Chapter 225: ...Mourning Jogging

May leaned her head back against my shoulder, her fingers absently tracing the fabric of my shirt. The atmosphere in the dimly lit room turned quiet, softer, and far more reflective.

"Ethan..." she spoke up quietly, her voice barely above a whisper. "You know why I was so scared of all this, right? Why I convinced myself that falling for you would make me weak?"

"Tell me," I murmured gently, stroking her hair.

She let out a slow, shaky breath. "Back when I was still struggling with my weight... my ex. When we started dating, he was supportive on the surface, but it wasn’t real support. He didn’t actually push me or believe in my dream to become a pro athlete. In fact, while I was trying so hard to shed the pounds, he kept pulling me back into bad habits. Instead of losing weight... I ended up gaining even more. I grew fat."

Her grip on my arm tightened slightly as the memory resurfaced.

"And the moment I hit rock bottom, he dumped me," she continued, her tone laced with old, faded pain. "He didn’t just walk away—he mocked me. Made me feel like I was absolute trash. Like my dreams were a joke. So after that... I convinced myself that letting someone in meant losing my drive, soft-landing into failure, and getting crushed all over again."

I didn’t interrupt her or make big promises. I just stayed there, holding her close, giving her the space to let out the hurt she’d carried alone for so long.

When she finished, I tightened my arm around her shoulders, bringing my lips against the side of her temple.

"You’re not trash, May. And loving me isn’t going to make you weak," I said softly, my voice calm and unwavering. "I’m never going to drag you down or treat you like that. Ever."

A peaceful, gentle silence settled over the living room. The heavy ghosts of her past seemed to dissolve into the warm quiet between us.

May leaned up slightly, a soft, immensely tender smile gracing her lips as she looked into my eyes.

"I know," she whispered softly, her eyes shining. "I know you won’t."

She let out a long, contented yawn, her eyelids fluttering as exhaustion finally caught up with her body.

"Ethan..." she mumbled against my chest, her voice trailing off into a cozy slur. "I’m really sleepy..."

I smiled down at her drowsy face, scooping her up into my arms. May let out a small, satisfied sound and buried her face into the crook of my neck as I carried her upstairs to her room. We climbed into bed together, and the moment my arms wrapped around her, she fell into a deep, peaceful sleep.

The next morning, however, there was no lazy lounging.

I was jolted awake by May bursting with an insane amount of morning energy. "Get up!" she urged abruptly, yanking the covers off and tossing a fresh running jacket right onto my chest. "We’re going for a morning jog!"

I blinked, rubbing the sleep from my eyes as I looked at the jacket, then at her. "Wait... since when do we do morning jogs?"

"Since today! No slacking in this house, come on!" She didn’t even let me lie back down, literally tugging my arm and forcing me out of bed before I could argue.

When we made our way downstairs, Ruby was already collapsed on the living room sofa, grumbling dramatically into a pillow. "This is torture... pure, unadulterated torture," Ruby groaned, glaring at May. "I didn’t sleep properly, I don’t need a morning jog, and my legs are officially on strike!"

Chloe, on the other hand, was sitting calmly in an armchair with a cup of tea, already fully dressed and turning a page in her book. She looked completely unbothered by the sudden wake-up call.

"Don’t look at me like that, Ruby," Chloe said smoothly, glancing up with a faint smirk. "I was already wide awake long before May came knocking on doors for her morning run."

"Alright, enough complaining, let me see some hustle! Let’s head out!" May cheered, bouncing on the balls of her feet.

I looked around the foyer, noticing someone missing. "Wait, what about Patricia?"

Just then, Patricia walked out from the kitchen holding a jacket she’d brought down. "I took the jacket just in case, but I think I’ll stay behind this morning," she smiled warmly. "I’m really not made for long-distance marathon jogs anyway. By the time you all get back, I’ll have a massive hot breakfast waiting for us."

"Wait, marathon?" I caught that specific word and looked at May. "May, where exactly are we running?"

May flashed a bright, mischievous grin. "I mapped out a quick route around the estate perimeter!"

"The estate?!" I stared at her. "May, the perimeter of this estate is like three times the size of a full stadium track."

