Private Marriage, Secret Love-Chapter 91: Where is the Way Out?

Felix’s eyelids, which he had struggled to keep open, drooped shut from exhaustion. His head lolled forward, his upper body held tight by the seatbelt.

"Felix, Felix—"

Raina called out twice, but he didn’t answer.

Paramedics rushed over with a stretcher, and Ethan Lancaster pulled Raina away. 𝙛𝒓𝓮𝙚𝔀𝒆𝒃𝓷𝒐𝓿𝙚𝓵.𝙘𝒐𝒎

The rescue was difficult. In the end, the fire department had to be called in to cut the door open and pull Felix out.

Raina’s hand was clenched into a tight fist, and she didn’t dare to loosen her grip for even a second. Hidden in her palm was what felt like a key; its rough, metallic edges seemed to dig into her skin.

Felix was lifted onto the stretcher. A paramedic stood up. "Is there any family here?"

Raina took a step forward. "I am."

"What are you doing?" Ethan gripped her wrist.

"I think he’s not going to make it, Ethan. He was my classmate."

’Felix was in Miles Hawthorne’s car... does that mean the crash was originally meant for Miles? Could this be related to that information?’ Ethan’s heart softened for some reason.

Raina followed the paramedics into the ambulance. Seeing this, Ethan went with them.

Felix was rushed into the emergency room. Miles Hawthorne arrived as soon as he got the news. Although he was surprised to see Raina and Ethan, he didn’t have time to dwell on it.

Raina sat hunched over, motionless, staring at her feet. Occasionally, she would reach up to wipe the corner of her eye.

Back in school, Felix had been a troublemaker. He hated studying and was often sent to stand outside the classroom with a book on his head, yet he had somehow clicked with her and Miles.

Back then, they had made a pact to go to the same university. Miles had even laughed that with Felix’s grades, he could at least make it to the same city.

It was just that they would attend the best university, while he would go to the worst one in that city.

Miles paced anxiously outside the emergency room. He had already lost too many people; he couldn’t lose the only trustworthy friend he had left.

Ethan glanced at Raina. She still had her head down, her loose hair hiding her face.

He didn’t know how to comfort her. ’She’s a doctor. She should be more accustomed to this than anyone.’

The emergency room doors opened. Raina instinctively pulled her legs back. ’Felix was only just taken in. For the resuscitation to end this quickly... that can’t be good news.’

Miles didn’t dare to ask, but he saw the doctor shake his head at him.

"What... what does that mean?"

"I’m sorry. He was already gone by the time he was brought in."

Raina stood up and saw Miles rush inside. Ethan’s phone rang in his pocket, and he stepped aside to answer it.

Raina followed him in. Seeing Miles standing beside the resuscitation table, she charged over and punched him hard in the back twice. "Are you satisfied now? Are you satisfied?!"

Miles stood frozen. Raina grabbed him, spun him around to face her, and held out her clenched fist. "And what is this? This is what you wanted, isn’t it?"

She opened her fingers, revealing a key in her palm. Raina threw it at him. "Was it worth a life for this thing?"

Miles had always had a cold and distant demeanor, but now his expression had changed completely. It was as if the conviction he had held onto for so long had crumbled. He looked back at Felix, a sorrow seeping out from the very marrow of his bones.

"How many more people are you going to get killed?" Raina demanded loudly.

Miles braced his hands on the edge of the bed, his shoulders trembling slightly. Even his voice shook. "Raina, then you tell me, what should I do?"

The words were on the tip of Raina’s tongue, but she couldn’t say them. ’That’s right... if it were me, what would I do?’

’Such a good man like Hawthorne died an unnatural death. What else could he do?’

Some things are wrong if you give up, but pursuing them seems to be wrong too. It was a dead end either way. It was just that no one was standing in Miles’s shoes.

Raina looked at her childhood playmate, now lying there as a corpse, and she sobbed so hard she could barely speak.

Miles lowered his head as dark, wet circles bloomed on the white bedsheet. The hands he used to support himself slowly clenched into fists. "My dad is gone. My mom... she doesn’t have much time left. Raina, I lost you, too, and now even Felix is gone. Soon, I’ll be all alone. You tell me, if I let this go, what future do I have?"

Raina couldn’t answer. All she knew was that her heart ached, so much so that she could hardly breathe.

She turned to leave, her steps unsteady. Suddenly, Miles caught up to her, pulling her into a tight embrace from behind.

"Raina, if time could be turned back, I wouldn’t have ended up like this. Wouldn’t it have been great if we had just stayed together?"

The sharp, antiseptic smell of the hospital filled Raina’s senses. "Miles Hawthorne, have you ever thought about what would happen if, one day, you were the one lying there?"

Miles’s voice was thick with emotion, his composure on the verge of shattering. His arms around Raina tightened. "Then... you can cry for me like this, too. You’ll feel better after you cry."

Hearing this, Raina’s tears flowed even more fiercely, and her whole body felt like it was about to collapse.

After finishing his call, Ethan turned and walked back toward the emergency room. Just as he took a step inside, Raina pushed Miles away.

The two stood facing each other. Ethan saw Raina raise her hand and strike Miles with a force that was clearly all she could muster.

Miles was tall, and her first blow landed on his neck. Raina was hitting him without any specific target. The second strike hit his face, followed by his shoulder, his face, his face...

The man stood perfectly still as his face and neck turned red. A few of the slaps made a sharp, cracking sound, and one left a deep, red mark on Miles’s face.

One was willing to hit, the other willing to be hit. But even after venting her anger like this, the suffocating feeling in Raina’s heart remained.

’He made it sound so simple,’ she thought. ’Someone dies, you have a good cry, and then everything is fine. Is it really like that?’

SMACK! Raina landed another slap. Miles turned his head to the side. Her hand was trembling, as was her entire body.

Ethan strode in quickly, put an arm around Raina’s shoulders, and pulled her away. "That’s enough."

Her faltering body finally found a point of support, and she leaned against Ethan’s arm. Miles looked disheveled but paid it no mind. He turned and walked back to Felix’s side.

He picked up the blood-stained sheet and pulled it over Felix’s face.

Ethan held Raina, intending to lead her away. He lifted her hand and glanced at it. "Were you trying to beat him to death?"

"Ethan, this is none of your business."

’Yes, she could hit him if she wanted, as hard as she wanted.’ The reason he had pulled her away wasn’t that he was worried Miles would get hurt. He just saw how much force she was using and was afraid she would hurt herself.