Private Marriage, Secret Love-Chapter 104: Not One Can Be Spared

The Lancaster family estate wasn’t far from the Hilton, but Ethan Lancaster had the driver take them back to The Verdant Garden first.

Raina Reddington was murmuring something, but Ethan Lancaster couldn’t make out her words.

His heart was still in his throat, and his chest was tight with an inexplicable rage.

When they arrived at The Verdant Garden, Ethan Lancaster didn’t get out of the car. Instead, he made a call to the house.

A maid answered and hurried outside. Ethan Lancaster opened a car door. "Help her inside."

"Fourth Master, aren’t you coming in?"

"No."

The maid gave Raina Reddington a little push, but she didn’t stir, much less get up and walk on her own. The maid looked troubled. "Well..."

"Drag her out. If that’s too much, just dump her at the door."

The maid didn’t dare to disobey. She grabbed Raina Reddington’s arm and forcibly dragged her out. The two of them stumbled, and Raina, failing to keep her balance, fell right onto the ground.

Ethan Lancaster pulled the car door shut. "Drive."

The car quickly drove off toward the Lancaster estate. Ethan Lancaster’s footsteps were light as he went upstairs. When he reached the door to the master bedroom on the second floor and pushed it open, he saw Zion Lancaster sitting by the bed.

"Zion."

"Ethan, what are you doing here so late?"

Ethan Lancaster approached slowly, almost afraid to face the person lying in the bed. "How’s Dad?"

Zion Lancaster shook her head slightly. "How do you think he is?"

"And Mom?"

"I persuaded her to go to bed."

Ethan Lancaster came to the bedside and gently placed a hand on Zion Lancaster’s shoulder. "You have to take care of your baby. You should go rest, too."

"Ethan, don’t put so much pressure on yourself," Zion Lancaster said, patting his hand.

"I know. I’d like to be alone with Dad for a while."

"Alright."

After Zion Lancaster left, Ethan Lancaster sat down. He took Zachary Lancaster’s hand, holding it as he pressed his forehead tightly against the back of it. "Dad, I’ve been trying my best not to make you angry. Why is this still happening? You want me to change completely, to become someone else... but I can’t do it..."

’He wished Zachary Lancaster would just sit up and yell at him for being absurd, even hit him with all his might. Anything would be better than this.’

"I shouldn’t have bothered with her today. I should have just let her get a taste of what that’s like. But... I couldn’t do it. I’m sorry. I’m so sorry."

Ethan Lancaster couldn’t afford to be weak or to run away; only in moments like this could he allow his taut nerves to relax, if only for a short while.

He didn’t go back that night.

Raina Reddington woke up the next day to a pounding headache. She subconsciously reached for the other side of the bed, but her hand met with empty space.

She struggled to sit up, and a sharp pain shot through her palm. When she lifted her hand to her face, she saw it was scraped and raw.

Words from before she passed out came rushing back to her. Someone said Ethan Lancaster had given her to those men. Someone else said they were going to take her away, that there were rooms right there...

She frantically looked down at her clothes. She was still in the outfit she’d worn yesterday, and it didn’t look like it had been torn. But Raina was still uneasy. She stood up, needing to get out.

A knock sounded at the door. "Young Madam."

"Come in."

The maid pushed the door open and came inside. "You’re awake. I was worried, I was afraid you might still be feeling sick."

"How did I get back last night?"

"The Fourth Master brought you back."

Raina felt a wave of relief. "Where is he?"

"The Fourth Master had me get you out of the car, then he left."

Raina’s heart clenched again. It seemed her every emotion was at the mercy of this man. "He... just left?"

"Yes, he must have gone back to the other estate."

Raina put her hand down, accidentally bracing herself on the edge of the bed and hissing in pain.

The maid felt the need to explain, "You were very drunk last night, and I couldn’t manage you on my own. That’s when you scraped your hand..."

"I’m fine." Raina glanced at the time; it was still early. "You can go now."

After the maid left, she stared down at her hand. ’So heartache is more agonizing than physical pain. I thought I’d grown a thick enough skin. I thought I wouldn’t feel anything anymore.’ 𝚏𝗿𝗲𝐞𝚠𝕖𝐛𝗻𝗼𝐯𝕖𝚕.𝚌𝗼𝗺

Something cold trickled down her face. Raina hastily wiped it away, her fingertips coming away wet. ’It’s no big deal,’ she told herself. ’At worst, things are just going back to how they were when we first got married. Back then, Ethan did whatever he pleased and never once spared a thought for my feelings.’

But...

Things could never truly go back.

If it didn’t hurt then, why did it hurt so much she felt half-dead now?

Raina didn’t know what was wrong with her. Her tears started flowing harder and harder, and she couldn’t make them stop.

Once at the hospital, Raina quickly cleaned the wound on her palm. All the morning appointment slots were full, and her hand inevitably chafed as she wrote up patient records.

Miles Hawthorne came in through the VIP channel, and with him was May Sullivan.

When Raina Reddington saw him, her expression turned cold. Her grip on her pen tightened, and if May Sullivan hadn’t called out, "Raina," snapping her back to her senses, she might have confronted him on the spot.

"Auntie."

"I have to trouble you again."

May Sullivan’s condition was even worse than the last time Raina had seen her. She wore a hat, most likely because she had started losing her hair.

"My mother’s treatment will be in your hands from now on."

Raina Reddington listened to Miles Hawthorne without saying a word, taking May Sullivan’s medical file and flipping through it. "Auntie, I’ll discuss the follow-up treatment with Mr. Hawthorne. You can go wait outside and rest for a while."

With a single "Mr. Hawthorne," she put a clear distance between them.

May Sullivan nodded, then stood and walked out, leaving them some time to speak privately.

Raina cut straight to the point, demanding, "Did you really plant that evidence?"

Miles Hawthorne sat down in the chair beside her, not answering directly. "I’ve moved my mom over from her old hospital. A lot of people are going to be coming after me now. I trust you to treat her."

"You trust me, so you harm me? Is that it?"

Miles Hawthorne shook his head slightly. "Raina, I had no other choice."

"You always have such a high-minded excuse for hurting people. Miles Hawthorne, please get out. I don’t want to see you again."

Her tone went from chilly to glacial. "If possible, you should find another hospital for your mother."

"You know my mother... she doesn’t have much time left. Besides, my business will inevitably drag her down with me. I don’t want her to be murdered by my enemies in the end."

Once a patient was in the hospital, Raina couldn’t, and had no right to, turn them away. "I was caught off guard, not because I trusted you, but because I didn’t think you’d stoop to harming me. Turns out I was wrong. You’re capable of scheming against anyone, and that includes me."

The look on Miles Hawthorne’s face changed. There was no use explaining. He truly was a man who would stop at nothing to achieve his goals.

Cameron Fairchild was running himself ragged helping with the Lancaster family’s affairs. If not for the bond they shared from growing up together, who would dare get involved in such a mess?

"Miles Hawthorne sent his mother to Mercy Seas Hospital. Her attending physician is Raina Reddington."

Ethan Lancaster took a drag from his cigarette but didn’t say anything.

"It’s obvious they’re in cahoots. One second he’s destroying your family, and the next she’s getting involved with him again." Cameron Fairchild squeezed the cigarette pack in his hand. "You can’t let either of them get away with this. You can’t afford to go soft again."