Private Marriage, Secret Love-Chapter 154: That Was Just an Accident

Seth Sinclair didn’t reply. He didn’t understand matters like this, nor was it his place to say anything.

The surroundings were dead silent, broken only by the occasional bark. Once one dog started, all the others in the village would join in.

Raina Reddington’s lips trembled as tears dripped onto the urn. But she felt no overwhelming sorrow, almost as if she were under general anesthesia—no matter if someone hacked at her with a knife or jabbed her with a needle, she wouldn’t feel a thing.

"Miles Hawthorne, rest peacefully now." She left the rest of her thought unsaid. People say it’s better to cling to a wretched life than to die, but Raina felt that for Miles Hawthorne, death was a release.

As long as he was alive, they would never have left him alone.

They had trapped him in that filthy place, free to insult and torture him whenever they pleased. Living a life without light, he was barely more than a dead man with a single breath left in him.

Raina scooped up a handful of earth and sprinkled it over the urn. "Miles Hawthorne, maybe you didn’t want to come back to this place at all. But after thinking it over, I decided I should still bury you here. All your happiest times were spent here. Now that you’re gone, you can spend more time thinking about the past..."

Ethan Lancaster had no place in the past that Raina and Miles Hawthorne shared.

"Seth Sinclair, tell me. Can this business with my father be considered over now?"

Seth Sinclair was taken aback by the question. He looked up at Ethan Lancaster’s profile, but the faint light of the setting full moon wasn’t enough to reveal the man’s expression. Seth Sinclair’s lips parted slightly. "Fourth Master, if you truly felt that way, why didn’t you let this matter go sooner?"

’The damage has been done. They’ve both been pushed to this point. How can it all be over just like that?’

"It couldn’t be over until I saw Miles Hawthorne meet a tragic end."

Seth Sinclair seemed to let out a soft sigh. "But the Young Madam is her own person, and Miles Hawthorne is another matter entirely. You could have focused all your hatred on Miles Hawthorne alone."

Ethan Lancaster’s voice was tinged with a helpless, repressed frustration. "She was the one who insisted on getting involved. I didn’t want to drag her into this."

Seth Sinclair fell silent, not knowing what to say.

"Just tell me, can this matter be considered over now?"

Ethan Lancaster was adamant about getting an answer. Deep down, he knew the truth better than anyone; he was just looking for a little reassurance.

Seth Sinclair averted his gaze, his words clearly not matching his thoughts. "It should be. She’ll be sad for a while, but it’ll be fine once she thinks things through."

"Right," The corners of Ethan Lancaster’s mouth relaxed. "She’ll come around eventually."

’Better a short, sharp pain than a long, dull ache. If he just yielded to her a little in everything, they could surely get over this hump.’

Raina knelt there for a long time. After burying the urn, she gathered some broken bricks and built a small house on top of the mound. Back then, there was nothing else to do in the countryside. A group of boys and girls would gather to play house, building the houses themselves, even sneaking pots and pans out from their homes. A scrap of red cloth was all it took to become a bridal veil.

Raina wiped her face, her fair skin now streaked with tears and dirt.

If she stayed any longer, dawn would break.

The villagers were early risers, and she was bound to be seen. Raina didn’t want her grandmother to know she had come back.

Weeds had sprung up in the spots not covered by the broken bricks. Raina used her phone as a light and spotted a few wildflowers poking through. She plucked two of them and placed them inside the little house she had built.

"Miles Hawthorne, I’m leaving now. Hawthorne, I’m leaving. Auntie, goodbye."

Raina stood up. As she walked, her pant legs brushed against the weeds with a RUSTLING sound. She was almost right in front of Ethan Lancaster before she realized someone was there.

She glanced up at him for a single moment before brushing past.

Back at the entrance to the village, Raina pulled out her car keys, but Ethan Lancaster hurried to block her path. "Ride back with me."

’She’s in such a daze right now, she might fall just walking, never mind driving.’ Raina was indeed at her breaking point. "I can’t just leave my car here."

"I’ll drive it," Seth Sinclair said, holding out his hand.

Raina handed him the keys. When Ethan Lancaster reached for her, she sidestepped his touch, walked to his car, pulled open the door, and got in.

On the way back, Raina leaned against the car door and fell into a deep, heavy sleep. She felt awful, her chest tight with a suffocating pain, and she plunged into a dream from which she couldn’t seem to wake.

Raina startled awake for a moment as they passed a toll booth. She pulled out her phone to check the time and quickly sent a text to ask for time off from work.

Ethan Lancaster chimed in from beside her, "Take a couple more days off."

Raina ignored him, closing her eyes to go back to sleep.

Back at The Verdant Garden, Raina trudged upstairs in a daze. She lay down and wrapped the comforter tightly around herself, sleeping straight through until evening. If Ethan Lancaster hadn’t come in to wake her, she wouldn’t have gotten up at all.

Raina blearily opened her eyes to see the bedside table covered with food. It was clear Ethan Lancaster had ordered delivery.

"Get up and eat something."

Raina’s stomach was churning with hunger. She got up, feeling groggy and unsteady. After washing up in the bathroom, she walked right out of the bedroom.

The bowl of noodles she had cooked last night was still on the dining table. Raina picked it up, walked into the kitchen, and poured it all out.

She made herself a fresh bowl of tomato and egg noodles. When Ethan Lancaster came downstairs, he saw her cradling the bowl as she ate. 𝒻𝑟ℯℯ𝑤𝑒𝑏𝑛𝘰𝓋𝑒𝓁.𝒸𝑜𝘮

The man took a few steps closer. "I ordered all your favorite dishes. You should at least eat a little."

Raina acted as if she hadn’t heard him. Despite sleeping for so long, she still had dark circles under her eyes. Ethan Lancaster pulled out a chair to sit down. "I’ll have Butler Cameron come back, and I’ll hire a housekeeper, too."

Raina set her bowl down with a heavy thud, her gaze sharp enough to cut. "Don’t stop now, Fourth Master. I suppose I’m the next person you’re going to deal with."

"Raina..."

She rested her elbow on the table, the corner of her mouth twisting into a sneer, or perhaps it was just mockery. "Don’t spare anyone. I can even give you a few ideas. Why don’t you start by getting me fired? With no source of income and having already offended the Reddington Family, you won’t even have to lift a finger, Fourth Master. I’ll find my own way to ruin."

Ethan Lancaster’s lips pressed into a thin, tight line, but he decided not to keep some things to himself. "That’s all in the past now."

"In the past?" Raina let out an irrepressible laugh. "Well then, congratulations, Fourth Master. My sincerest congratulations."

She picked up her bowl and stood. "Don’t call anyone to come over. I’d like some peace and quiet."

As Raina walked toward the kitchen, Ethan Lancaster called out to her back, "The fire had nothing to do with me. It was an accident."

"I remember very clearly what you told me, Fourth Master. You said that if I went to see him again, you’d make him die."

How could Ethan Lancaster have thought of the future when he made such a ruthless threat? "But I didn’t do it."

"Right. Because you don’t need to get your hands dirty. All you need to do is give a look, and someone will naturally understand." Raina faced Ethan Lancaster, her face pale and listless. "What’s the point of saying so much? He’s gone. Accident or murder, it doesn’t matter. In any case, there is no more Miles Hawthorne in this world. I should be congratulating you. From now on, you can rest easy."