Miranda Caron had braced herself for the worst, but she never imagined this would be the outco. She had thought Ethan Lancaster would, at most, fly into a rage. At worst, he would just give her the cold shoulder and avoid seeing her for a long ti.
"E... Ethan, what exactly happened?"
"Don’t you know perfectly well?"
She rushed forward to grab his hand, but Ethan Lancaster sidestepped her. "I’ll let you keep the apartnt. That’s it. Go ho now."
’No, this can’t be happening. I can’t accept this at all.’
Tears stread down Miranda Caron’s face as she kept shaking her head. "Ethan, did she say sothing to you? Let explain, she set up..."
Raina Reddington leaned back into the sofa. ’A woman really shouldn’t be this pathetic, not at this stage. Accusing of setting her up... could I have possibly orchestrated Zion Lancaster’s difficult childbirth? Miranda Caron hung up the phone herself. That one act was more than enough.’
"Do you have any idea my sister almost died? If I hadn’t gotten here in ti..." The consequences were unthinkable, and Ethan Lancaster didn’t dare let his mind go there. "When will that brain of yours ever learn to consider the consequences?"
"I... I don’t know what happened, really," Miranda Caron said, flustered and at a loss. ’The call log was deleted, so can’t I just deny it?’ "No one told . I didn’t know."
"Is it that hard to trace a deleted call?"
Miranda Caron knew Ethan Lancaster was serious this ti; he was no longer going to turn a blind eye. With tears streaming down her face, she tried to move forward and grab his hand, but Ethan wouldn’t let her even touch him. "Ethan, she didn’t say anything about your sister on the phone, really! She didn’t ntion it at all..."
"She probably didn’t even get a chance to say anything before you hung up, did she?" Ethan Lancaster cut Miranda Caron off coldly. "You should count yourself lucky that my sister and her daughter are both safe and sound. Otherwise, you know perfectly well what would have happened to you."
Miranda Caron had rushed all the way here and had been waiting until now without a single sip of water; her throat felt like it was on fire. "Ethan, I didn’t do it on purpose. Please forgive this one ti... just this once..."
But Ethan Lancaster’s voice was colder than ice. "Do you want to call Seth Sinclair over?"
’Then I’d be getting thrown out, which would be far too humiliating.’
Miranda Caron held out her hand but didn’t dare to step forward again. Ethan Lancaster pushed the door beside him open wider, took a step inside, and glanced at Raina Reddington. "What are you still sitting around for? Aren’t you hungry?"
Raina Reddington nodded, put down the throw pillow, and walked out.
When Miranda Caron saw her co out, her eyes filled with a complex mix of emotions. ’I only hung up a single phone call, that’s all. Why did it have to turn out like this?’
Miranda Caron blocked Raina Reddington’s path. "You could have called a second or a third ti. If you had just said one word about his sister being in trouble, I would have definitely given the phone to Ethan..."
She was too afraid of losing him now, so she had to grasp at any chance she could get. But the more she did so, the more she debased herself.
As Ethan Lancaster prepared to leave with Raina Reddington, Miranda Caron threw all caution to the wind and clung to his arm. "Ethan, just give a little ti. Let explain properly..."
"Seth Sinclair!" Ethan Lancaster yelled. ’Forget an explanation, right now he couldn’t even stand the sound of this woman breathing.’
Seth Sinclair was standing guard at the stairwell. The mont he heard Ethan Lancaster call, he walked over.
Since things had co to this, there was no point in prolonging the struggle. Seth Sinclair seized Miranda Caron’s wrist and pulled her away. "Miss Caron, please show so self-respect."
Miranda Caron looked as if she had just heard the most hilarious joke. "Self-respect? What’s that?"
’When a man no longer wants you, does even the most normal touch beco an act of shalessness?’
Ethan Lancaster led Raina Reddington away. Raina glanced back over her shoulder. Miranda Caron was crying and throwing a fit, completely stripped of the gentleness that was supposed to be her defining trait. ’That was probably the only thing she had to attract him,’ Raina thought. ’And now that the facade has been torn away, there’s nothing left at all.’
It was late, so the hospital cafeteria had long since closed. They couldn’t risk going too far, either, since there was no guarantee the York Family wouldn’t co back.
Raina Reddington led Ethan Lancaster outside the hospital. An area like this was unlikely to be patrolled by city inspectors, so there was a good chance of finding so late-night food stalls.
After walking a dozen or so yards, she spotted a few small stalls with glass carts. Raina Reddington waved to Ethan Lancaster. "Over here."
A bowl of hot lamb noodle soup was the perfect thing for a night like this. Raina Reddington was starving. "Two large bowls of lamb noodle soup, please."
"Alright."
Ethan Lancaster sat down across from her. The winter night felt like an icebox, and with no tall buildings to block the wind, the mont he sat down, he felt a gust so strong it could have knocked him right off his seat.
Raina Reddington hadn’t grabbed a coat when she ran from her dorm to the ward. Now that she was out of her scrubs, all she had on was a sweater.
The sweater offered no protection from the wind. She rubbed her hands together on her lap, her nose and cheeks flushed red from the cold.
Ethan Lancaster took off his suit jacket, stood up, and draped it over her shoulders. Raina raised a hand to refuse. "You don’t have to. I’m not cold."
He guided one of her arms into the sleeve, making her wear it properly, then sat back down on the plastic stool. "Seth Sinclair has already arranged for soone to pick up the maternity nurse."
"What about you? Where are you planning to stay?"
"Where are you staying?"
Raina’s hands were still cold, and she rubbed them together. "The hospital provides us with a dorm."
"Then I’ll just sleep with you."
"In your dreams. I share the room with several other colleagues."
Ethan Lancaster took her hands in his. "Are they that cold?"
He was only wearing a thin dress shirt himself and couldn’t give her that too. He enveloped her hands in his, but Raina’s fingers were so icy they didn’t warm up.
Ethan Lancaster moved his stool next to hers, took her hand, and tucked it inside the collar of his shirt.
"Sss—" He winced, fighting back a shiver. "Your hand is like a block of ice. You’re freezing ."
"What are you doing?" Raina frantically tried to pull her hand back. "We’re in public."
"This is the first ti I’ve ever done sothing like this for soone. The least you could do is appreciate it." Ethan Lancaster held her wrist firmly, not letting her pull her hand back.
But it really was warm against his skin, and Raina’s hand ward up instantly. Just monts before, her knuckles had been stiff from the cold.
Seth Sinclair escorted Miranda Caron out of the hospital. From a distance, she saw Raina Reddington and Ethan Lancaster sitting together. She tried to run toward them, but Seth Sinclair stepped in front of her, blocking her path.
"Miss Caron, there’s really no need for this."
"Why not?" Miranda Caron’s eyes were raw from crying. "If you were in my shoes, would you accept it? It was just one phone call!"
"Perhaps it stopped being about a single phone call a long ti ago."
"You... what do you an?"
Miranda Caron’s gaze inevitably fell on Ethan Lancaster. Raina, still feeling embarrassed, kept trying to pull her hand away. But Ethan was smiling, clearly teasing her on purpose as he held her hand tight and refused to let go.
In that instant, Miranda Caron understood. He had never smiled at her like that. He had never been playful with her like that, either.
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