Private Marriage, Secret Love-Chapter 3: The Ultimate Scumbag

Zoe Scott heard the conversation, quickly took the cardboard box from the attendant, and closed the door.

"The Fourth Master hasn’t forgotten what day it is, has he?"

"This is the special day you’ve been so painstakingly waiting for. How could I forget? Now, change into the clothes I sent over, and I’ll come out and marry you. How about that?"

Raina Reddington pushed back her chair and stood up. Zoe Scott had already walked up to her, holding the box. Raina reached out, opened the box, and saw a white lab coat lying inside.

’He’s sick in the head!’

"Ethan Lancaster, you want me to marry you wearing this?"

"Don’t you love examining people? Don’t you love letting everyone know you’re an OB/GYN? I’m just giving you what you want."

Raina Reddington clenched her phone in anger. "As for this wedding, take it or leave it—"

The last word was cut off as Ronan Reddington snatched the phone away and roared, "How dare you speak like that?"

Raina tossed the lab coat onto the vanity. "Dad, you heard him. The man is a complete psycho. If I go out there dressed like this, what will people say about me? About our Reddington Family?"

"This is no time to be thinking about that! If the groom doesn’t show up, that’s what will be truly humiliating!"

Raina scoffed. "Then the Reddington Family and the Lancaster Family can be humiliated together."

Zoe Scott, seeing the seconds tick by, knew this was no time to argue. She grabbed the lab coat and kept trying to stuff it into Raina’s hands. "Hurry and change. Be good. It’s a complete mess out there. Whatever it is, we can talk about it after Ethan gets here."

Ethan Lancaster heard every word of their conversation. ’It seems Raina’s situation in the Reddington Family wasn’t so great after all,’ he mused. ’She could even stomach this kind of humiliation.’

Zoe Scott and Ronan Reddington left the dressing room. Raina had only invited one good friend today. Annabelle Spencer was carefully helping her out of her wedding dress. "That Ethan Lancaster is too much. He’s not even human."

"It doesn’t matter anymore."

Annabelle Spencer couldn’t swallow this insult. "Do you know where he went today? He’s been messing around at Aristor Hall! Someone even took pictures. The media hasn’t exposed it yet. I got them from a friend of mine..."

"The pictures? Let me see."

Annabelle scrolled through her photo album, found a few pictures, and handed the phone to Raina.

On the wedding stage, Raina Reddington, dressed in the white lab coat, walked forward under the watchful eyes of the entire crowd.

She was wearing high heels, her fair calves exposed. Jessica Jacobs’s expression changed drastically. "Who told you to dress like this?"

"What’s going on? Is that the bride?"

"This is so unlucky!"

"Mommy, it’s so scary! Why is there a doctor? I don’t want a shot..."

All sorts of voices flooded in, interspersed with the crying of children. At that moment, Raina was stranded on the stage, like a clown.

In a situation like this, not even the emcee could save the day.

Ethan Lancaster sauntered into his own main event. No one saw clearly when he arrived. His attitude was perfunctory; since the auspicious time had already passed, all the formalities could be skipped.

He took the wedding ring and walked up to Raina. His gaze swept over her face without restraint. "Dressing like this for your own wedding—just how reluctant are you about this marriage?"

Every one of Ethan Lancaster’s movements was deliberately magnified, and the guests were all scrambling to discuss it among themselves.

"Doesn’t the Reddington Family have any self-awareness? Don’t they know they’re marrying up?"

"That’s why people from these minor families... just have no class."

Ethan leaned in, satisfied, and pressed his thin lips to Raina’s ear. "Say you don’t want to go through with this marriage. It’s not too late."

Raina’s gaze fell on the crowd not far away. She saw many people pointing and whispering about her, and about the Reddington Family’s relatives as well.

Her fingers deftly undid the buttons of the lab coat. Ethan couldn’t see her movements clearly. Just as he was about to step back, an arm wrapped around his back. Raina hugged him tightly and raised a microphone she had prepared beforehand.

Her voice, slightly piercing, came through the microphone. "My profession is a doctor. I have witnessed the birth of new life on the operating table, and I have also experienced the helpless goodbyes after trading one life for another. Every profession is sacred. Today, I don’t want to be Doctor Reddington anymore. I only want to be your Mrs. Lancaster."

Raina’s words hammered out, one by one, making Ethan’s eardrums ring. She released her arm from around him and took off the lab coat.

Beneath it, she wore a form-fitting gown—the most expensive of her reception dresses. She was tall and slender. Looking at her up close, Ethan finally noticed how incredible her figure was—perfectly curvaceous, with a waist so slender it seemed he could wrap both hands around it.

Annabelle Spencer was the first to applaud from below. "How romantic! So romantic! This is what marrying for love looks like!"

The atmosphere instantly lightened. Ethan’s smile, however, didn’t reach his eyes. ’This Raina is far too scheming,’ he thought. ’Love? She can say it without batting an eye.’

Raina shyly held out her hand, her cheeks flushed, putting on an act of someone who wanted to look at Ethan but didn’t dare to.

She extended her slender fingers toward him, waiting for him to put the ring on.

Ethan’s face was impassive, his expression as cold as ice. The Lancaster family’s old master stood up from his seat, leaning on his cane.

Ethan averted his gaze, grabbed Raina’s hand, and slowly slid the wedding ring toward her finger.

Warm, pleasant music filled the banquet hall. The large screen was set to display the couple’s wedding photos, but under the warm lights, the two of them each had their own ulterior motives.

The cool ring was just sliding past Raina’s knuckle when a gasp reached their ears.

"What the..."

"What’s going on?"

Ethan instinctively looked up, only to see his own photo enlarged on the big screen. In the picture, he was wearing the very same suit, but the person in his arms was not the woman he was supposed to marry today.

No, he had a woman on each arm, looking like he was having the time of his life.

To put it more bluntly: he had worn his groom’s suit to go out and fool around, having so much fun he forgot to come back, which delayed the entire wedding and left the bride here all alone to face everyone’s criticism.

Is he even human? He’s absolute scum!

But the Lancaster Family was rich and powerful, so no one in the audience dared to comment carelessly.

The emcee’s face went pale with fright. He hurriedly told someone to cut the feed. This was a fatal mistake; how had the perfectly planned schedule gone so completely off the rails?

Ethan forced a smile that didn’t reach his eyes and shoved the ring firmly onto her finger. He then heard Raina whisper in a voice only the two of them could hear, "Fourth Master, at a time like this, do you want me to cry, or do you want me to laugh?"

’If she starts crying, this wedding will become quite the spectacle.’

Ethan had never been backed into a corner like this. He was proud and arrogant, always the one being put on a pedestal. But Raina... where did she get the gall to plot against him again and again?

He took a step toward her and grabbed her chin. Raina instinctively tried to pull away, but seeing Ethan already leaning in, she quickly turned her face aside.