Private Marriage, Secret Love-Chapter 148: Deliberate Humiliation

"Huh?" Annabelle Spencer’s jaw nearly dropped to the floor. Then it dawned on her. "No wonder you’ve gotten so bold, daring to grab such an expensive outfit. Not bad!"

The moment the words left her mouth, she wished she could bite her own tongue off. Who was Raina Reddington? The Young Madam of the Lancaster Family, and at the very least, the eldest daughter of the Reddington Family. She shouldn’t have to lose out on a single piece of clothing to that Gwen Sharp.

Annabelle Spencer wasn’t in the mood to shop anymore. She picked out two basic items, liked them after trying them on, and the sales associate did indeed give her the employee discount.

After lunch, the two sat in the restaurant for a while. Neither suggested they go shopping again. After all, they had already run into Ethan Lancaster. It was a small world, and they might just bump into him again if they went back out.

On her way home, Raina Reddington passed an Auchan. She went in and bought a new phone. Her old one could barely turn on now, and Raina was anxious to get home and transfer her important data off of it.

When she returned to The Verdant Garden, she was surprised to find Ethan Lancaster home. Raina pushed the door open to see that nearly all the lights on the first floor were on. The man was sitting on the living room sofa. On the coffee table was a bag printed with the logo of the store from earlier.

She walked to the foot of the stairs, ready to go up.

Ethan Lancaster looked up. "Come here."

Raina stood rooted to the spot. "Is something wrong?"

The man glanced at the bag, unsure how to bring it up. He stood, grabbed the bag, and walked over to Raina. He held it out to her, but Raina didn’t reach for it. "Did the sales associate forget to have it delivered? Or do you want me to deliver it to her?"

Ethan Lancaster’s breath caught. "It’s for you."

Raina saw the most expensive plaid blazer inside. She gave him a questioning look. Ethan Lancaster’s fingers tightened on the bag’s handle. "The other ones didn’t suit you at all. In the future, don’t listen to that Annabelle Spencer and just try on any old thing."

"If you don’t try on clothes when you buy them, are you supposed to have someone else try them on for you?" Raina’s eyes were fixed on the bag in Ethan Lancaster’s hand. "Should I also thank Miss Sharp for acting as a free fitting model?"

"She didn’t try this one on."

"Is that so?" Raina honestly couldn’t remember; all she recalled was Gwen Sharp running back and forth to the fitting room. "Thank you for the kind gesture, Fourth Master, but I don’t need it."

"Take it."

Raina’s hands remained at her sides, not moving an inch. "I didn’t actually like this outfit. I just wanted to make you spend money. I deliberately picked out the most expensive thing to look at because I knew that no matter what I chose, you were just going to buy it for her. So, I never had any feelings for it from the start."

Ethan Lancaster’s expression didn’t change much. He pushed the bag into her hands.

Raina dropped it by her feet as if it were a hot potato. "She may not have tried it on, but she touched it. I don’t need it."

She stepped over the bag on the floor, and Ethan Lancaster followed, placing one foot on the stairs. "So? You mind her presence that much?"

Raina didn’t turn back. "It’s not that I mind. It just makes me uncomfortable. And it’s not because she’s your woman now that I’m upset. I just find her repulsive. From the moment she agreed to leave The Regalia Palace with you, I’ve looked down on people like her."

’Of course, she looked down on Ethan, too.’

The man’s foot bumped the bag. He looked down at the clothes lying there, abandoned.

Out of the corner of his eye, he also saw a paper bag in Raina’s hand, with the model number of an outdated phone written on it.

When Annabelle Spencer had said what she did, Ethan Lancaster had been listening.

"I bought you a new phone."

Raina stopped in her tracks and finally looked at Ethan Lancaster. "You bought it for me?"

The man crouched down, pulled a phone box out of the discarded bag, and offered it to Raina. Her gaze merely flickered over it. "I wouldn’t dare take anything from the Fourth Master. You keep a clear tally of every single thing. It seems that besides this body, I have nothing left to trade with you. But I don’t think I’m so cheap as to be worth only a phone. Besides, I’ve already bought my own. Thank you for your kindness."

Ethan Lancaster’s face turned pale. It was as if their relationship was purely transactional. He knew she was talking about that night.

His fingertips, holding the phone box, slowly tightened. Raina rested a hand on the nearby banister. "Stoneworth is only so big. It’s inevitable that she and I will run into each other. Next time, you don’t have to deliberately humiliate me in front of others. Ethan Lancaster, I know exactly where I stand with you. You don’t have to remind me time and time again. My only virtue is that I know my place."

With that, she turned and went upstairs. Ethan Lancaster stood in the dimmest patch of light, his shoulders slumping slightly. She had no idea of his intentions. He had hurt her, and now she was paying him back in the cruelest way she knew how.

Once in her room, Raina took out the new phone and started setting it up. It took her a good while to re-download all her files and apps.

She logged into WeChat and saw she had a message.

It was from one of Raina’s former classmates who now lived in Vestria and worked as a personal shopper on the side. "Raina, that wallet you asked me to keep an eye on is on sale now. I’m flying back home the day after tomorrow. Want me to bring it back for you?"

Raina could hardly remember when she had asked her classmate to look out for it. She tapped a few words onto the screen: "No need, thank you."

Thinking back, she realized she had wanted to buy it as a gift for Ethan Lancaster. The price difference between home and abroad was significant, but now, it seemed completely unnecessary. Raina couldn’t help but laugh at her own pettiness, going through a personal shopper just to save a couple thousand. To think that in Ethan Lancaster’s eyes, that amount was worth less than a single outfit for his mistress.

「Two days later.」

Raina was leaving the hospital cafeteria when she unexpectedly received a call from Jessica Jacobs.

A knot of panic formed in her stomach, afraid she was about to hear bad news. "Hello, Mom."

"Raina, it’s been a long time since you last visited. Come home for dinner tonight."

"Mom, I have to work late tonight..." Raina hurriedly tried to refuse, afraid that if Ethan Lancaster found out, it would lead to an ugly scene.

"Just come back. I’ve already spoken with Ethan. It’s not right for you to stay away from home for so long."

Hearing this, Raina cautiously agreed, "Okay."

After work, Raina made a special trip to the mall and bought quite a few things to take with her. Zion Lancaster was waiting at the door. When he saw her arrive, he took the various gift boxes from her hands. "What’s all this? Anyone who didn’t know better would think it’s a new bride visiting for the first time."

"It’s been a while."

"You can say that again." There was no hint of blame in Zion Lancaster’s voice. "I’ll take you to see Dad first."

Zachary Lancaster hadn’t woken up within that golden three-month window, but the family was slowly coming to accept this fact.

Raina went back downstairs and saw Ethan Lancaster walking in from outside. She felt a daze come over her, a fleeting illusion that she had gone back in time.

Back then, he would bring Raina home from time to time. Everyone in the Lancaster Family adored her and would tell her that this was her home now.