30 Days of Passion and Revenge-Chapter 302: Ethan’s Secret

"Didn’t you want to know how we met? I’ll show you now!"

Ethan scooped Lily up in his arms and unceremoniously placed her in the passenger seat of his car.

This man... Couldn’t he be a little gentler?

She hadn’t even finished her meal. For so long, he hadn’t said anything about this, and now he was suddenly taking her... where? To the place where they met?

Lily glanced at Ethan’s cold, stoic face, her suspicions growing.

Was her memory so terrible that she had forgotten entirely meeting him?

Ethan drove the car to a road that Lily found familiar. He parked in front of the private middle school she had attended. The building had been renovated and looked even more luxurious—modern, high-end, and comfortable. New buildings had been added inside.

Across the road, however, the neighboring public high school looked almost exactly as it had in the past. It was unchanged, with even the gold lettering on its name sign faded and peeling.

The two schools stood directly across each other, yet their disparity was as stark as ever.

"Bang!"

Ethan slammed the car door shut; his eyes fixed coldly on the gilded gates of the private middle school. His voice was low and icy, carrying a chilling weight: "This is where we first met."

Where we first met?!

Lily glanced around, still unable to recall anything. She exited the car and said, "We must’ve crossed paths here before, right? No real interaction?"

Otherwise, how could she have forgotten so completely?

Or maybe he had noticed her, but she hadn’t seen him?

Why was there no memory of him at all?

"Interaction?!" Ethan let out a derisive laugh, his cold gaze cutting into her. He walked around the car, grabbing her wrist and pulling her to the side of the road. "Do you remember this spot?!"

The expression on Ethan’s face was terrifyingly cold, his dark eyes carrying a storm of emotion.

Lily looked around, her confusion growing. She shook her head blankly. "It’s just a regular road, isn’t it?"

What could’ve happened here that would make it memorable?

"Yes, just a regular road! And on this regular road, you gave me a coin!" Ethan’s voice was sharp and biting, his grip on her wrist unrelenting.

"A coin?" Lily asked, stunned.

"Do you have any idea what you did back then?" Ethan pointed to his chest, his voice as cold as ice. "You tossed a coin into my pocket, then wiped your hand with a tissue and threw the tissue away!"

Lily stared at him, her face turning pale.

She didn’t doubt the truth of his words for a second. She had always been obsessed with cleanliness as a child. Even the slightest bit of dirt would have her washing her hands repeatedly.

"You even said to those little boys fawning over you..." Ethan’s voice faltered, unable to continue. His grip on her wrist tightened, his frustration palpable.

"You said, ’If you have money to spare, why not be charitable and help the poor instead?’"

"And then you added, ’Poor people still have their pride. How can they feel comfortable picking things up with you all standing here?’"

Ethan couldn’t bring himself to repeat those words aloud.

Lily had left an indelible mark on his life, one so profound it had shaped his entire existence.

Yet despite all of that, she was still the woman he loved most. He couldn’t stop wanting to conquer her heart, even if it meant losing his own.

Lily stood frozen, staring at Ethan. Even without him finishing the story, she could imagine what had happened.

As a child, she was spoiled and arrogant, used to being the center of attention. Apart from Alex Carter, she looked down on almost everyone.

Whenever she gave coins to beggars, she would instinctively clean her hands afterward, even if they weren’t dirty.

She had been nothing more than a clueless, overindulged rich girl back then.

"Of course, you don’t remember. Because to you, I was just trash—filthy garbage that dirty little rich girls like you wouldn’t even look at!" Ethan suddenly let go of her wrist, his gaze filled with disdain as he looked at her pale face. "I bet you never imagined that nine years later, this piece of trash would sleep with you so many times! And that you’d cling to me like this!"

Nine years later, this piece of trash would sleep with you so many times! And that you’d cling to me like this!

The sharpness of his words sent a chill through Lily’s body, freezing her in place.

"You’ve been holding a grudge over this all along?" Lily asked, her voice hollow. She hadn’t known. She hadn’t remembered anything about this...

She genuinely didn’t remember...

She had changed so much since her family’s downfall. She wasn’t the same person anymore and would never trample on others the way she had back then.

