Private Marriage, Secret Love-Chapter 120: I Beg You, Stop

"Why are you looking at me like that?" Ethan Lancaster’s eyes held no trace of a smile. He extended a hand toward Raina Reddington, and she glanced at the candy he was holding—a White Rabbit creamy candy.

"I’ve said it before. What happens to him has nothing to do with me."

Ethan Lancaster leaned closer. "It has nothing to do with you, which is why we’re down here. Otherwise, you’d be up there too."

"I really want to leave."

Ethan Lancaster tossed the candy back onto the ledge of the partition. "Don’t like sweets, huh?"

Miles Hawthorne was led to the center of the round platform. With him was another tall, powerfully built man who looked very much like a professional boxer.

"Did you really use that method to force him out?"

Ethan Lancaster crossed his legs and lifted his gaze slightly. "Who do you think will win?"

"Is that even a question?"

"Tsk, tsk. From the sound of it, you don’t have much faith in him, huh?"

Raina Reddington sat there, trembling uncontrollably. Cameron Fairchild picked up a grape and tossed it toward the stage. "The best part is seeing fist meet flesh. No protective gear whatsoever. Now *that’s* thrilling."

Miles Hawthorne glanced down from the stage and saw Raina. A ripple disturbed the calm depths of his eyes. He took two steps forward.

Ethan Lancaster’s brow tightened, and he began to tap his fingers impatiently on the ledge.

Raina’s heart leaped into her throat as she saw the boxer start to attack Miles from behind.

"Watch out!" Raina cried out instinctively.

Miles dodged, but the man immediately followed up with a heavy punch to his face.

Raina was sitting closest, so she heard the sickening thud of fist on flesh with perfect clarity. Blood trickled from the corner of Miles’s mouth, and a dark bruise was already forming where he’d been struck.

The boxer gave him no chance to breathe, lunging forward with a hook. Miles had practiced some moves over the years to stay in shape, so dodging a few blows wasn’t a problem.

"This is pretty fun, huh?" Cameron Fairchild said to Al, who sat beside him. "Want a turn?"

"What would I do that for?"

"For a little practice. Not many people get a chance like this."

Al rubbed the back of his own hand. "Screw you. My hands are far too valuable; they require daily maintenance."

He actually knew about Raina and Miles’s relationship. Some trouble was best avoided.

Raina’s eyes were fixed on Miles. The boxer threw a punch toward his left shoulder. He clearly could have blocked it, but his arm hung limply at his side, unmoving. Only then did she realize his left arm must be injured.

He stumbled back several steps until his back hit the ropes at the edge of the ring.

The scene that followed wasn’t a pretty sight. Raina shut her eyes, but the sounds in her ears grew louder—fists slamming into a body, as if trying to shatter bone.

One thud, then another, and another...

Raina dug her nails into her thigh. Ethan glanced at her, his eyes traveling from her ashen face down to her right hand, which was punishing her own leg.

Raina desperately tried not to listen, not to think. This was no longer a simple matter of self-preservation. If she begged for mercy, they would probably be even less likely to let Miles go.

Blurry images began to coalesce in her mind, piecing themselves together from shattered fragments.

"Raina, Raina—"

The boy from her memory, holding a cricket he had just caught, thrust it in front of her to scare her. But she wasn’t scared at all and rapped Miles Hawthorne soundly on the head. He’d clutched his head and scrambled away in a panic, making Raina wonder if she had hit him so hard she’d turned him into an idiot.

A man’s muffled groan reached Raina’s ears, followed by gasps for breath, and then the sound of a body staggering and collapsing to the floor.

Her teeth were clenched so hard her jaw trembled. Beside her, Ethan took a sip of the tea that had been served, then set the cup back down, seemingly displeased with the taste.

Raina opened her eyes and saw Miles lying on the ground. His white shirt was stained with blood and footprints.

Even an execution is just a single blow, but these people were determined to grind his dignity into the dust.

Compared to a professional match, this fight wasn’t much of a spectacle, so some people grew bored and started their own conversations.

All sorts of sounds flooded Raina’s ears, but one cut through the rest.

It was the sound of the boxer kicking at Miles. Even though he was down, his opponent wasn’t about to let up.

Raina couldn’t bear to watch any longer. Her lips trembled. "Ethan... st-stop it."

"What did you say?" Ethan turned his head to look at her.

Tiny beads of sweat formed on the tip of her nose. "He’s going to die if this continues."

"Don’t you worry, sis," Cameron Fairchild, ever the troublemaker, chimed in. "We have a professional team here, and doctors too. Besides, aren’t you a doctor yourself?"

"Are you really going to beat him to death here?"

Cameron’s lips twitched into a smirk. "What do you think? You think this is just for kicks? What’s satisfying? Watching him suffer, bit by bit. That’s what."

Raina reached out and grabbed Ethan’s cuff. "Stop the fight, please?"

"Give me a reason," Ethan challenged, raising an eyebrow.

Raina couldn’t find the words. Every kick and punch felt like a Death Sentence hanging over her. "Stop, Ethan, please stop..."

"Hasn’t he hurt you enough?" A frigid storm churned in the depths of Ethan’s eyes, his gaze so intense that Raina couldn’t bear to meet it. "Or do you think our current situation is just fine? You enjoy this, so you don’t blame him one bit. Is that it?"

Raina glanced at the stage. If no one called a halt, the beating would just go on and on.

Miles was still conscious. He rolled over, moving a little closer toward her side of the ring. "Raina, don’t beg them..."

The boxer lifted his leg and planted his foot on Miles’s head, forcing it back down. No matter how tough she was, Raina couldn’t watch this.

She grabbed Ethan’s arm and shook it. "Stop it, please? Ethan, I’m begging you..."

He was unmoved. A chill radiated from him, so intense it seemed to freeze the very air, creating a powerful, suffocating pressure.

Ethan hadn’t actually intended to take Miles’s life. Even if Miles thought this would clear his debt, Ethan had no intention of letting him off that easily.

"Ethan Lancaster!" Raina shouted his full name.

He shot her a glare. "You’re begging *me*? Aren’t you afraid that’ll just make me want him to die a more miserable death?"

"If you don’t want me to beg, then why did you bring me here? To watch the show with you and then applaud and cheer? You’ve already achieved your goal, killing two birds with one stone. Seeing me grovel at your feet like this—doesn’t that make you happy?"

Ethan slammed his fist on the ledge and ordered Cameron Fairchild behind him, "You all get out of here."

"Alright." Cameron Fairchild stood up and gestured to the people beside and behind him. "Let’s change venues. The show’s over here, anyway."

Everyone left one by one, and the boxer departed as well. Ethan suddenly shoved her by the shoulder. "Aren’t you so concerned about him? Why don’t you go see if he’s dead yet?"