Private Marriage, Secret Love-Chapter 176: Will She Come Back?

Ethan Lancaster stood frozen in place, a chill running up from the soles of his feet, his palms numb.

It all happened so fast. Screams kept erupting from the phone, and he felt like he had to be dreaming.

"Fourth Master," Seth Sinclair’s voice was choked. "This..."

"What is she doing? Is she trying to scare me?" Ethan Lancaster’s voice was faint. Beside him, Gwen Sharp’s face was pale with fright, her hands clamped over her eyes. She trembled uncontrollably, finally grabbing a nearby desk for support and slowly sinking to the floor.

’Raina... really gone, just like that?’

’She never thought she would drive her to her death, let alone for it to end like this.’

Ethan Lancaster pushed Seth Sinclair’s hand away. "Where is she?"

"Mount Lunara."

"Go. Let’s go now. I’m going to find her."

Ethan Lancaster rushed outside, where the driver was waiting. He jumped into the car without even grabbing a jacket. The whole way there, his mind was in a daze. "Seth, I must have seen it wrong. That wasn’t Raina. It was just someone who looked like her."

Seth Sinclair didn’t know what to say, so he just urged the driver to go faster.

Ethan Lancaster clutched his head as his eyes began to sting. He didn’t want anyone to see him like this, so he buried his face in his hands. "Raina, stop this. Don’t you know how I feel about you? Deep down, don’t you really know?"

He fumbled for his phone, but his hand wasn’t steady, and it fell to the floor by his feet.

Ethan Lancaster scrambled to pick it up. As he unlocked the screen, a tear fell onto it. He called Raina, but her phone was off.

Refusing to give up, he dialed again and again, but it was always off.

When they reached the summit of Mount Lunara, a crowd was still gathered. The police had arrived and set up a cordon. Ethan Lancaster saw the down coat Raina had taken off before jumping; it was still there. How could he have been mistaken? That was her coat.

"Where is she?" Ethan Lancaster started to cross the police line, but someone stopped him. "Step back."

"Where is she?"

"Fourth Master." Someone recognized him and hurried over. "What are you doing here?"

"My wife? Where is she?"

"Your wife?" the man repeated. He glanced toward the edge of the cliff, his expression unreadable. Then his own face seemed to pale. "We’re... we’re conducting a search and rescue."

"You can rescue her, right?"

The officer didn’t dare voice the truth to such a desperate question. A jump from that height was unsurvivable, but the search and rescue operation had to continue.

Ethan Lancaster stepped over the cordon. "I just want to take a look."

The man nodded and led him onto the large boulder at the cliff’s edge, gripping Ethan Lancaster’s arm tightly, not daring to let go.

Ethan Lancaster glanced down. That single look was enough to plunge him into an icy abyss. The drop was so high, so steep. Below, treacherous waves churned violently. A person would be swallowed by them in an instant.

’How could anyone survive that?’

’How could Raina still be alive?’

Ethan Lancaster seemed rooted to the spot. The sound of the crashing waves battered his eardrums. A cold tear slid down his face. The wind whipped at him, stealing his breath, and only the person standing closest could faintly make out his words.

"Come back... Raina, you come back to me."

But Raina wasn’t coming back.

’He couldn’t understand why she would choose this path. Raina was so tough. How could she think of killing herself?’

’Why?’

Seth Sinclair called out to him anxiously from behind, but Ethan Lancaster didn’t hear a word. He just kept muttering, "She has to be alive. Save her. Hurry up and save her. She’ll freeze."

The onlookers were still murmuring among themselves. Ethan Lancaster turned and walked back toward them, looking utterly shattered. He shouted at the crowd, "Did she leave any last words? What did she say?"

The girl who had been livestreaming had ended the broadcast long ago. She was terrified, her eyes red-rimmed. Even if she had rushed forward, there was no way she could have pulled Raina back.

"No, she didn’t say anything. She jumped without a moment’s hesitation."

People are supposed to be afraid in the face of death, aren’t they? Or think of their loved ones and have second thoughts? But Raina hadn’t. Her final step had been so decisive.

Ethan Lancaster grabbed Seth Sinclair. "Get our people searching. Now."

"Don’t worry, Fourth Master. I’ve already made the arrangements. Our people are all down there now. We’ll... we’ll be sure to find her."

Ethan Lancaster sat down to the side, and Seth Sinclair took off his own coat to drape over him. He kept asking Seth the same question. "Why couldn’t she see a way out? Was there something she couldn’t tell me? The child... The issue with the child wasn’t insurmountable. If only she had talked to me properly..."

"Fourth Master, try not to think about all that right now."

"Could it be because Miles Hawthorne died? Did she care about him that much? So much that she couldn’t go on living?" After asking this, Ethan Lancaster shook his own head. "If she wanted to die, she wouldn’t have waited until today. Her grandmother is here. She should have been happily heading back to the Reddington family for the New Year..."

Seth Sinclair also felt that there were too many suspicious things about this. "Fourth Master, when the Young Madam comes back, you two should stop fighting. Just live a good life together."

"Okay," Ethan Lancaster said, tears streaming down his face as he nodded repeatedly. "A good life."

’But could she really come back?’

Ethan Lancaster pressed his palm to his forehead. ’No news is good news, right?’

Over the next few hours, the crowd dispersed, everyone heading home to prepare for the New Year.

Ethan Lancaster sat motionless. The incident couldn’t be covered up, and news spread quickly.

At the Reddington residence, her grandmother was the first to break down. A call from Ronan Reddington soon followed.

Jessica Jacobs was also calling Ethan Lancaster’s phone repeatedly, but Seth Sinclair just glanced at the screen and didn’t answer.

"Fourth Master, why don’t we head back to The Verdant Garden? Waiting here won’t help, and maybe we can find some clues there."

Ethan Lancaster lifted his head as if in a daze, then suddenly stood up. "Okay, let’s go back."

Sitting in the car, Ethan Lancaster stared out the window, the skin on his neck chafed red from the biting wind. "Seth, do you think... when I get home, Raina might be there?"

Seth Sinclair was genuinely afraid Ethan Lancaster was going to break. The video had already been shared and had even made it onto the local news.

The news of Mrs. Lancaster’s suicide was spreading like wildfire, and soon, almost everyone knew.

And the first person everyone blamed was, of course, Ethan Lancaster. Mr. Lancaster’s sordid private life had driven his wife to her death.

Back at The Verdant Garden, Ethan Lancaster rushed to the door, but it was locked. He couldn’t get in.

Seth Sinclair had already called a locksmith on the way over. Just as they arrived, the locksmith pulled up as well.

The fingerprint lock was removed. Ethan Lancaster strode inside. The house was empty. He called out Raina’s name, but there was no answer.

Ethan Lancaster saw something on the dining table and walked over, his steps heavy.

He reached the table and saw a few crumpled tissues on the floor. Ethan Lancaster bent down and picked one up. There were clear bloodstains on it.

The splash of red made his eyes ache, and his breath caught in his throat.