30 Days of Passion and Revenge-Chapter 218: Steal a Kiss

Ethan responded dismissively with a hum and turned to look at her. Lily had stepped out wearing nothing but a white bath towel that wrapped snugly around her curved figure, highlighting her slender waist and graceful silhouette. Her bare shoulders glistened with water droplets, her lengthy hair half-dry, with beads of moisture rolling down her smooth, fair skin.

"Didn’t you say you were drying your hair?!"

Why was her hair still wet? What had she been doing in the bathroom for so long?

Ethan’s sharp and scrutinizing gaze lingered on her momentarily before he turned and walked to the coat rack, picking up a jacket draped over it.

"Isn’t it bad to over-dry your hair? I dried it halfway—good enough since it’s not time to sleep yet," Lily said with a forced laugh, trying to explain. She had forgotten entirely to dry her hair correctly earlier.

Her eyes flicked to the computer screen, noticing an open window minimized at the bottom of the screen.

Was this the movie he’d been watching?

She wondered why he had closed it so quickly when she entered the room. Was he watching something inappropriate?

Curiosity got the better of her. She bent down, grabbed the mouse, and clicked on the minimized window. The screen instantly enlarged.

Suddenly, an image of a man’s bloodied, battered body filled her vision. His face was unrecognizable beneath the bruises and blood, his body smeared with filth. He was screaming in agony, his teeth broken, and his mouth filled with blood.

"Ahhhh!" The man’s horrifying shrieks echoed through the room, his face twisted in pain, making the scene unbearably gruesome.

Crash—

Startled, Lily dropped the mouse and stumbled back a step, her heart racing.

Was Ethan watching such a gory movie?

But this didn’t look like a movie. There was no runtime visible on the screen. In the background of the video, other people were being beaten violently, the imagery soaked in blood and brutality.

The scene was horrific—far more graphic and violent than anything she had seen before.

"Turn it off!" Ethan shouted as he rushed over to close the window. But before he could, Cipher Stone appeared on the screen, spinning a gun in his hand.

"If no one hands over the antidote, I’ll make sure every one of you experiences what AuroraVirus feels like!" Cipher shouted, pointing the gun at the head of the screaming man.

It was too late.

What the hell is Cipher doing interrogating them now? Ethan cursed inwardly. Damn it!

"Shit!" Ethan growled, slamming the mouse onto the desk and tossing it aside. He grabbed the coat from the rack and draped it over Lily’s shoulders.

Lily stood frozen, staring as the window was abruptly closed, leaving only the blank desktop. Her heart still pounded from the shock of what she had just seen.

"What... was that?" she asked, her voice trembling.

It was just a video, but it had shaken her far more than the time she had seen Ethan shoot someone in Denmark or the murders at the church involving Ethan’s father.

That video was far too bloody, brutal... and overwhelming for her to process.

"Did it scare you?" Ethan asked, his deep eyes fixed on her. He slid her bare arms into the coat sleeves, wrapping her up protectively. "It’s nothing. Want me to watch a comedy with you instead?"

Did he think a comedy could erase the terrifying images she had just seen? She was already shaken to her core.

"You’re looking for the antidote for me, right?" Lily asked, her voice soft but steady. From Cipher’s words, she had already pieced most of the truth.

While accompanying her to see the professor, Ethan hadn’t stopped searching for the antidote.

But those methods... they were too violent, too cruel. Beating someone so savagely—what kind of torment was that?

Indeed, it was a hundred times more painful than what she was enduring.

"Lily Anderson, listen to me," Ethan said sternly, cupping her face in his hands and leaning down so their eyes were level. His tone was commanding, leaving no room for argument. "You don’t need to concern yourself with this."

"But I don’t even know those people—"

Why would strangers want to harm her? She had no grievances or connections with them.

"They’re my enemies," Ethan said after a pause, seeing the stubborn determination in her eyes. "AuroraVirus isn’t an ordinary bacteria. The kind of people who could get their hands on it aren’t ordinary either. Whoever did this to you was targeting me."

After all, Ethan had no shortage of enemies...

His enemies didn’t come after him directly but targeted the woman by his side instead. Using a bacteria that wouldn’t kill immediately?

Lily felt like something needed to be added up. Flashes of fragmented memories flickered through her mind, but she couldn’t pin anything down.

"What are you thinking about?" Ethan asked, noticing her furrowed brow.

"I’m trying to figure out who might have done this to me," Lily murmured, biting her lip. Something was in the back of her mind, but she couldn’t quite grasp it.

What was it? She pressed her fingers to her temples, trying to remember.

"This bacteria could have been introduced into your body without you even realizing it—through a needle prick or something added to your drink," Ethan said coldly.

That kind of stealth made finding the culprit incredibly difficult.

"True," Lily said with a bitter smile. If that were the case, identifying the person responsible would be like finding a needle in a haystack. Ethan had captured everyone who might have had a motive and interrogated them...

"So you captured Alex Carter, Alice Johnson, Uncle Robert, and my father..." Lily’s voice faltered. "Would you... would you treat my father like that, too?"

Would he hang her father up and beat him? Her father might have used her, but poisoning her? That couldn’t be possible... right?

"You still consider him your father?" Ethan’s eyes darkened.

Lily’s expression dimmed.

"When I was little, he used to carry me on his back to my mom’s favorite mountain so we could enjoy the view. I was a spoiled child, refusing to walk or let the servants carry me. I insisted it had to be him... and he carried me up and down the mountain without complaint."

