Chapter 2

Ethan's eyes widened in shock. He leaned in close to me and hissed, "I knew you weren't easy to deal with. No wonder you managed to find your way back here after 18 years out there on your own. I totally underestimated you."

I blinked at him, baffled. What on earth was he talking about?

The soup was so salty it made me want to puke, but if I spat it out, I'd have to wipe my mouth and rinse it… That was way too much hassle, so I just forced it down.

"Sweetie, I had Wanda make this chicken broth just for you. How is it?" Mom looked at me anxiously.

I'd only planned to set it down after a sip, but when I saw the bright, hopeful look in her eyes, I silently picked the spoon back up.

Oh, well. I guess I could just finish it.

If I said it was too salty, she'd definitely have Wanda Smith, the housekeeper, make another pot. Then the whole family would gather around me again, fussing and fretting.

Just picturing that whole drawn-out routine made me feel drained. So I took spoonful after spoonful of the soup until I finished every last drop.

The spoon slipped from my hand and hit the floor with a clatter. Right after that, I went down too, collapsing onto the floor.

"Ben! What's wrong?" Mom threw herself at me.

The family doctor hadn't even had time to change clothes before he came running over again, his forehead shiny with sweat.

After a round of checks, he gave his diagnosis. "Mr. Ben has acute hypernatremia from too much salt. It's not serious. He just needs to drink more water and rest."

Dad frowned, clearly confused. "That makes no sense. Our food is always light on oil and salt. How could this…"

Suddenly, something seemed to click for him. He grabbed my bowl of soup from the table, dipped a bit with his finger, and tasted it. Sure enough, it was unbearably salty.

He slammed a hand on the table.

"Who made the soup today?" he barked.

Wanda stepped forward and stammered, "I-I did, but Mrs. Ziegler tasted it before it was served, and it was fine. However…"

Her voice grew smaller as she pointed at Ethan. "Mr. Ethan handled the salt jar after the tasting and before the soup was served."

In an instant, all eyes turned to Ethan.

He looked shifty as he tried to talk his way out of the situation. "I just thought Ben wouldn't be used to food that bland, so I added an extra spoonful. Besides, why didn't he just spit it out if it tasted bad?"

Mom cradled my pale face, her tears welling up again. "Oh, my silly child. Why didn't you spit the soup out?"

Great. The exact situation I dreaded had still happened. What I hated most was having to explain myself. My mind raced as I tried to come up with the fewest possible words to brush this off.

Thankfully, Felicia had a flash of inspiration and jumped in to cover for me. "He just got home—he must still be feeling shy. He probably didn't want to hurt your feelings by spitting it out."

That wasn't the case at all, but I still nodded in relief.

Mom's eyes instantly filled with guilt. She pulled me into her arms and held me tight. "Ben, to make up for everything you've suffered, I'm going to throw a huge welcome banquet so you can officially be acknowledged as a Ziegler. You can take your rightful place in this family."

"Yes, that's right!" Ethan immediately seized the chance and said eagerly, "Let me handle the party planning. I'll definitely prepare a huge surprise for Ben."