Private Marriage, Secret Love-Chapter 194: She Said, She Loves Me

"What are you doing?" Raina Reddington rushed over and yanked on a man’s arm. "Let him go!"

Ethan Lancaster walked out of the room, strode right up to Ian Sinclair, and punched him hard.

The blow landed with a dull thud. Ian didn’t make a sound, just turned his head to the side. Raina quickly stepped in front of Ian to shield him. "Ethan Lancaster!"

"Listen to that tone. You were the same way when you were protecting Miles Hawthorne." 𝗳𝐫𝚎𝗲𝚠𝚎𝗯𝕟𝐨𝘃𝚎𝗹.𝗰𝗼𝗺

Raina stared at Ethan’s handsome face, now consumed by rage. "I don’t have time to play the part of your dead wife. If I were her, I wouldn’t have come back alive! In your eyes, her simply being alive is a sin, isn’t it?"

Ethan’s expression grew darker. He reached out, pulled Raina away, and studied Ian Sinclair’s face. Though battered, it did nothing to diminish his good looks.

"Where did you touch her?"

Ian grinned at him. "Everywhere."

Ethan threw another punch. Half of Ian’s face swelled up instantly. He spat out a mouthful of blood and spoke with his head lowered, his words slightly slurred. "What’s wrong? Who says I can’t touch her?"

Seth Sinclair stood to the side, not daring to intervene. Whenever it came to Raina, Ethan Lancaster easily lost control.

He grabbed Ian Sinclair’s hair, forcing his head up. Raina saw this and tried to step forward, but another man held her back.

"Which hand did you use?"

A smirk pulled at Ian’s lips, the taste of blood filling his throat. "Both of them. And not just my hands..."

Ethan’s eyes darkened. He kicked Ian in the knee, causing him to buckle. The two men beside him tried to force him to the ground, but he was unyielding and they couldn’t pin him down. They shoved him against the nearby coffee table instead. Ethan lifted his leg and stomped his foot onto the back of Ian’s hand.

’This man’s tyranny and cruelty haven’t changed one bit.’

The way he treated Miles Hawthorne back then was how he was treating Ian Sinclair now.

"It’s useless even if you beat him to death," Raina said coldly, forced to sit on the sofa. "Without him, I can just find another. There are plenty of men in this world."

Ethan ground his foot down harder. "Fine. You can find another, as long as you’re not afraid of implicating someone else."

Ian didn’t cry out in pain once. Ethan was terrified. Raina had clearly come back, but she no longer belonged to him. He absolutely could not accept that, nor would he allow it to happen.

Raina didn’t look at him; her attention was entirely on Ian. They say the pain in your fingers goes straight to your heart. ’I don’t believe he’s not in agony.’

"No need to find another..." Ian’s face was pressed against the glass coffee table. He winked at Raina. "You woman. You kept saying you’d love me for a lifetime, and now you’re already thinking of finding my replacement? I dare you to try and just swap me out."

The expression on Ethan’s face was a complicated mix of anger, grief, and loss. Raina had been with him for so long and had never once admitted to even liking him, yet she told this man she loved him?

A bitter smile touched Raina’s lips. "Are you an idiot? You actually believed what I said to him?"

"Of course I did," Ian said, enunciating each word. "I take everything you say to heart."

Ethan lifted his leg and took a step back. He pointed a finger at Ian, but his gaze was fixed on Raina. "I’ll give you two choices. Either you come back with me, or I take him back with me."

Raina’s eyes met Ian’s. His chest heaved as he laughed. "Let him take me back. I’d love to see what he does to me. What, is he going to find a few men to have their way with me?"

Raina’s expression was complicated. She couldn’t help but think of the humiliation Miles Hawthorne had suffered. For a man like Ethan Lancaster, was there anything he wasn’t capable of?

Seeing how Ian didn’t know what was good for him, Ethan spoke softly, his tone laced with ridicule. "She knows better than anyone how I’ll treat you. Did you really think you were the first?"

Raina dug her hands into the sofa beside her, trying not to let a single hint of emotion show. Thankfully, she hadn’t been foolish enough to think Ethan wanted her back because he had feelings for her.

If he had even the slightest affection for her, he wouldn’t bring up what happened to Miles Hawthorne.

What happened with Miles Hawthorne had been one of the catalysts for their relationship ending up where it did. By tearing her wounds open like this, how could he possibly care whether she lived or died?

She froze, seemingly hesitating, struggling. Ian’s fingers twitched. "If you go back with him, you can just wait to collect my corpse."

Raina snapped back to reality. ’I can’t figure this guy out.’ He had a fair, handsome face and a refined air about him, yet every other word out of his mouth was about ’death’, making one’s heart pound with fear.

"If she doesn’t come back with me, she’ll be collecting your corpse anyway."

Ian lifted his head, turning to look at Ethan. "If you’ve got the guts, then kill me."

"Take him back!"

The men behind Ian grabbed him by the collar and hauled him to his feet. Raina shoved the person beside her aside and rushed over to grab Ian, but Ethan blocked her way.

"If you want him to be safe and sound, come find me at The Verdant Garden."

"Ethan Lancaster, in your dreams!"

A corner of Ethan’s mouth twitched. "I’ll give you time to think about it. But don’t make me wait too long. If he happens to get injured and accidentally loses too much blood... no one will be able to save him."

Two men dragged Ian to the door. Raina shoved Ethan aside to chase after them, but he stepped forward and wrapped his arms around her. Raina ducked her head and bit down on his shoulder.

She wouldn’t even let him touch her. Raina struggled out of his embrace. "Don’t you regret this."

"What would I have to regret?"

"No one is interested in playing this game with you. Let him go!"

Ethan’s face was ashen. "Then I’m looking forward to seeing how you’ll make me regret it."

After saying this, he strode out. Raina bent down, grabbed something from the coffee table, and threw it at him. The TV remote hit Ethan squarely on the shoulder. "You make me sick! You’re disgusting!"

Ethan stopped in his tracks, his head half-turned, so Raina couldn’t see his expression.

"That’s still better than... you saying you don’t know me."

After Ethan left, Raina sat down on the sofa. She held her head in her hands and thought for a long time. ’If I really have to go back to Ethan’s side, I’d rather die all over again.’

By afternoon, there was still no sign of Raina at The Verdant Garden.

Ethan Lancaster was sitting in the courtyard when Seth Sinclair came out of the house and hurried to his side.

"Fourth Master, Miss Sharp is here."

"Tell her to get lost." Ethan was in no mood to see her right now.

"She was crying her eyes out on the phone. It seems like something major has happened, and she probably won’t leave today until she sees you."

Ethan immediately thought of Raina’s harsh words—that she would make him regret it.