30 Days of Passion and Revenge-Chapter 239: Ethan’s Hope

"Do you even realize? Even Mr. Blackwood only dares to call his father’ the old man’ in private... You’ve caused trouble now," Helen said, patting her chest repeatedly in fear.

Someone daring to speak to Mr. Blackwood like that... Miss Anderson might just be the first person ever.

Lily silently watched Helen, whose expression was akin to someone who had just seen a ghost.

"So, Miss Anderson, what do we do now?" Helen asked, still struggling to calm her nerves.

"Let me think," Lily replied.

She had spoken out of anger earlier when confronting Mr. Blackwood, claiming she didn’t need his help and could handle everything herself.

But now that she had to deal with it, she had no idea where to start.

All she knew was that Ethan wouldn’t want his father to get involved, either. She had to find a way.

"Should I arrange for someone to get Mr. Blackwood out of the military hospital?" Helen asked. This seemed the only option if Mr. Blackwood’s father wouldn’t intervene.

"He’s still seriously injured. What if something happens during the transfer?" Lily frowned. She didn’t want to gamble with Ethan’s life.

Knock, knock.

There was a knock at the door.

"Come in," Helen called out.

Nanny entered, looking at Lily with concern. "Miss Anderson, the bodyguards overseeing the transfer of a group of hostages just called and asked what to do next."

At the site of the villa explosion, only a small group of people remained. The rest of the hostages had already been moved.

Helen also turned to Lily, her gaze filled with unspoken pressure.

All decisions were waiting for her.

No one dared to take the lead; everyone was relying on her.

"Other than Aiko Nakamura, should the rest... be dealt with?" Helen suggested hesitantly, offering a possible course of action.

"Dealt with?"

Did she mean killing all of them? Such a cruel act... Lily couldn’t bring herself to do it.

"Where are they now?" Lily asked.

"They’ve already been secretly moved out of the city," Nanny replied.

"I’ll go see them myself," Lily said. She tried to stand but suddenly felt her legs give out beneath her. Grasping onto the sofa for support, she barely kept herself from falling.

"Miss Anderson!"

Helen and Nanny cried out in unison, rushing to help her lie on the sofa.

Lily lay sideways on the sofa, her legs completely immobile.

"Miss Anderson, are you alright?" Nanny asked anxiously, clearly panicking. "You can’t afford to collapse now... If you do, who will hold everything together?"

"I’m fine. I just need to rest for a moment," Lily said, frustrated as she hit her legs. She could feel the pain, but they were utterly powerless and refused to move.

"Is the AuroraVirus acting up?" Helen asked in alarm. "Do we have any medication?"

"Miss Anderson is pregnant. It’s not safe for her to take medication," Nanny replied, equally worried. "Besides... without the antidote, nothing else will work."

Suddenly, an intense aching sensation spread from Lily’s legs. It was a deep, unbearable soreness like she had never experienced.

"Ah..."

Lily cried out in pain, gripping the sofa tightly as cold sweat poured from her face.

The symptoms were worsening. The pain was becoming unbearable now.

It was a sharp, stabbing pain, like needles piercing her body. Lily’s cries echoed in the room as tears streamed uncontrollably down her face.

Her nails dug into the sofa, leaving deep marks.

"Miss Anderson..." Nanny was at a complete loss, unsure of what to do.

"Painkillers... Get me painkillers..." Lily said through trembling lips, her entire body shaking from the pain. Her legs, however, remained utterly motionless.

"Mr. Blackwood had me prepare some painkillers. I’ll get them right away!" Nanny exclaimed, rushing out of the room.

The excruciating pain coursed through Lily’s entire body, spreading to her limbs. Even her hands began to ache, making her wish she could cut them off.

It hurt so much.

She had never imagined that the AuroraVirus would cause pain like this. She had always thought the worst would be paralysis. Still, she had never considered the agony she would endure.

The pain was so severe that Lily nearly fainted. Her breathing grew shallow and labored.

"Miss Anderson, stay strong," Helen urged, crouching beside her in desperation.

"I’ve got the painkillers!"

Nanny stumbled back into the room with a syringe in hand. She was about to inject it when Lily pulled her hand back. "Go put on gloves," Lily said weakly.

"You don’t need to worry about that, Miss Anderson..."

"I don’t want to infect you... ... I’ll do it myself. Just... just give me the syringe," Lily said, her voice trembling as she reached out with a shaking hand.

Taking the syringe from Nanny, she injected it into her own arm. Her hands trembled violently as she pushed the plunger, forcing the painkiller into her system. Sweat dripped from her forehead as she gritted her teeth, using every ounce of strength she had left.

"Miss Anderson..."

Nanny and Helen watched with red-rimmed eyes, their hearts aching at the sight.

When the injection was finished, the disposable syringe fell from Lily’s hand, landing on the floor with a dull thud.

She collapsed back onto the sofa, her breathing shallow. The painkiller worked quickly, and the searing pain began to fade from her body.

It felt like she had just survived death itself.

The pain had been so intense, so unbearable, that it left her completely drained.

Her face was drenched in sweat and tears. It took a long time for the feeling to return to her legs.

"Miss Anderson, are you alright?"

Nanny gently wiped her face with a clean handkerchief, which instantly became soaked.

Lily’s vision slowly cleared. She stared blankly at everything around her.

I can’t collapse now.

I have to survive, I have to keep going, and I won’t let myself become useless.

No matter what, she had to force Aiko Nakamura to hand over the antidote. No matter how ruthless she had to be, she would make Aiko give it to her.

