30 Days of Passion and Revenge-Chapter 119: A Birthday to Forget

"We didn’t do anything."

"Didn’t do anything?!" Ethan lunged at her, grabbing her collar and yanking her up, his eyes filled with malice as he glared at her. "I’ve had you locked up here, and after all this time without seeing your little lover, you want me to believe you didn’t do anything?!"

The moment he pointed the gun at Alex, she almost cried. In front of so many people, she had begged him.

For Alex Carter, she had done so much.

She always acted so high and mighty in front of him, but when it came to Alex, she was willing to beg...

"Then what do you think we did in the car?" Lily retorted, still held by her collar, her eyes full of disdain as they locked onto his dark gaze. Her voice was cold. "Did we do the same things you do with women in cars?"

"Lily!" Ethan roared in fury, raising his fist to strike...

"Today is my birthday."

Lily lowered her eyes and spoke softly.

Ethan froze, his fist stopping just inches from her face.

Her soft voice stirred something within him.

"Today is my twenty-second birthday. He came to wish me a happy birthday," Lily said, sitting on the bed, her tone cold and distant. "So... we didn’t do anything in the car."

"And for the record, I’ve never slept with him."

"I had forgotten my birthday, but he remembered." Lily let out a bitter laugh. "You probably don’t know what it’s like to have feelings for someone for so many years, right? Have you ever experienced a relationship that wasn’t driven by lust?"

On her birthday, he had made her cook 28 noodles, only to throw them away right before her...

How ironic.

"..." Ethan’s hand faltered, and he released her collar.

Lily finally managed to catch her breath, though her nose still stung with unshed tears. She turned her gaze toward the floor-to-ceiling window, and the image of Ethan kissing that girl flashed in her mind, refusing to go away.

The oppressive atmosphere in the master bedroom was suffocating, the silence heavy and stifling.

"Get out!" Ethan suddenly ordered, his voice cold. "Tell Nanny to come up and change the sheets!"

Does he think I’ve dirtied the sheets just by sitting on them?

How clean does Ethan think he is? What gives him the right to think I’m unclean?

"Fine, I’ll leave."

As usual, Lily didn’t argue. She stood up from the bed and walked toward the door, her head held high. Her eyes stung so much that the tears would fall if she blinked.

"Were you willing to die for Alex Carter?!"

Ethan’s dark voice rang out behind her.

If he had fired a real bullet today, she would already be dead.

Was she willing to give up her life for Alex?

"I was," Lily said without hesitation. Then, she turned and calmly walked out.

The moment she left, the sound of things being smashed and thrown filled the master bedroom.

Ethan’s rage was uncontrollable.

Lily paused, biting her lip. She stood still for a long time before finally leaving.

The master bedroom was now a mess.

Ethan sat on the edge of the bed, his short hair disheveled, his entire being shrouded in darkness. His hands hung limply at his sides, and the back of his right hand had been cut by the shattered glass from the lamp, blood dripping from his fingers onto the floor.

"Today is my birthday."

How she had said it, so exhausted, with that look in her eyes, made him feel like a child who didn’t know right from wrong—disdainful, unwilling to deal with him...

He had stood on the balcony, watching her run to Alex Carter’s car.

Watching Alex push her into the car.

Watching the seconds tick by on his watch, she still hadn’t gotten out.

She had no sense of self-awareness. She had dared to get into Alex’s car right in front of the Blackwood villa!

At that moment, he almost wanted to burn the car down, to let both Lily and Alex die together.

"Were you willing to die for Alex Carter?!"

"I was."

"You probably don’t know what it’s like to have feelings for someone for so many years, right? Feelings that have nothing to do with lust."

In her eyes, he was nothing but a beast, someone consumed by lust, a scumbag, a depraved monster.

It is not even worthy of comparison to the likes of Alex Carter.

Was she willing to die for Alex?

Did she love Alex that much? A love that had lasted for years? Was she trying to flaunt her so-called love in his face?

So what if their feelings had lasted for years? As long as he was around, there was no way he’d ever let them be together.

They were both delusional if they thought they had a future.

"Mr. Blackwood, what happened?!" Nanny rushed into the room, gasping in shock at the sight of Ethan’s bloodied right hand.

She tossed the cookie tin she had been holding onto the bed and hurried to fetch the first aid kit.

Ethan glanced over and reached for the cookie tin.

It was filled with cookies.

Cookies that Lily had baked.

"These are the cookies Miss Lily made. I found them at the hospital after her discharge. She had thrown them away, but I picked them up because I thought I could reuse the tin for something."

As she opened the first aid kit, Nanny explained hurriedly, seeing that Ethan had opened the cookie tin.

Ethan didn’t say a word. His long fingers picked up one of the cookies, which had already gone soft from exposure to the air.

His eyes were dark and unreadable.

He lowered his head and took a bite of the cookie, chewing silently.

"Wait, Mr. Blackwood! You can’t eat that. The cookies are spoiled," Nanny exclaimed, reaching out to take the cookie from him.

But Ethan had already eaten the entire cookie.

The spoiled cookie tasted awful.

Just like Lily now—she had gone wrong. Something that should have been thrown away... yet he still held on tightly and refused to let go.

