Private Marriage, Secret Love-Chapter 49: The Most Beautiful Dream, Shattered
Miles shook his head, feeling his consciousness start to fade. He clutched the jacket in his hand. Seeing how deathly pale he was, Hannah Lynch hurried to his side and took his arm. "Miles, what’s wrong?"
"Get away from me." Miles shoved her away with a sudden jolt.
Hannah Lynch nearly tripped over a throw pillow on the floor. "Miles, what on earth is wrong with you?"
Miles rushed to the door and yanked on the handle several times, but it wouldn’t budge.
He kicked the door with all his might, like a wild beast on the verge of losing control, but the door was unnervingly solid and didn’t so much as shudder.
Hannah Lynch was so frightened she stood rooted to the spot. She had never seen Miles like this. He frantically started tearing at his collar. Hannah took a step toward him. "Miles."
"Don’t come any closer!"
"What’s wrong with you? You’re the one who asked me to come over. Are you feeling sick?"
"I asked you to come over?" Miles’s voice was hoarse, strained like a string about to snap.
"Yes," Hannah Lynch said, rushing forward to catch him as he started to collapse. "Don’t scare me."
Raina Reddington saw Miles grab Hannah Lynch’s shoulders, as if trying to push her away, but his body was clearly no longer under his control. The faint scent of Hannah’s perfume acted like a potent aphrodisiac, causing an unbearable, swelling heat to course through him.
Ethan Lancaster, watching the screen, gestured with a cynical air. "See? This drug is really something else."
"What drug?" Raina’s eyes shot daggers at him.
Ethan Lancaster tapped his lips. "Oops, let that slip. But you’re a doctor. I’m sure you figured it out long before I said anything, right?"
"Ethan Lancaster, how could you do this!"
"And why not? If Miss Lynch knew about this, she wouldn’t know how to thank me enough."
Raina planted her hands on the table to push herself up, but Ethan Lancaster grabbed her wrist, forcing her back down. "Thinking of saving him? They’re engaged. Is it so strange for them to be doing something like this?"
"You’re right, it’s perfectly normal. But it also has nothing to do with me. I’m leaving."
Ethan Lancaster slung an arm around Raina’s shoulders, forcing her to remain in her seat. "Last time, didn’t we put on a live show for him? Let him watch to his heart’s content. It’d be a pity to miss this free broadcast."
"You’re twisted!" Raina couldn’t bring herself to look at the television. The hand at her side was clenched into a fist, her neatly trimmed nails digging painfully into her palm.
"Am I twisted, or are you just afraid to watch?" Seeing that she refused to even lift her eyes, Ethan Lancaster grabbed the remote and cranked up the volume.
Miles fumbled for his phone, trying to make a call, but Hannah Lynch grabbed his hand. "Miles, do you have any feelings for me at all?"
"Call the front desk! Quick!" Miles tried to push her away, but the moment his hand touched Hannah Lynch’s body, his strength deserted him. "Call 911, just call someone!"
"Are you in that much pain?" Hannah Lynch’s fingers traced his face, which was slick with sweat. Miles’s expression twisted, and he suddenly seized her hand.
The last shred of resistance in his eyes finally gave way to the drug’s seductive power. Ethan Lancaster was just waiting for him to break. He’d gotten the drug from Cameron Fairchild, and the dose was a full three times what he’d taken last time. If Miles Hawthorne could still resist this, he wouldn’t be a man.
Ethan Lancaster reached out, seized Raina’s chin, and forced her head up. Her eyes were unavoidably drawn to the television screen.
Two figures were tangled together on the floor. Hannah Lynch’s arms were wrapped tightly around the man’s back, her fingers digging into his skin in desperation. The moment Raina saw her tear off Miles Hawthorne’s shirt, she squeezed her eyes shut.
"Is that enough for you?"
"Don’t like what you see?"
With him still gripping her chin, Raina couldn’t move. "I don’t have sick tastes like you."
’That time with Ethan Lancaster, at least they’d had a sofa for cover. And Ethan, wary of being in a public place, had been careful not to remove any more clothing than necessary. But to Miles Hawthorne and Hannah Lynch, this was no different from a private hotel room. Overcome with passion, they couldn’t possibly imagine that their every move was being watched.’
Raina kept her eyes squeezed shut, but the sounds still forced their way into her ears. "Turn it off. Please?"
"What’s the matter? Don’t tell me you’re actually bothered by this. That it’s making you uncomfortable?"
"I’m hungry. I was trying to eat my dinner. How am I supposed to eat watching this and listening to this?" Raina couldn’t help but raise her voice, her eyes flying open to glare at the man beside her. "I’ve lost my appetite."
"Fine. Then we just won’t listen," Ethan Lancaster said, muting the television. "If you don’t want to watch, then just don’t look up."
Raina swallowed hard. Her stomach was empty, aching with hunger. She hung her head, but the light from the screen still flickered across her face, making each of her complicated expressions all the more clear.
She picked up her chopsticks, dipped a piece of salmon into the sauce, and brought it to her mouth. The wasabi rushed straight to her sinuses, so sharp that Raina nearly choked. She wasn’t sure if it was from the sting or for some other reason, but her eyes filled with tears. She quickly bowed her head, forcing another piece of sushi into her mouth.
’Raina herself couldn’t even clearly remember what year or month she and Miles Hawthorne had first gotten together.’
’Aside from her grandmother, he had been her only light. When she met him, he couldn’t do anything, just another boy coddled and spoiled by his family. He learned all his best dishes just for her. To make her laugh, he’d gotten stung by bees. He’d lit a patch of dry grass in a field, wanting to show her a "prairie fire," but the wind had picked up and he’d nearly burned down the farmer’s crops. He’d even stolen a puppy for her, only to be chased halfway through the village by its furious mother...’
’That boy... he was a dream she’d had back then. In the dream, he said he would come and marry her someday. She had waited and waited, only for that wait to end with him being intimate with another woman, right in front of her.’
’Now, she was Mrs. Lancaster and he was Mr. Hawthorne, soon to be the son-in-law of the Lynch Family.’
’She really had moved on, she had. But the most beautiful dream in her heart had shattered. How could she not feel the ache? How could she pretend nothing was wrong in front of Ethan Lancaster?’
Raina’s lips trembled as she forced down a mouthful of food. Ethan Lancaster stared at her profile, a sinister glint in his eyes. "That hungry?"
"Yes. Starving."
Ethan Lancaster picked up his chopsticks and began piling food into her bowl. "Since you’re so hungry, then eat up."
The light from the television screen flashed across both their faces. Raina didn’t dare raise her head, suppressing even her peripheral vision. The sushi was a lump in her throat, so thick she felt like she was about to suffocate.
Ethan Lancaster glanced up at the screen just as the scene he most wanted to see began to unfold. A cruel smirk played on his lips; it was truly a spectacular sight. "Tell me," he said, "should I record this for them? I could show it to Miles Hawthorne later. Let him see just how savage he can be."
