Private Marriage, Secret Love-Chapter 160: Dare Not Say, Cannot Say

She couldn’t help but panic, scared to death. She’d had nosebleeds before, but never like this.

Raina Reddington tried to push herself up but couldn’t manage. She was afraid she would bleed out and die right here. ’There’s no one else in The Verdant Garden but me... Does that mean no one would even know if I lived or died?’

Fortunately, after lying there for a while, she regained some strength. Raina Reddington got up, first staunching the bleeding, then taking a shower in the bathroom.

She cleaned up the bed and soaked the pillowcase in water. The bright red color immediately bled out, clouding the basin.

Raina Reddington hid the medicine she’d brought back in a secret cabinet. In her condition, she really wasn’t fit to go to work, but she refused to just sit at home and wait to die. ’I know my limits,’ she thought. ’I can still hold on for now.’

Ever since she refused to plead with Ethan Lancaster, the Reddington family hadn’t called her once. Raina Reddington was already used to it.

When she returned to The Verdant Garden, she found the door open. Raina Reddington walked inside to see two unfamiliar men carrying a large cardboard box down the stairs.

Seth Sinclair was standing not far off. When he saw Raina Reddington, he hurried over. "Young Madam."

Raina Reddington didn’t speak, a bag of freshly bought groceries in her hand.

"Young Madam, I’ve finished packing up some of Fourth Master’s things for him."

Raina Reddington gave a slight nod. ’This isn’t just "some things," is it? It’s probably everything that belongs to Ethan Lancaster.’

"He’s been very busy lately, so he won’t be able to come back for the time being."

"Seth, I understand everything," Raina said. "Go and tell him that since it has come to this, he should stay out of my affairs. He doesn’t want to see me, and I don’t want to see him, either."

Seth Sinclair looked as if he wanted to say something, but in the end, he didn’t know what he could possibly say.

The movers made several trips back and forth. When Raina went upstairs, she glanced into the study. It was completely empty.

In the bathroom, Ethan Lancaster’s toiletries remained untouched. In the walk-in closet, only a few of his outfits were left behind. ’They must be for show,’ she realized, ’just in case family stops by, to keep up appearances.’

Ethan Lancaster’s car was waiting outside. Gwen Sharp didn’t know why he had brought her here. Neither of them got out, but through the window, she could see the entire estate of The Verdant Garden.

’The place I’m living now can’t possibly compare to this, of course.’

But the warmth of a place depended on Ethan Lancaster. As Gwen Sharp looked at the empty villa now, she couldn’t help but think that Raina Reddington was truly pitiful.

’No matter how beautiful a house is, once it’s been emptied out, all that’s left is a cold, desolate shell.’

Gwen Sharp didn’t need to ask; she knew Ethan Lancaster would never be back. Unable to resist, she craned her neck to get a better look.

"Want to go down and have a look?"

"N-no, that’s okay." Gwen Sharp flinched, quickly looking away. She didn’t dare move, her gaze fixing on a single spot inside the car.

’Gwen Sharp is just too timid,’ Ethan thought. ’She’s always so cautious and skittish around me. It’s hard to take her anywhere looking like that.’

Ethan Lancaster pushed open his door first. "Get out."

She followed Ethan Lancaster out of the car. His belongings were piled up in the living room, not yet fully moved out.

The man walked into the yard. After just a couple of steps, fallen leaves clung to the soles of his shoes. The path wasn’t regularly swept, lending the place a desolate air.

Gwen Sharp gawked in every direction as if she’d stepped into the legendary Vorlagge Pavilion. She’d never seen such opulence as The Verdant Garden possessed; she didn’t even recognize most of the rare and expensive flowers growing in the yard.

Ethan Lancaster didn’t go inside, simply stopping in the yard. ’My marriage to Raina wasn’t long, but I tasted both the sweet and the bitter with her. It’s because things with everyone else are so bland that I can never forget that flavor.’

Gwen Sharp spotted a swing in the yard and walked over to sit on it.

She gave a gentle push with her feet, her body rising with the swing set. Being so timid, she didn’t dare swing very high.

’Raina liked to swing, too,’ he remembered. ’But she was much more intense. She would either sit perfectly still or swing like she was trying to launch herself to the heavens.’

Ethan Lancaster walked up behind her and gave her a hard push. The swing flew forward, carrying Gwen Sharp with it. She shrieked, clutching the ropes in terror. "Ahhh—"

Raina heard the shriek from the master bedroom. She couldn’t stop herself from walking out onto the balcony. The view was clear from there; a single glance down revealed the scene in the yard.

Gwen Sharp, realizing she was making a scene, quickly stifled her scream and begged in a low voice, "Fourth Master, please let me down."

"Look how scared you are. You’re not going to fall."

"I’m scared..."

Ethan Lancaster pushed even harder. Gwen Sharp felt her heart leap into her throat. She squeezed the ropes, her eyes shut tight. "Please, stop! I’m scared!"

Raina watched, and a memory surfaced. In the past, she would be the one on the swing, with Ethan pushing from behind. But he never dared to push too hard, terrified she might fall. It was never enough for Raina, who would shout again and again for him to push harder.

Ethan had once joked with her, "Harder? Where do you want me to be forceful? Are you sure you can take it?"

Her vision blurred again. Seth Sinclair emerged from the house with the movers. He paused as he crossed the yard, telling the two men behind him to take the boxes to the car first.

Gwen Sharp’s voice was strained with panic. "Please, let me down! I want to go back."

Hearing the words "go back," the man seemed to fall into a daze. As the swing came back toward him, he grabbed the ropes. Inertia sent Gwen Sharp lurching forward, and Ethan bent down to catch her.

Gwen Sharp’s heart was pounding. As soon as her feet were on the ground, she clung tightly to Ethan Lancaster’s arm. "You really scared me to death."

"Don’t you have any guts?"

"I do, they’re just not very big."

Raina wanted to turn and go back inside, but her feet felt nailed to the floor. Ethan was in a formal suit today, cutting a sharp, upright figure as he held Gwen Sharp and murmured something to her.

The two of them, intimate in the falling dusk, became a jarring sight to Raina’s eyes.

Gwen Sharp got off the swing. "Let’s go."

Seth Sinclair also stepped forward. "Fourth Master, everything has been moved."

Ethan Lancaster straightened up and gave the empty swing a push. After a couple of steps, he took Gwen Sharp’s hand and led her away.

When they reached the car, Ethan Lancaster opened the door for Gwen Sharp. Just as he was about to get in himself, he turned and glanced toward the balcony.

Raina was standing there, solitary and all alone.

She hadn’t fled. Her gaze was placid as she stared right back at Ethan Lancaster.

Gwen Sharp followed his gaze and saw Raina, too. She didn’t say anything to hurry him, but quietly scooted further into her seat to wait.

The corner of Ethan Lancaster’s mouth twitched, but they were too far apart for Raina to make out his expression. He didn’t linger. He got into the car and shut the door.

Raina placed her hand on the railing, which was ice-cold to the touch.

’So, the child... that’s already in the past for him, isn’t it? Just last night he looked so devastated, but today he’s already holding someone else, laughing and joking?’

Raina let out a soft, humorless laugh. ’What would happen if I told him I was sick?’

’Ethan would definitely say it serves me right. That I deserve to die.’

That was why she would die before she ever told him. She still wanted to live. She didn’t want him to be the one to seal her final escape route.