Private Marriage, Secret Love-Chapter 199: Hiding a Person

"Hello."

"Fourth Master, I..."

"Don’t call me again."

Gwen Sharp knew he was getting impatient. "Fourth Master, I saw a man with Doctor Reddington. They went home together, and they were very intimate."

Ethan Lancaster wanted to smash his phone. "Didn’t you see them at The Verdant Garden the other day? You don’t need to come to me stirring up trouble."

"No, this was a different man."

"What?" The word slipped out of Ethan Lancaster’s mouth.

"That... that man had his arm around Doctor Reddington. He was very young. I watched them go home together."

BEEP BEEP BEEP—

The call was disconnected. Gwen Sharp clenched her fist. She was still afraid of him. Otherwise, a single phone call wouldn’t have left her palms drenched in sweat.

When Raina Reddington opened the door, Miles Hawthorne hurried inside. She couldn’t resist teasing him, "If you’re so afraid of being seen, you shouldn’t have come. But I’ve been watching for a while now, and it seems like no one else lives on this floor. I’ve never seen my neighbor across the hall."

"Is that so?" Miles Hawthorne took off his mask and saw Ian Sinclair stand up from the sofa, respectfully calling out to him, "Mr. Hawthorne."

"Are you alright?"

"I’m fine."

The bruises on Ian Sinclair’s face hadn’t faded yet, and his eyes were still swollen. "You shouldn’t have come."

Miles Hawthorne walked to the sofa and sat down right next to Ian Sinclair. "Are you getting used to living here?"

"It’s great." Ian Sinclair was a man of few words in front of Miles Hawthorne. Perhaps he found him too serious and didn’t dare speak freely.

"I’ll go make dinner." Raina Reddington turned and walked into the kitchen. Unexpectedly, Miles Hawthorne followed her in. "I’ll help."

"No need, I can handle it."

Miles Hawthorne took off his jacket and set it aside. Raina Reddington had taken out a cutting board and was chopping vegetables. Shredding potatoes was delicate work, and after watching for a moment, the man simply couldn’t take it anymore. "You hold a scalpel for a living. How can your knife skills be this bad?"

’What she’s cutting are more like potato sticks.’

Miles Hawthorne reached for the knife, but Raina Reddington turned away, blocking him. "You’re so annoying. As if you’re so great at it."

Miles Hawthorne took out another knife and a cutting board. He peeled a carrot and began to chop, his knife moving swiftly. The resulting shreds were perfectly uniform, each one lying there as if it had a life of its own.

Raina felt a bit deflated. "No fun."

The sudden ringing of the doorbell sounded like a death knell. Raina Reddington and Miles Hawthorne looked at each other, their expressions changing slightly as they simultaneously put down their knives.

Ian Sinclair’s footsteps grew more frantic. He rushed to the kitchen doorway in just a few strides. "Mr. Hawthorne, Ethan Lancaster is here."

"Why is it him again!" Raina Reddington gritted her teeth in frustration. But there was no time to think. She quickly pushed Miles Hawthorne’s shoulder. "Go."

"Go? The front door is blocked. Where can I go?"

Raina paced anxiously. Someone like Ian Sinclair had already suffered immensely at Ethan Lancaster’s hands. If it were Miles Hawthorne, she feared she couldn’t protect him even if she put her own life on the line.

’Their lives—hers and his—were too precious. Who would be willing to die a second time?’

"Then what do we do?" Raina was practically babbling. "I... I’ll go out and lead him away."

"What if he’s here for me?"

Raina walked over, grabbed Miles Hawthorne’s jacket, and shoved it at him. "Hide for now. That man is capable of anything. He might just break down the door in a minute."

Raina pushed Miles Hawthorne to the bedroom door, but besides the closet, there was nowhere to hide a grown man.

Ethan Lancaster was getting impatient; the doorbell rang more insistently. Raina had no choice but to hide Miles Hawthorne in the closet. "Don’t you dare come out."

She walked out of the room, glanced at Ian Sinclair standing nearby, and gave him a nod.

Ian Sinclair walked to the entrance and opened the door.

Ethan Lancaster strode right in. Ian Sinclair didn’t stop him, instead stepping aside and glancing behind him. He was actually alone.

"Why are you here again?" Raina asked irritably.

Ethan Lancaster didn’t speak. His gaze swept around the room. The atmosphere was a bit tense. He walked into the living room; the coffee table was neat and tidy, showing no signs of a visitor.

He didn’t know if he was losing his mind, rushing over here without a second thought just because of a single phone call from Gwen Sharp.

Raina walked up to Ethan Lancaster with a hostile attitude. "What more do you want? Do you think this is your house? That you can just come and go as you please?"

Ethan Lancaster seemed not to have heard her. He took a step back, his peripheral vision scanning the kitchen. He just couldn’t stand Raina being intimate with someone else; he couldn’t even bear to hear a single rumor about it.

Ethan Lancaster strode into the kitchen. Raina glanced toward the master bedroom, then quickly looked away and followed the man.

There was nothing unusual in the kitchen. Ethan Lancaster noticed two cutting boards on the counter. The potato and carrot on them were only half-chopped. He walked over for a closer look.

"You cut these?"

"What, is the Fourth Master going to micromanage this, too?"

The difference in knife work was obvious. Ethan Lancaster casually picked up a shred of carrot from the cutting board. "This doesn’t look like something you could cut."

"You don’t know me, and we’re not close. How would you know I can’t?"

Ethan Lancaster turned his head to face Raina, his gaze locking onto her expression. "Remember that time we went back to Hemlock Village? Miles Hawthorne was there, too. I remember the things he chopped... looked just like this."

No matter how mentally strong Raina was, she still felt a pang of fear upon hearing Miles Hawthorne’s name.

Ethan Lancaster didn’t actually suspect Miles Hawthorne was here. He just wanted to see how Raina would react when he brought up Miles Hawthorne’s name in front of Ian Sinclair.

Her expression was calm. She glanced at Ian Sinclair, who was standing in the kitchen doorway. "I don’t know you, and I don’t know the person you’re talking about. All I know is that it’s perfectly normal for a couple to cook at home to deepen their relationship, isn’t it?"

Raina couldn’t contain her inner panic. She walked to Ian Sinclair’s side and intimately linked her arm with his. "Your injuries haven’t healed yet. Go get some rest."

"It’s so boring lying around all day. You keep me company."

With a casual sweep of his hand, Ethan Lancaster knocked the cutting board to the floor by his feet. He stared at the two of them, his face devoid of expression.

Raina acted as if he didn’t exist. She returned to the living room with Ian Sinclair. Just as she was about to sit down, she saw Ethan Lancaster striding toward the bedroom.

Raina stood up and blocked his path. "What right do you have to come to my home time and time again? What the hell are you trying to do?"

"What, are you flustered? Are you hiding another man in here?"

At this point, Raina had to suspect that Ethan Lancaster had come here after hearing some rumor. "Even if I were hiding ten men in my house, it would have nothing to do with you. It’s not like I’m hiding *you*, am I?"

Ethan Lancaster grabbed her by the shoulders and pulled her aside. He walked into the bedroom, glanced around, and his gaze was immediately drawn to the closet.