Caron Fairchild gave Gwen Sharp a push from behind. "What are you waiting for? You want to be left here?"
At his words, Gwen Sharp quickly got into the car. Ethan Lancaster didn’t say anything, and the driver started the engine, heading in the direction Raina Reddington had gone.
’She just charged over there all on her own. There’s no telling what kind of trouble she’ll stir up.’
There was another club just a kiloter from The Regalia Palace. When Raina Reddington arrived, she parked and went inside. With no specific plan, she grabbed the first staff mber she could find and asked, "Is there a man nad Miles Hawthorne here?"
The man just shook his head. "No, no one by that na."
Raina Reddington quickly pulled out her phone, showing him a photo of Miles Hawthorne she had saved from a news article. "This is the man."
"Nope."
"I don’t believe you. Where is he?"
The employee was getting impatient. "I told you, there’s no one here by that na. Don’t interfere with our business."
Outside the club, the black car was hidden in the shadows, away from the neon glow. Ethan Lancaster stared blankly at the entrance. Raina had been inside for a while now.
"Fourth Master, should I go in and check on her?"
"No need," Ethan Lancaster said coldly, his eyes still locked on the revolving door.
When Raina still hadn’t erged, Ethan Lancaster grew anxious. He drumd his fingers impatiently on the car door. "Make a call. Tell the people inside to keep an eye on things."
"Yes, sir."
Raina stord through the club, bumping into drunk patrons. Soone grabbed her, and she could barely struggle free.
That night, many people learned that Mrs. Lancaster had torn through one of Stoneworth’s most famous nightspots like a madwoman. She didn’t spare a single private room, and even looked ready to storm the n’s restroom. But the staff had been given instructions and didn’t dare throw her out, so they could only let her turn the place upside down.
Rumors spread that Raina was trying to catch Mr. Lancaster cheating, that she was shalessly lowering herself to fight with the club girls over a man. Only those who were there to see and hear it for themselves knew who she was truly looking for.
She scread Miles Hawthorne’s na, over and over, until her voice gave out completely.
When she still couldn’t find him, Raina moved on to the next club. She saw Ethan Lancaster’s car but acted as if it wasn’t there.
She went from club to club, and Ethan Lancaster followed her from club to club. At each new location, Seth Sinclair made another call ahead of her.
Ethan Lancaster’s orders were clear: let her search, let her cause a scene, but under no circumstances was anyone to lay a hand on her or hurt her.
Gwen Sharp sat in the corner by the window, completely forgotten. Her face was still terribly swollen, but even when they drove past a hospital, Ethan Lancaster never offered to take her to get it checked.
The car passed a church in Stoneworth. The clock on its stark tower showed that it was already past two in the morning.
There were too many clubs; she couldn’t possibly search them all. Finally, stumbling with exhaustion, she was escorted out of one. The manager pleaded with her, "We’re closing now. The person you’re looking for really isn’t here."
She was left at the entrance, the light casting down on her slender shoulders. Raina’s legs gave out, and she sank weakly onto the steps.
’I can’t find him. This is harder than finding a needle in a haystack. Miles Hawthorne is a real, living person. How can he be impossible to find?’
Ethan Lancaster watched her through the tinted window. Raina kept wiping at her face, and as her gaze lifted, she saw the car parked there.
Raina got to her feet. No one stopped her this ti. She stord over to Ethan Lancaster’s car and began pounding on the window with both hands. Seeing this, he lowered the glass.
"Where the hell did you hide him?"
"Feeling heartbroken for him, are you?"
Her mouth was dry. She gripped the car door tightly with both hands. "Tell ."
"I don’t think so."
Her eyes fell on the woman sitting next to Ethan Lancaster, and a wave of sorrow washed over her. "Ethan Lancaster, I’m begging you, can’t you just tell ?"
"Give up. You’re never going to find him. You could turn all of Stoneworth upside down, and you still wouldn’t find him."
"Why?" Raina pressed. "Is he not in Stoneworth?"
Ethan Lancaster reached out and smoothed her ssy hair. "Oh, he’s right here in Stoneworth. Breathing the sa air as you every day. Thinking about you, missing you... he just can’t see you, that’s all."
At this, Ethan Lancaster patted Raina’s cheek, not too gently, not too hard. "Take your ti looking. The days are long. Who knows, maybe you’ll get your miracle."
He pulled his hand back. Raina lunged, only managing to grab his fingers. "What will it take for you to let him go?"
"If you want him out, you’ll have to trade places with him. How would you like it if I threw you into one of those places?"
Raina’s eyelashes fluttered. Ethan forcefully yanked his fingers from her grasp. "Can’t you just live your life in peace? You’re the eldest daughter of the Reddington Family, for God’s sake. The Young Madam of my Lancaster Family. How have you fallen this far?"
He began to raise the window. In Raina’s eyes, his chiseled face blurred little by little. The rising glass first obscured his thin lips, then the straight bridge of his nose, and finally, his pair of cold, indifferent eyes.
And the woman beside him was such an eyesore. Her timid gaze held no threat, yet it pierced Raina through and through, leaving her utterly defeated.
The car brushed past her as it drove away. Raina lost her balance and sank into a crouch.
Her legs were too weak to hold her, so she just sat right there on the pavent.
When Annabelle Spencer arrived, she found Raina sitting all alone in the vast, empty parking lot, looking like a lost soul.
Annabelle went over and hugged her. "Raina, let’s go ho."
Raina didn’t seem to hear her, rely resting her head against Annabelle’s arm.
"Hugo Hayes is already working on finding him for you. He knows a lot of people. It’s just one person, it should be easy."
"Thank you for going to all this trouble, Annabelle."
Annabelle pulled her to her feet, her own heart aching with pity. "Don’t be so formal with . Co on, let’s go ho."
"I have to keep looking tomorrow."
"Okay, okay. But you have to rest. Why don’t you take tomorrow off work?"
Raina didn’t say anything. After standing for a mont, she hugged Annabelle. "Let’s go ho."
Annabelle was still worried, so she drove Raina back to The Verdant Garden. Raina walked inside and flicked on the lights. The cold emptiness that greeted them was chilling. Annabelle’s eyes swept around the room. "You live here all by yourself?"
"Isn’t it nice? It’s peaceful."
"That bastard Ethan Lancaster!" Annabelle burst out. "He..."
"He can’t hear you, even if you curse him."
I suppose a lot of people know by now that Ethan Lancaster took soone under his protection tonight. That girl, Gwen Sharp, just made the leap from sparrow to phoenix. That little fairytale will probably be the talk of The Regalia Palace for a good long ti.
Raina laughed, and then the tears started to fall. "The most ironic part is, all those slaps just pushed her right into Ethan Lancaster’s arms."
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