Raina’s feet felt nailed to the floor, leaving her frozen in place.
"Where should we start the tour? The study? The gym..."
The woman giggled softly. "The master bedroom. You don’t mind, do you?"
Raina finally moved, forcing herself to turn and face them. "Ethan, don’t take this too far."
He walked right past her, as if she hadn’t said a word.
The woman in her high heels tried to walk past as well, but Raina blocked her path.
"Fourth Master—"
"Raina, what are you doing?"
"Are you going to show our most private space to just anyone?"
Ethan glanced over his shoulder at Raina. "I don’t mind."
"Absolutely not," Raina said firmly.
When the woman tried to get past her, Raina grabbed her arm and shoved. Unsteady on her high heels, the woman lost her balance and crashed into the nearby wall. "Ah—!"
Ethan started walking back toward them. Hearing his footsteps approach from behind, Raina spun around and shoved him as well. "If you’re so into this, then take her sowhere else! Not right under my nose, and certainly not into my room!"
Her shove posed no threat to him whatsoever. He arched an eyebrow. "So you’re okay with it, as long as I take her sowhere else?"
"Isn’t that what you always do? When have I ever argued with you or caused a scene?"
Ethan scoffed. That single word—"always"—painted him as the villain. "Well... this isn’t the first ti I’ve brought soone ho. We’ve even had soone sleep in the sa bed with us before. You could put up with it then, so what’s different now?"
His question left her speechless. She couldn’t answer; she just felt that sohow, things were different now.
"I can’t. I just can’t." A look of pure grievance washed over her face. She was holding back tears, looking as if one more word from him would make her cry.
Ethan’s expression was inscrutable. He felt utterly exhausted, mind and body. He started to head for the bedroom, but Raina stepped forward and grabbed his arm.
"Let go!"
"Ethan Lancaster, let’s get a divorce."
He looked as if he’d been struck by lightning. A whirlwind of emotions crossed his face, as if he’d just been slapped. He’d thought she would at least consider it for a while, or bring it up later. At the very least... he never thought it would be this sudden.
Ethan’s lips pressed into a hard, thin line, and the last glimr of light in his eyes faded.
She truly couldn’t endure his deliberate humiliation any longer. If she had to choose, she would rather return to the Reddington family, even if it ant facing Mia’s verbal and physical abuse.
All that abuse put together couldn’t compare to the pain of a single sentence from Ethan.
His hands at his sides clenched into fists. He walked to the bedroom door and kicked it open.
Raina followed a few steps inside. On her way ho, she had carefully considered what Annabelle Spencer told her earlier. Ethan couldn’t even stand to look at her now. He was utterly convinced she and Miles Hawthorne were working together. Forget any tenderness between them; he probably couldn’t even bear the sight of her.
’So why should I stay here just to be humiliated?’
Ethan stood in the room, his gaze fixed on Raina. "You want a divorce?"
"Yes."
He let out a sharp laugh. "A divorce? Is it because Miles Hawthorne is getting impatient?"
"It has nothing to do with him."
"Then tell , why do you want a divorce?"
The maid had opened the French doors while cleaning earlier, a detail Raina hadn’t noticed until now. A wind had picked up, and the corner of a curtain flapped against the glass. Ethan stood in the very room where they had once shared such passion, but now he looked as nacing as an Asura.
"You want a divorce? You owe a reason, don’t you think?"
"Staying here only annoys you. It would be better if you didn’t have to see at all."
’How nicely put. Every word sounds so reasonable, as if she’s really thinking of .’ Ethan walked past Raina and pushed the door shut.
He really didn’t want anyone else to hear this. "Does Miles Hawthorne know you’re asking for a divorce?"
"This is between you and . I already told you, it has nothing to do with him."
"You’re right. Having you around... it does disgust . It makes not want to see you..."
Raina’s back went rigid. It was one thing for her to say it, but hearing it from him was completely different. She felt her knees weaken, but her legs had gone numb and wouldn’t move. "So... you agree?"
"First, tell your terms for the divorce."
"I don’t have any terms."
Ethan walked to the edge of the king-sized bed and sat down. His gaze swept across the room, lingering on his water glass that still sat on the nightstand. He gave a slight shake of his head. Despite his fury, a smile played on his lips. "Right. He has everything now. As long as he can pull you safely from the Lancaster family quagmire, of course you wouldn’t have any terms."
Raina was too weary to explain. "Write up the divorce agreent however you like. We don’t have children, so there are no entanglents."
Her words nearly drove him insane. The mask of civility shattered, revealing his true, raw expression. "You want a divorce? You think I’d ever agree? Raina, how dare you even think it? I’m going to trap you in this marriage. No matter what you’re planning, you will only ever be Mrs. Lancaster. For the rest of your life. The only way out is death."
Raina had actually expected him to agree without a fight. She had underestimated the depth of his hatred. Letting her go would be far too rciful compared to trapping her for a lifeti.
She stood there, a lone, isolated figure, her neatly manicured nails digging into her palms. A knock sounded at the door.
A cruel smile twisted Ethan’s lips. "What’s the matter? Can’t handle being lonely?"
"Ethan, I’m not like you."
"Oh? And what am I like?" he retorted.
A deep, chiseled pain showed in Raina’s eyes. "I’m not like you. I wouldn’t be in the mood to go find other won while a close relative lies gravely ill."
The air in the room froze. Outside, the other woman’s ankle had started to swell from her earlier fall. She leaned her head against the door, trying to listen in, when a massive crash against the other side of the door made her eardrums feel like they were splitting.
Clapping her hands over her ears, she stumbled back a few steps. He must have smashed sothing in there.
Raina’s fingertips trembled, her heart still pounding with residual fear. A mont ago, the water glass had flown past her ear, slamd into the door, and ricocheted against the wall. It now lay shattered in pieces on the floor.
Ethan stalked toward her, closing the distance one step at a ti. "Aren’t you the one to bla for my father’s condition?"
"Fine," she said, closing her eyes in exhaustion. "It was . It was all my fault. Are you happy now?"
As she backed away, the woman outside lost her balance and fell to the floor with a soft cry.
Ethan strode out of the room. Raina turned just in ti to see him crouching down beside the woman. "What’s wrong?"
"I twisted my ankle earlier."
Without a word, Ethan reached down and swept her up into his arms.
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