"Nanny, do you think I’m like my father?" Ethan asked suddenly, finishing the last bite of the cookie.

Nanny stared at him, momentarily speechless. All she could say was, "Let me clean your wound."

Ethan’s mother had said the same thing—that Ethan was too much like his father, extreme in his ways. Once he chose a path, right or wrong, he would keep walking down it...

People who don’t know how to turn back can be truly terrifying.

"Nanny, she betrayed me."

Nanny glanced at the mess in the room and the blood on his hand. She knew he was upset about Lily again.

Since Lily appeared in the Blackwood family, Ethan has changed a lot.

He was happier than ever, but his outbursts of rage had also increased...

"Mr. Blackwood, Miss Lily has already been punished enough." Nanny bent down and began cleaning his wound.

Punished enough?

She should have known this was the price if she had chosen to betray him.

In Ethan Blackwood’s world, there was no such thing as a light sentence.

"Leave the cookie tin here," Ethan ordered coldly.

"Yes, Mr. Blackwood."

I won’t throw it away and let her and Alex Carter off easily, either.

Just like she said, I am a monster.

It was a sleepless night for Lily. After taking a shower, she lay in bed, holding the delicate hair clip Alex had given her. It was beautiful, sparkling in the light.

Alex kissed her forehead in the car and confessed, saying, "Lily, I love you."

Alex had confessed his love.

It was a confession she had never dared to dream of hearing, so why had she been more shocked than thrilled when she heard it?

When the man she had longed for confessed his love, shouldn’t she have been so ecstatic that her mind went blank?

Was it because Ethan had been standing outside at the time? Was she too afraid, so she forgot to feel happy and excited?

But now, thinking back on it, her heart still didn’t stir very much.

Sitting in bed, Lily placed the hair clip into the bedside drawer and slowly closed it, watching as the sparkle from the clip disappeared from her sight.

A maid fetched Lily to help clean the Blackwood villa the following day. She might not have been wearing a maid’s uniform, but she was doing all the tasks of a maid.

"Hey, do you have any lemon juice?"

A fresh, sweet voice drifted in like a breeze.

Lily looked up to see Ethan walking in from outside, his arm linked with the young girl from last night—the same girl he had kissed by the window.

She was cute and young, with beautiful, bright eyes that seemed to sparkle with life.

Her smile was sweet, making it impossible to dislike her.

Ethan’s cold gaze locked onto Lily. "Aren’t you going to get it?"

There are so many maids around. Why does it have to be me getting the lemon juice?

Lily shot Ethan a glare before turning and heading to the kitchen. Behind her, she heard the girl’s sweet voice again, "Ethan, let’s not go out today. The doctor said your injuries haven’t healed yet."

"Stop nagging." Ethan’s response was curt.

Lily went to the kitchen, filled two glasses with lemon juice, and was about to return when she heard Ethan’s irritated voice. "Lily, are your legs broken?!"

If he’s so impatient, why doesn’t he get it himself?!

Lily took a deep breath, trying to calm herself down before scooping a spoonful of salt into one of the glasses.

Let’s see how he likes it when it’s too salty for him to boss me around.

Lily carried the lemon juice to the dining table where Ethan and the girl sat. The girl smiled politely at her. "Thank you."

Lily, expressionless, didn’t say a word.

The girl was easy to like, but for some reason... Lily couldn’t bring herself to feel anything positive toward her.

It was a strange, unsettling feeling.

Lily set the glasses in front of them and was about to leave when the girl suddenly exclaimed, "Ethan, why does your lemon juice look a different color from mine?"

A bad feeling crept over Lily.

She quickly turned around, trying to stop what was happening, but it was too late. The girl had already picked up Ethan’s glass and taken a sip. Her eyebrows immediately furrowed. "Pfft—"

She spat out the lemon juice, her face contorted in pain.

Lily stood there in silence.

I didn’t intend to hurt the girl. She just walked right into it...

"What’s wrong?" Ethan asked coldly, glaring at her. "Can’t you drink properly?"

How annoying. Was it some kind of trend for innocent-looking girls to spit out drinks and wine?

Ethan reached for the glass as he spoke, but the girl quickly moved it out of his reach.

"It’s nothing; I just choked for a moment," the girl said, glancing at Lily. Then, despite her discomfort, she raised the glass and drank the entire thing.

Lily’s eyes widened in disbelief. What is this girl doing?!

She knew there was salt in the drink, yet she drank it all.

After finishing the glass, the girl’s face twisted in pain, but she forced a smile at Lily, holding up her hand to give an "okay" sign.

What planet did this girl come from?!

Lily stared at her in confusion before turning to leave, only to hear Ethan’s cold voice call after her, "Go find me a suit. I’m going out."

For the sake of her uncle and the magazine, Lily gritted her teeth and continued to endure being treated like a servant. Let’s see how long he can keep this up. Let’s see how long he can keep acting like a child.

"I’ll help you find one, too," the girl said, standing up from the table, her voice hoarse from the salt.

Ethan didn’t seem to notice her hoarse voice. He just kept reading his newspaper, his face expressionless.

The girl accompanied Lily upstairs. In the hallway, her hoarse voice sounded again. "You don’t need to feel bad. I’m fine."