"Didn’t you always criticize my values?" Ethan said coldly. "Well, you, Lily, are the one who taught me those values. You taught me the difference between the rich and the poor!"

Those words shocked Lily even more than the story he had told.

Memories flashed through her mind. Could it be true? Had she influenced his worldview?

How was that possible?

And then she remembered what Nanny had told her—the tragedy of Ethan’s mother.

"That can’t be... It wasn’t me..." Lily instinctively took a step back, her face filled with fear, had the values she had once despised in Ethan been her own doing?

"You’re the one who taught me that poor people’s dignity is meant to be trampled on, that their pride is nothing more than a joke for the rich!" Ethan laughed bitterly. "What now? Knowing this, do you feel disgusted that you’ve slept with a man like me?"

Disgusted?

No, it wasn’t disgust... It was something far more profound.

"Back in high school, three major things happened in his life," Nanny’s voice echoed in Lily’s mind. "First, his personality changed drastically. Second, the Blackwood family sent people to bring him and his mother back to Europe. And third... his mother jumped to her death in front of him."

Nanny had continued, "Ethan wanted to return to the Blackwood family, but his mother refused to live as a mistress. They argued for weeks... Then, one day, she jumped. Ethan almost jumped after her, but the neighbors pulled him back..."

Those words reverberated in Lily’s ears.

Her body felt as though it had been submerged in ice water, chilling her to the bone. Her face was drained of all color.

Ethan frowned. What was wrong with her? Even if she felt guilty, her reaction was far too extreme.

"You’re saying... I shaped your values?" Lily’s voice trembled with disbelief as she stared at him.

No wonder he had always considered her a vain and shallow woman.

No wonder he had always believed she cared only about money and despised anything cheap.

So that was why...

So that was what she had done...

"What’s the matter? Are you disgusted with yourself, or are you disgusted with me?" Ethan scoffed, his dark eyes watching her intently.

Her reaction was too much.

Had he gone too far?

Why did she look like she was about to burst into tears at any moment?

Damn it... What’s wrong with her?!

"Then... then..." Lily stammered, struggling to find her voice. "Is the reason you wanted to return to the Blackwood family back then... because you didn’t want to be poor anymore?"

Because you didn’t want to live a hard life anymore? Because you didn’t want to endure the humiliation of someone tossing you a coin and wiping their hands afterward?

Was that it?

"So what if it is?!"

She had made him see the humiliation of poverty, the way dignity could be crushed underfoot by the wealthy. He had wanted a better life. He had wanted to live as one of the elite, not as someone who received a single coin from a middle school girl.

As Ethan’s words sank in, Lily froze completely.

She covered her mouth with her hand as tears spilled from her eyes, blurring her vision. "Then... your mother’s suicide... wasn’t... wasn’t because of me, was it?!"

"How do you know about that?!" Ethan’s eyes widened in shock. How did she know about his mother’s death? Who had told her? Nanny?!

So it was true...

No, it couldn’t be...

Lily stumbled back, crouching by the side of the road. She wrapped her arms around her head, her entire body trembling.

She couldn’t believe it. She couldn’t accept that she had influenced Ethan’s values and indirectly influenced his decision to return to the Blackwood family...

That she had indirectly caused his mother’s death.

She had thought Ethan’s extreme views were the result of his own stubbornness, that they were what had led to his mother’s tragedy.

But it turned out that it all stemmed from a single coin. It was all because of her...

How could this have happened? This wasn’t who she was. She wasn’t that kind of person. She hadn’t known. If she had known, she never would have...

"Lily—"

Ethan watched her trembling form, and for a moment, he wanted to pull her into his arms and hold her. But halfway through reaching out, he stopped himself.

He couldn’t afford to soften now...

He couldn’t keep dragging her down with him.

"I’m sorry... I’m sorry..." Lily murmured over and over, tears streaming down her face. "I’m sorry... I’m sorry..."

Damn it!

How could she know about his mother’s suicide?! Why was she blaming herself?! Back then, he hadn’t listened to his mother—it had nothing to do with her! His mother’s death was his fault... not hers!