Ethan was still lying in the military hospital. If she didn’t act when he woke up, the first person he would see might be his cold and ruthless father. He would witness his entire business empire in ruins.

She couldn’t let Ethan end up like that. She absolutely couldn’t.

"I need to see the hostages. I need to see Aiko Nakamura," Lily said, sitting on the sofa despite her weakness.

"Miss Anderson, I’ll go with you. Rest for a bit first. Wait until your legs are fully recovered. Even if you don’t care about yourself, you need to think about the child you’re carrying," Helen said, sitting beside her.

"I know," Lily replied. She understood that in her current state, the only way to safely carry her child to term was to remain bedridden. Any fall or accident could result in losing the baby.

Helen stayed by her side, helping her wear a large pair of sunglasses. "In times like this, paparazzi have no boundaries. You need to protect yourself, Miss Anderson."

Helen’s words made Lily feel a pang of irony. She had once been a relentless paparazzo, but now she was running from them.

The bodyguards took extreme precautions, surrounding her car with four vehicles in front and four behind. They carefully monitored for any signs of being followed and intercepted suspicious vehicles along the way.

Lily had never experienced such a high level of security before.

The bodyguards were on full alert, operating as if they were in a war zone.

At the city’s checkpoint, police were inspecting every vehicle. The central government was still searching for the remaining hostages.

Fortunately, Ethan had arranged for the hostages to be moved in advance. Otherwise, the evidence would have been irrefutable by now.

Evidence.

A thought suddenly struck Lily.

"Helen, the villa has already exploded. There shouldn’t be any evidence left behind. The people involved are either dead or seriously injured and unable to speak. Without evidence, there’s no solid proof that Ethan was the mastermind behind the kidnappings, right?"

Helen followed her thoughts and suddenly realized, "You’re right! Media speculation isn’t admissible as evidence. We could claim that Mr. Blackwood was trying to rescue the hostages or that he was a victim himself."

Why didn’t I think of this earlier?

The media frenzy and the apparent truth of the situation had made her focus solely on escape plans.

But in legal terms, without evidence, the accusations were baseless.

This could help salvage Ethan’s business empire.

"Do you think this will work?" Lily asked hesitantly. She wasn’t confident in these matters.

"Of course," Helen said, growing excited. "Miss Anderson, I’ll have the PR team hold a press conference immediately to refute the false reports and stabilize the public. Then we’ll work on pulling some strings to get Ethan released from military custody."

"I’ll go with you to negotiate with the military. Make sure to arrange for a strong legal team as well."

"Understood, Miss Anderson. I’ll get started right away," Helen said, her spirits lifted as if she had found a glimmer of hope. She began making calls from the car, her tone decisive and commanding.

Lily watched her quietly. Helen was one of Ethan’s most capable assistants—an indispensable secretary, much like Nanny, unwavering in her loyalty.

She could only imagine how chaotic things must be within Blackwood Enterprise right now.

The only way to stabilize the situation was to get Ethan out.

Lily couldn’t help but wonder how Ethan was doing. Had he regained consciousness? Or would the military subject him to inhumane interrogation as soon as he woke up?

After arriving at a high-end club on the outskirts of the city, Helen helped Lily out of the car, staying close to her side. She was worried that her symptoms might flare up again.

The club was currently closed for business.

On the surface, it appeared to be an ordinary luxury venue. Still, inside, it was being used to detain and relocate the hostages.

As Lily stepped inside, a bodyguard immediately unlocked the door from within. The guards bowed deeply at ninety degrees and greeted her respectfully, "Miss Anderson."

Some of the bodyguards remained stationed outside on high alert.

Everyone seemed unusually tense.

Removing her large sunglasses, Lily asked calmly, "Where are they?"

"They’re inside," one of the bodyguards answered, stepping forward.

"Miss Anderson, the central government must not find any evidence. Should we... deal with all of them?" Helen asked hesitantly, standing beside her.

Deal with them? Did she mean killing them all, leaving only a few half-dead hostages in the military hospital as witnesses?

Wiping away all evidence was undeniably the most thorough solution.

But those were dozens of lives. Lily couldn’t bring herself to do it.

"Bring Aiko Nakamura out to see me," Lily instructed.

Helen opened her mouth to speak again, but before she could, Lily turned to her, her expression serious. "Helen, the values and principles I’ve been taught since childhood don’t allow me to do such things."

Hearing this, Helen had no choice but to relent. She nodded. "Understood, Miss Anderson."

The room they entered was a gym fully equipped with fitness machines. Several bodyguards stood to the side, hands behind their backs, waiting silently.

It didn’t take long before two bodyguards dragged Aiko Nakamura inside. She was unrecognizable, her appearance utterly ruined, and they tied her to a nearby pillar.

Lily was momentarily stunned at the sight of her.

There was no exaggeration in describing Aiko Nakamura as "unrecognizable."

She looked far worse than the last time Lily had seen her—more disheveled, more humiliated. She was wearing nothing but an oversized men’s coat with a torn and tattered dress underneath. Her body was covered in welts as if she had been whipped, the bloody marks crisscrossing her skin in a horrifying display.

Her face was gaunt, far thinner than before, even though it had only been a few days since Lily last saw her.

Her tangled hair covered part of her face, and as she was tied to the pillar, she raised her eyes to meet Lily’s. Her gaze was chilling and hateful as if she were staring at her mortal enemy.

"What more do you want from me?" Aiko sneered bitterly at Lily, her voice filled with venom. "I’ve swallowed all the ecstasy you gave me, injected all the drugs you forced on me. What else do you have in store for me?"

Aiko’s tone was resentful as her cold, piercing eyes bore into Lily.