However, she soon saw a scene that left her in disbelief.
After kicking Justin, Ethan walked straight toward Lucas and stopped in front of him. He bent forward a little and said respectfully with enthusiasm, “Mr. Gray, had I known earlier that you were here in LA too, I would have come to see you a long time ago.”
This scene not only stunned Lena but also the people around them. Dumbfounded and shocked, their jaws dropped.
They all wondered if they had heard him wrongly.
The richest man in Orange County was actually so polite to Lucas, and he even spoke to him in such a deferential tone. It was simply unbelievable!
Lucas smiled. “Mr. Sawyer, you are the wealthiest man in Orange County, while I’m just a penniless man with nothing to his name. I don’t deserve to hear that from you at all.”
Lucas’s tone was calm and indifferent, but it made Ethan so nervous that his heart started beating rapidly. Did I offend Lucas somehow?
He quickly thought about it in his mind while chuckling awkwardly. “Mr. Gray, quit kidding around with me. That’s just a superficial status. I can’t hold a candle to you at all!”
Lucas continued calmly, “Is that so? But I heard with my own ears just now that you wanted your daughter to tell Mr. Parker all about me.”
Ethan froze in shock and frantically shook his head. “No, that’s not true! I just asked Lena…”
But halfway through his speech, he came to a sudden realization and abruptly widened his eyes in shock while staring at Lucas. “Could… the young man who was with Lena last night be you, Mr. Gray?”
Lucas raised his eyebrows and nodded noncommittally.
Ethan immediately looked embarrassed, which was rare of him.
The reason he had asked Lena to tell him everything about the young man with her side last night was that he had already assumed that the man who had gotten into a conflict with Tristan last night was most likely Tristan’s murderer.
So he had wanted to take Lena to see Damon and explain things clearly to him.
But after he learned that the young man was actually Lucas, his heart immediately sank.
Regardless of whether or not Lucas was the one who killed Tristan, Ethan would never go against Lucas.
Besides, he had secretly observed the expressions on the faces of all the people in the ballroom, especially Damon, who was glaring at Lucas with clear hatred in his eyes. So he knew that the Parkers must have decided that Lucas was the one who killed Tristan.
In that case, Damon’s purpose for showing up here with such a large group of people was undoubtedly to deal with Lucas.
When he thought about how he had just gone to Damon to apologize and even compelled his daughter to tell him about Lucas, Ethan felt a chill rushing up his spine from the bottom of his feet, causing him to shiver. Oh my god, what have I almost done?!
The man in front of him was a colossus who could take over the Hutton family at any time!
No one here could do anything to Lucas at all, not even the Parkers!
After breaking out in cold sweat, Ethan immediately came back to his senses and yelled at the people around him, who were glowering at Lucas with threatening gazes. “Although I don’t know what exactly happened here, Mr. Gray is my best friend, and anyone who dares to disrespect him will be my enemy!”
No one expected that Ethan, who had just apologized to Damon, would suddenly stand on Lucas’s side in the blink of an eye. He even seemed to be particularly resolute about defending Lucas. His words were also similar to what Flynn had said earlier.
Does he not know that there’s an irreparable feud between Lucas Gray and Damon Parker? Everyone was in extreme disbelief.
Even Lena was astounded, but she was elated and heartened that her father was standing on Lucas’s side instead of going against him. She subconsciously let out a long sigh of relief, ran over, and also stood beside them. She even winked at Cheyenne, who was standing by Lucas’s side.
However, Damon was in a terrible mood now.
He didn’t expect Ethan would suddenly stand on Lucas’s side even though the Parkers and Sawyers had been friends for decades. He even declared that anyone who disrespected Lucas would be his enemy, which really angered him!
Damon narrowed his eyes and asked with a threatening tone, “Ethan Sawyer, what do you mean by this? Are you sure you want to help that punk?”
Ethan nodded without a single moment of hesitation and even advised Damon, “Mr. Parker, on account of the friendship between the Sawyers and the Parkers over the years, I advise you to investigate carefully who the real murderer of your grandson is. Mr. Gray isn’t an ordinary person.”
Although there was no conclusive evidence to prove that it wasn’t Lucas who had killed Tristan yet, Ethan felt that even if Lucas was indeed the murderer, he must have done so because Tristan had gone overboard and provoked Lucas by doing something intolerable. In that case, he thought that Tristan deserved to die!
He understood Lucas well enough to know that the latter wouldn’t kill anyone for no reason. If Lucas really killed someone, it would only mean that that person had completely angered him.
Moreover, if Lucas really killed Tristan, Ethan wouldn’t feel sad at all. He would just think that he must have been blind to think that Tristan would be a good husband for Lena.
So he merely gave Damon that piece of advice.
Even if the Parkers broke off all ties with the Sawyers in the future, Ethan would still stand on Lucas’s side.
After hearing what Ethan said, which seemed like a warning, Damon became even more infuriated.
“Ethan Sawyer, are you really going to stand against me for the sake of a mere outsider?” Damon slowly said while staring straight into Ethan’s eyes.
He had been friends with Ethan’s father for decades, and he had practically watched Ethan grow up, though the two families grew distant in the later years because the Sawyers developed in Orange County while the Parkers did so in LA. They grew further apart after the passing of Ethan’s father.
But no matter what, they were still family friends for decades, and some time ago, they had even settled on Lena’s and Tristan’s engagement.
Yet Ethan had now chosen to go against him for an ignorant man who was highly suspected of being the murderer of his grandson. Damon felt like he had been betrayed and was boiling with unspeakable anger.
Ethan sighed, but he still said with unusual determination, “I mean what I just said from the bottom of my heart. Mr. Parker, I hope you’ll think twice before acting! Also, as I’ve just said, Mr. Gray isn’t an outsider but my best friend. He once saved my life, so anyone who makes an enemy of him is choosing to make an enemy of me!”
He didn’t dare to expose Lucas’s identity in front of outsiders, so he merely used the pretext that Lucas was his life savior.
He had already reminded Damon twice not to make Lucas his enemy, but if Damon stubbornly refused to heed his advice, there was nothing he could do.
“Will I also become your enemy if I choose to deal with Lucas Gray? If it’s a powerful family from San Francisco that wants to deal with Lucas, what can you do?” Damon questioned sneeringly with disappointment all over his pale face.
“That’s right! The same applies even to you!” Ethan nodded and continued firmly, “As for others, they can come as they please! Even if it takes all the power and even the foundation of the Sawyers, I will definitely stand on Mr. Gray’s side!”