"And that’s why it’s a great warm-up! Stop being lazy, Ethan, let’s go!" she laughed, hyping us up as she pulled open the front doors, practically radiating pure vitality.

Watching her bounce around, full of life, fire, and boundless enthusiasm, a warm feeling settled in my chest. Seeing her so energetic, completely free of doubt, and unapologetically herself again was the best sight in the world.

Before we even stepped foot outside the front entrance, I flagged down one of the estate drivers to pull the SUV around and trail us at a slow pace down the paved estate road. Just in case Ruby completely passed out—or my own lungs decided to give up halfway through—we had a safety net.

"Alright, stay sharp! Three, two, one, hit it!" May shouted, taking off like a shot down the tree-lined driveway.

Within the first eight hundred meters, the group completely fractured.

Ruby was already dragging her feet fifty yards behind, her chest heaving as she let out dramatic, wheezing groans with every stride. I slowed my pace, dropping back until I was jogging right alongside her.

"Come on, Ruby, keep those feet moving," I encouraged.

"I... am... dying," Ruby gasped, clutching her side as she came to a full, abrupt stop on the asphalt. She spun around, aggressively waving her hands at the SUV crawling behind us. "Driver! Open the door! Rescue me from this athletic madness!"

The SUV pulled up, and Ruby practically threw herself into the leather back seat, collapsing across the cushions with a theatrical groan.

May glanced over her shoulder, slowing down just enough to jog backward while looking at us. "Weak!" she called out with a taunting laugh. "Absolute slacker behavior! Tell you what—you get exactly ten seconds in the air conditioning, Ruby, then you get back on the pavement!"

I shook my head, chuckling as I adjusted my stride to match Chloe’s rhythm. Surprisingly, Chloe was holding up remarkably well. Her breathing was steady and controlled, her posture upright, her dark hair swaying smoothly with every precise step.

"Look at you," I complimented, offering her a nod. "Not a single hair out of place. I didn’t know you had marathon cardio in you."

Chloe offered a small, composed smile, not missing a single beat in her stride. "When you manage high-stress portfolios and endless corporate board meetings, you learn how to regulate your heart rate under pressure. Physical endurance turns out to be quite similar."

She flicked her eyes forward, watching May, who was currently doing high knees and sidesteps fifty yards ahead of us just to burn off extra energy.

"Though," Chloe added, her tone dryly amused, "I don’t think this run is going to calm our track star down anytime soon. She seems completely hyperactive today."

"Yeah, I noticed," I laughed softly. "That’s probably why she dragged all of us out here in the first place—she’s practically bursting at the seams."

"Hey! Less talking, more pacing!" May yelled back, doing an energetic 180-degree spin on her heels before blasting further up the winding road, disappearing around a heavily wooded bend of the estate path.

Right then, a car door clicked open behind us.

Ruby didn’t step back onto the asphalt—instead, she leaned out the window of the moving SUV with a sneaky, wicked grin.

"Driver, step on it!" Ruby whispered loudly.

The SUV surged past Chloe and me, cruising right past the bend where May had vanished. A few seconds later, we heard the car doors slam shut ahead.

As Chloe and I rounded the corner, we saw Ruby standing right in the middle of the road—fresh, completely unbothered, and jogging at a brisk, perfectly fake pace.

"Oh, wow, look at me! I’m leading the pack!" Ruby announced loudly, glancing back at May, who was just catching up from behind. "Catch up, slowpokes!"

May froze mid-stride, her jaw dropping as she looked from Ruby to the idling SUV parked thirty yards behind her.

"Wait—did you just cheat?!" May shrieked, her eyes blazing with sudden, fierce competitive fire. "You took the car past me?!"

"I have no idea what you’re talking about! I’m just a natural athlete!" Ruby teased, sticking her tongue out as she picked up her speed.

"Oh, it is ON!" May yelled, a massive grin breaking across her face as she dug her sneakers into the road and sprinted straight after Ruby.

Chloe let out a soft, low chuckle beside me, shaking her head as the peaceful morning jog devolved into an all-out, chaotic sprint race toward the mansion gates. "Well... at least she’s definitely back to herself."