Private Marriage, Secret Love-Chapter 38: Car Accident

Ethan Lancaster’s gaze shifted from the window to Raina Reddington’s face. "What are you doing?"

She pushed open the car door and got out. She saw the truck driver standing a short distance away, smoking, looking unhurried. When he saw someone approaching, he finally tossed aside the half-smoked cigarette in his hand and came forward. "I’ve already called the police. An ambulance will be here soon."

Raina Reddington pounded on the car window a few times, calling Miles Hawthorne’s name, but the man’s eyes were tightly shut, his eyelids not even twitching.

"When did you call the police?"

The driver’s Adam’s apple bobbed. He didn’t dare look at the person in the car. "A little while ago. The ambulance should be here any minute."

"Where’s the call log?"

The driver clutched the phone in his palm. "You’re really strange. Such a busybody."

"You didn’t call at all, did you?"

Ethan Lancaster got out of the car and walked over to Raina Reddington. His eyes swept over the situation inside the wrecked car. "We still have to get going. Why are we wasting time here?"

"Even if we call the police now, it’ll be too late by the time an ambulance gets here. Ethan Lancaster, please save him. Let’s take him to the nearest hospital."

A cold smirk appeared on Ethan Lancaster’s lips. "Why should I save him?"

"I already told you, I... I’ve already called the police. You should get going," the truck driver urged. Raina Reddington saw her chance and lunged forward to grab his phone. Caught completely off guard, he shoved her hard on the shoulder the moment she had the phone in her hand.

She stumbled backward, crashing against Miles Hawthorne’s car, and the phone fell to the ground. The driver scrambled to pick it up, but just as he straightened up, Ethan Lancaster’s fist slammed into his face.

"What are you doing, hitting people?"

"Because I felt like it. You dare hit back?" Ethan Lancaster shook out his hand, unclenching his tight fist.p>A harsh retort rose to the driver’s lips, but for some reason, he swallowed it back down. Though he’d never encountered anyone like Ethan Lancaster in his forty-odd years of life, he still knew who he could afford to provoke and who he couldn’t.

The driver pressed the back of his hand to his bruised face, his eyes full of wariness as he stared at the two of them.

This made Raina Reddington even more certain he was hiding something. The car doors were locked from the inside; she couldn’t pull them open no matter how hard she tried. "Ethan Lancaster, help him!"

"I’m not saving him."

"If we keep wasting time like this, he’ll die."

"Then let him die." Ethan Lancaster’s tone was indifferent. "We can just bury him on the spot. Saves trouble."

Raina Reddington looked around, picked up a rock from the edge of the grass, and started smashing it against the window. The force of the rebound numbed the web of her thumb. Ethan Lancaster watched coldly. After she’d struck it a dozen or so times, he finally seemed unable to watch any longer. He pulled Raina away and signaled for Seth Sinclair to bring his men over. They had professional tools in their car; rescuing someone was hardly a difficult task for them.

Seeing this display, the driver trembled and held out a shaky hand. "You’re taking him... If something happens on the way... that has nothing to do with me."

Ethan Lancaster pulled Raina Reddington away, leaving Seth Sinclair to handle the rest. Miles Hawthorne was quickly carried out. Raina saw that he was unconscious, half his face soaked in bright red blood.

They laid Miles Hawthorne flat on the back seat of another car. Raina Reddington followed, unable to tell how badly he was injured or if he had any internal damage. She could only pat his face. "Miles Hawthorne, wake up."

Miles Hawthorne’s head moved slightly, as if he were trying to open his eyes, but his eyelids were too heavy. He just couldn’t.

He placed a hand on his chest, as if trying to grab something, or perhaps protecting it. Ethan Lancaster pulled Raina Reddington aside and reached toward Miles’s chest.

Raina Reddington realized what he was doing and quickly grabbed his arm. "What are you doing?"

With his other hand, Ethan Lancaster flipped open Miles Hawthorne’s jacket, revealing a wallet tucked in a pocket. Raina Reddington slapped him on the back twice. "Why are you rummaging through his things? Let’s go!"

"I’m his savior, after all. I have to check what needs to be checked. Don’t want this to turn into a case of ’The Farmer and the Viper’..." As he spoke, Ethan Lancaster had already taken out Miles Hawthorne’s wallet. He opened it with one hand and immediately saw the photograph tucked inside.

Standing behind him, Raina Reddington also saw it crystal clear.

The man’s piercing gaze shot toward her, sharp enough to bore a hole through her. Ethan Lancaster held up the wallet. "Care to explain?"

Inside the wallet was a photo of Raina Reddington and Miles Hawthorne together. The two of them in the printed photograph looked a bit young and inexperienced, but their intimacy was brazenly displayed before Ethan Lancaster’s eyes. Their heads were practically touching; they looked just like a young couple.

Raina Reddington, however, was frank. "That was from our school days. Surely the Fourth Master isn’t going to hold that against me?"

The man lying down stirred, his hand fumbling at his empty chest. He forced his eyes open. "I..."

Miles Hawthorne reached his hand toward Ethan Lancaster. "Give it back."

"Fine, you can have it!" Ethan Lancaster shook off Raina Reddington’s hand, snatched the photo, and ripped it to shreds in a few quick motions. Then he tossed the scraps and the wallet together onto Miles Hawthorne’s body.

He turned and walked back to his own car, but when he pulled open the door, he saw Raina Reddington standing there in a daze, not following him.

Ethan Lancaster grit his teeth. "If you don’t want me to break his legs and throw him off this mountain, you’ll get your ass over here right now."

Miles Hawthorne had regained some consciousness. His fingers felt some of the scattered pieces. He struggled to pick one up, trying to raise it, but he didn’t even have the strength to lift his hand.

Raina Reddington shook her head at him. She took a step back and closed the car door.

Back in the first car, Raina Reddington’s expression was calm, as if nothing had happened. Seth Sinclair glanced back at the two of them. "The nearest hospital is at least an hour’s drive, Fourth Master. Should I head straight there?"

"Yes," Raina Reddington answered for him. "Go straight to the hospital."

Seeing the ugly look on Ethan Lancaster’s face, she reached out and patted his leg. "Falling into such a deep well... you might have internal injuries. It’s better to get a full check-up."

Her words only made him angrier. SMACK! He slapped Raina Reddington’s hand away.

She snatched her hand back in pain, rubbing the back of it with her palm. Ethan Lancaster turned and stared at her menacingly. "So, classmates are allowed to hug and hold each other, are they? Did you ever hug him all the way into bed?"

Raina Reddington’s expression changed slightly. Seth Sinclair, hearing this, pretended he’d heard nothing, his gaze calmly fixed on the scenery outside.

"Fourth Master, are you asking because you genuinely don’t know the answer?"

The car’s jostling only fueled Ethan Lancaster’s rage. "Why are you driving so fast? Slow down."

They were already moving at a crawl. Raina Reddington turned her head to glare at him. Ethan Lancaster just shrugged. "Can’t bear it? If you’ve got the guts, go find another car. I’m going to have us drive at the slowest possible speed and let him bleed out. Let’s see just how lucky he is."

At a critical moment like this, Raina Reddington couldn’t afford to provoke him. She could only appeal to the driver. "Please, just drive faster."

A slight smirk touched Ethan Lancaster’s lips. He lifted his wrist to check the time. "I’m hungry. Find a place to eat up ahead. We’ll leave after we’ve had a meal."

The more anxious Raina Reddington became, the more unhurried he acted, as if to see which of them would break first.