30 Days of Passion and Revenge-Chapter 102: Jealous Rage

When Ethan opened the drawer, he found a collection of Lily’s early photos that his secretary Helen had gathered. The images captured her transformation from a radiant child to a spirited teen. He chuckled at the memory of her posing with youthful pride for the camera. His gaze shifted to a wooden tomato figurine on his desk, its bright red color stark against the office’s austere decor. Seeing it in Germany had reminded him of Lily’s cookie doodles, and he’d brought it back to tease her. From Princess Peacock to Tomato Girl, she remained etched in his mind.

Ethan’s sexy lips couldn’t help but curl into a teasing smirk.

"Knock knock—"

There were two knocks on the office door.

"Come in," Ethan called out, pulling his thoughts back and speaking in a cold, detached voice.

In stepped his secretary, Helen, a poised woman in her forties.

"Mr. Blackwood, your coffee," Helen said, placing the steaming cup on his desk before briefing him on his schedule. "You have a dinner meeting with several general managers from Empire Real Estate at 9 PM. I’ve booked a table at the West End’s Grand Hyatt Hotel."

"Okay." Ethan took a sip from the cup.

"And... Miss Mitchell, Miss Prescott, Miss Anderson, and Miss Walker have all requested that you return their calls when you have time," Helen added, adjusting her black-rimmed glasses with a professional air.

As the CEO of Blackwood Enterprise’s Asia-Pacific division, young, successful, and extremely handsome, Ethan had never been short of women.

Sometimes, Helen felt less like a secretary and more like his caretaker, handling all his relationship issues.

Ethan’s hand paused mid-sip, and he frowned slightly. "Which Miss Anderson?"

"Miss Lily Anderson," Helen replied, glancing curiously at Ethan. Out of the four women, he only cared about Miss Anderson. It appeared he held a special fondness for this particular woman.

Lily Anderson?

Ethan’s brow arched slightly. She had called him first? It seemed the roses had worked after all. As they say, roses are a woman’s ultimate weakness, and Lily was no exception.

Last time, when he sent her blue roses, she hadn’t been particularly moved. It must have been because he only sent one bouquet.

"Do you have a recording?"

"Yes," Helen replied, ever the diligent secretary.

Ethan put down his coffee cup and began scrolling through the phone recordings.

Seeing this, Helen smartly turned to leave but paused at the door to offer advice: "Mr. Blackwood, the Gucci brand is very effective for dealing with body odors."

With that, Helen exited the office, closing the door behind her.

Body odor?

Helen, a middle-aged woman who was always professional and never spoke unnecessarily, rarely mentioned anything irrelevant. What did she mean by that?

Shrugging it off, Ethan played the recording. Lily’s soft voice floated through the phone, instantly lifting his mood. But that mood quickly plummeted when a sharp, shrill female voice followed.

"Lily, I’ve set up a mixer with the new guys from the next-door tech company tonight! Don’t back out! You don’t want a guy with body odor—he’ll knock you out in bed!" Ah, so that’s what Helen meant. Ethan’s mood darkened.

She went to a mixer?! He had only been out of the country for a few days, and she had the nerve to go to a mixer?!

"Bang—" The phone was thrown against the wall, shattering into pieces. Ethan sat back in his chair, his face dark and stormy. His long fingers pressed the intercom button, and his voice was cold.

"Helen, cancel tonight’s dinner meeting. Also, order a new phone, the same model I had."

"But Mr. Blackwood, your phone was a limited edition. It’s impossible to get another one." 𝕗𝗿𝕖𝐞𝐰𝗲𝕓𝐧𝕠𝕧𝗲𝐥.𝚌𝐨𝚖

"Order it! Now! Immediately! I don’t care how do it!" Ethan yanked at his tie, shouting in frustration.

"Yes, Mr. Blackwood."

Lily, if you want to play games with me, let’s see how far you will go.

That evening, it started to rain. Lily didn’t want to go to the mixer.

"Lily! If you don’t come, we’re done! You’ve been away for so long without calling me once, and now you won’t even come to my mixer to help me!"

Unfortunately, she had a friend like Sophia Bennett—a marriage-obsessed woman with a fiery personality. Sophia practically dragged Lily to a Western-style buffet restaurant.

Six men and six women sat across from each other at a long, elegant European-style table, each person dressed to impress.

Sophia had gone all out with her look: sexy curls, flawless makeup, and a seductive charm that was impossible to miss.

In contrast, Lily wore her usual white dress with a light green cardigan, her face bare of makeup. She felt a little underdressed, almost disrespectful.

But it wasn’t like she was here for an actual date anyway, Lily thought to herself.

As everyone else chatted enthusiastically, Lily quietly stood and walked to the buffet area to grab food.

"Miss Anderson, what do you like to eat?" A young man in his twenties, wearing gold-rimmed glasses, approached her with a tray and spoke politely.

He was one of the men from the mixer, and he looked vaguely familiar, but Lily couldn’t quite place him.

"I’m not picky," Lily replied with a polite but distant smile.

Sophia had dragged her to these mixers many times before. Usually, she just ate and left.

"The beef here is pretty good," the man said, not taking the hint. He placed a piece of steak onto her plate. "Medium-rare. You should try it."