In the quiet of the night, Lily sat with Ethan on the floor beside the bed, recounting stories from her childhood.

She told him about the happy times when her family of three had seemed so perfect.

Back then... it had felt like real happiness, even if it was all a facade.

Whether or not she was Henry Anderson’s biological daughter, in her heart, she had only ever seen him as her father. She could never accept Bill Carter as her father.

"Fine, I’ll release Henry Anderson tomorrow," Ethan said after a pause.

"And what about Alex’s father?" Lily asked hesitantly.

"He stays," Ethan replied firmly. "And you can forget about asking me to release Bill Carter." 𝒇𝙧𝙚𝓮𝙬𝙚𝓫𝒏𝓸𝓿𝓮𝒍.𝓬𝙤𝓶

Lily looked at him in surprise.

Ethan’s voice was low as he explained, "Alex and Alice are getting married soon. Alice’s father is about to take a key political position. Until we find the antidote, their families can’t find out about this. Understand?"

In other words, he was holding Bill Carter hostage to ensure Alex and Alice stayed quiet.

Lily nodded.

"Do you believe Alex and Alice didn’t poison you?" Ethan asked.

"Alex definitely wouldn’t," Lily said confidently. "As for Alice... I don’t know. But I agree with what she said—if she truly wanted me dead, she wouldn’t have tried to kill herself before watching me die first."

As she spoke, Lily realized that her entanglements with Alex and Alice felt like they had happened a lifetime ago.

"Mm." Ethan gave a curt nod.

"Do you always interrogate people so cruelly?" Lily asked softly. "Only one person is guilty, but the rest are innocent."

Hurting so many people just for her sake... made her feel guilty.

"Leave these things to me. Don’t concern yourself," Ethan said firmly as he pulled her to her feet. "It’s time for bed."

Even if it meant killing all of them, Ethan wouldn’t hesitate as long as he found the antidote. He would go against the entire world if it meant sparing Lily from suffering.

He lifted the blanket and carried her onto the bed. "I’m going to shower. Think about where you want to go tomorrow."

"Okay," Lily said with a smile, watching him leave. Once alone, she lay on the bed, staring at the crystal chandelier hanging from the ceiling.

As soon as she lay down, exhaustion washed over her. She tried to stay awake to think about who might have poisoned her, but within minutes, she was fast asleep.

When she woke up, Lily found herself in Ethan’s arms. His arm was beneath her head, acting as her pillow. His face was right in front of hers, his sharp, flawless features so close that she could see every detail—his long lashes, his perfectly sculpted lips...

Startled, Lily instinctively pulled back. Am I not going to infect him like this?

Sitting up, she reached out hesitantly to touch his face. Before her hand could make contact, his hand shot out, grabbing hers. Ethan’s dark eyes opened, locking onto hers. His voice was lazy and seductive.

"Trying to steal a kiss, hmm?"

"I wasn’t," Lily said, flustered. She tried to pull her hand back, but Ethan had already rolled her beneath him, capturing her lips in a deep, passionate kiss.

She tried to push him away, but he didn’t care, his hot tongue exploring her mouth with an intensity that left her breathless. The kiss consumed them both, pushing them to the brink of losing control.

Finally, Ethan pulled back, his gaze falling to her swollen, cherry-red lips. He let out a satisfied hum.

"I haven’t even brushed my teeth yet," Lily muttered, embarrassed. She tried to get up, but Ethan pressed her back down with one arm across her chest. His dark eyes locked onto hers as he said shamelessly, "I don’t mind your morning breath."

"...Well, I mind yours," Lily shot back, glaring at him.

"Are you trying to provoke me this early in the morning?!" Ethan growled, his temper flaring. He leaned down and kissed her again, this time even more fiercely.

"Mmph..." Lily struggled against him, but his kiss left her breathless once more. Finally, he let her go, and she smacked his chest with her hand. "I thought we were going out today?"

"What’s the rush? I think we can just stay here," Ethan said, lying on his side and propping his head up with his hand. His gaze was teasing as it lingered on her flushed face. "There’s even a private playroom next door. Want to try it out?"

Lily rolled her eyes, grabbing a pillow and throwing it at him. "You pervert!"

"I’m only like this with you," Ethan replied matter-of-factly, his lips curling into a wicked smile as the pillow harmlessly bounced off him.

Ignoring him, Lily got out of bed to get dressed. Ethan watched her from the bed, his dark eyes slowly clouding with a more profound emotion.

No matter what happened, he wouldn’t let her spend the next ten years bedridden, waiting for death. Not her.

Ethan refused to let anyone else, not even a driver, intrude on their day together. But Lily wouldn’t let him drive either.

After some back-and-forth, Lily ended up behind the wheel.

In the luxurious convertible, soft music played in the background. Lily drove steadily, starkly contrasting Ethan’s usual fast and reckless style.

As they passed a small roadside hat shop, Lily suddenly thought about the hair she had lost the night before. She pulled over and turned to Ethan. "I want to buy a hat."

She didn’t want him to notice her hair falling out. She couldn’t let him find out—not yet.

"A hat?" Ethan gave her a puzzled look. She rarely wore hats.

"Yeah, don’t you think those hats look nice?" Lily smiled as she exited the car and walked into the shop. She tried on various hats in front of the mirror, hesitating over which one to choose. "Ethan, which hat looks the best on me?"