job.”
“Why?”
“I’ve already done that.”
“What do you want?”
Ethan looked toward Lily, who was drawing in the living room.
“A normal life.”
Victor nodded.
“You’ve earned it.”
But Ethan continued tutoring Amelia.
They worked differently now.
She had become one of the top students in her school.
She was applying for universities.
She wanted to study international relations.
Ethan encouraged it.
“You’d be good at negotiation.”
“I learned from you.”
He laughed.
“I’m not a negotiator.”
“You convinced me to read.”
“That’s not negotiation.”
“It felt like it.”
One afternoon, Amelia asked:
“Do you love anyone?”
Ethan froze.
“Why?”
“You’re always alone.”
“I have Lily.”
“That’s not what I mean.”
He smiled.
“Some questions aren’t yours.”
She laughed.
“Fine.”
But the question remained in the room.
Because there was someone Ethan was beginning to care about.
Lena Hawthorne.
Victor’s sister.
Amelia’s aunt.
She had been away during the kidnapping.
Now she had returned to help with the family.
Ethan noticed her immediately.
She was intelligent.
Kind.
And unlike most people in the Hawthorne family, she had no interest in power.
She cared about Amelia.
She cared about Lily.
And she understood Ethan’s need for distance.
One evening, she asked:
“Why did you stay?”
“With Amelia?”
“Yes.”
He looked at her.
“She needed someone.”
Lena smiled.
“You always answer like that.”
“Because it’s true.”
She nodded.
“I think that’s why she trusts you.”
Ethan smiled.
“I think so too.”
Neither knew yet that another kind of relationship was beginning.