Lily didn’t like it when people tried too hard to be overly attentive.

She frowned slightly, about to say something, when her phone rang. The name "Ethan" flashed on the screen, a timely rescue.

"Excuse me, I need to take this," Lily said politely, walking over to the restaurant’s window, which was decorated in an American style. She answered the call. "Hello, this is Lily."

"Where are you?" Ethan’s cold voice came through the phone.

She could already tell from his tone that his face must be as dark as a thundercloud.

"I’m having dinner," Lily replied casually. "Are you still at the office?"

"I asked, where are you?" His voice was laced with barely contained anger.

Lily assumed he wanted her to meet him, so she casually told him the restaurant’s name. "I’m at Dean’s Restaurant. Are you home? I can come back now."

She did, after all, have something she wanted to discuss with him...

Ethan didn’t respond and hung up the phone.

Lily stared at her phone, puzzled. Why does he like hanging up on me so much? What was the point of calling me in the first place?

Returning to her seat, she noticed that the others were deep into their conversations. One couple had even started cuddling and whispering sweet nothings to each other.

Lily absentmindedly cut into her steak.

"This place is pretty boring, isn’t it?" The man with the glasses sat beside her again, unwilling to give up.

Lily forced a fake smile.

"Miss Anderson, don’t you remember me?" the young man asked shyly.

"Who are you?" Lily asked, genuinely confused.

She did vaguely recognize his face, but did she know him?

The man smiled sheepishly and adjusted his gold-rimmed glasses. Clearing his throat, he said, " I’m the doctor who said you needed to avoid strenuous activity for the next 24 hours."

Suddenly, it all clicked.

Lily’s face flushed with embarrassment as she muttered, "You’re that doctor?"

The kind young doctor who had told Ethan not to let her exert herself too much...

"Miss Anderson finally remembers me," the man said, looking awkward.

After all, the circumstances of their only conversation hadn’t exactly been something either of them would bring up in polite company.

"But aren’t you a doctor?" Lily asked, confused. Hadn’t Sophia said they were meeting tech guys?

"My friend dragged me here to fill in. You’re doing the same, right?" The doctor pointed at one of the men at the table, then pulled out his car keys. "This place is pretty dull. How about we go for a drive?"

A drive?

She wasn’t in the mood for that.

"Bam—"

A hand suddenly slammed down between them, sending the doctor’s car keys flying.

"If you’re bored, leave by yourself!" A cold male voice growled. "My woman doesn’t ride in other men’s cars!"

Ethan’s tall figure loomed over them, his deep eyes glaring at the doctor with disdain. His black overcoat made him look even more intimidating, and his tone was domineering to the extreme.

The doctor froze, his mouth hanging open, too shocked to say a word.

Lily gasped, startled by Ethan’s sudden appearance. The anger on his face made her heart clench with fear. What was he doing here? And why did he look like he was about to explode?

The restaurant fell silent as everyone turned to stare at them. Even Sophia was gawking at Lily, completely stunned.

"You wanted my woman to ride in your car? Huh?" Ethan wasn’t finished. He stepped forward and grabbed the doctor by his tie, his eyes blazing with fury.

The doctor, knowing precisely who Ethan was, turned pale with fear. Even so, he tried to keep his voice steady. "Mr... Mr. Blackwood, this is a public place."

"So what if it is?" Ethan sneered, yanking him closer. With a swift motion, Ethan kicked the doctor’s legs out from under him, sending him crashing to the floor in front of everyone.

The whole room fell into a tense silence.

All eyes were on them.

"Hey," Lily called out softly, worried.

Ethan shot her a cold glare that made her heart skip a beat. She felt guilty, even though she hadn’t done anything wrong. His acting made it seem like she was being caught in the act.

The restaurant was filled with whispers, and even Sophia was too stunned to speak.

"Did you think you could toy with my woman?" Ethan’s voice resonated with a threatening undertone as he moved forward, landing another savage kick on the doctor. He followed it up with two more kicks, each intensifying in power. The doctor crumpled on the floor, his groans reverberating with agony.

Lily felt a wave of guilt. Her actions had unwittingly dragged an innocent into their chaotic dance. Knowing she couldn’t quell Ethan’s rage, she stealthily grabbed her bag and slipped out of the restaurant unnoticed. Outside, a heavy rain had begun, soaking the streets as she walked through her storm of thoughts. She hadn’t gone far when a firm grip seized her arm from behind.

Spinning around, she came face-to-face with Ethan’s towering silhouette. His visage was carved with rage under the faint glow of the streetlights, his cropped hair slick from the rain. "Lily," he spat out venomously, "are you inviting trouble? How dare you attend a social gathering without informing me!"

Ethan forcibly spun her around to face him, his expression livid. "I was just there to help out. And I was going to tell you, but you hung up."

Hmph.

Now she was blaming him for hanging up?

"Helping out? And that somehow led to you almost getting into another man’s car?!" Ethan roared, grabbing her hand and demanding, "Which hand did he touch?! Tell me!"

I should never have let her have this much freedom.

It had only been a few days, and she had already gone to a mixer?!

Pedestrians hurried by in the rain, some glancing back at them curiously.

"Ethan..." His grip on her wrist was painful, and Lily winced, frowning. "Let go."