Private Marriage, Secret Love-Chapter 178: 3 Years Later, The Return

The search and rescue operation continued.

As evening approached, the wind and waves grew stronger. The roar of the surf, mixed with the howl of the wind, became even more terrifying.

Lights flickered on in the houses at the foot of the mountain. It was the Little New Year’s Eve, a day that should have been joyful and festive.

After searching for most of the day, there was no sign of her, dead or alive.

In the end, all Ethan Lancaster got was Raina Reddington’s down jacket and one of her shoes that had been fished out of the water.

Ethan Lancaster clutched her clothes tightly and asked Seth Sinclair in a low voice, "If someone jumps from there... what’s the best-case scenario?"

He seemed desperate for a sliver of hope, anything to cling to. But a search and rescue expert nearby shattered the protective shell he had built around himself. "The best-case scenario is that she snagged a branch on the way down. But from that height, the branches on the cliff face couldn’t possibly support her weight, and she would have fallen anyway. So the final, best-case scenario is that she was already unconscious when she hit the bottom."

In other words, her death wasn’t as painful. That was all.

Ethan Lancaster’s heart clenched violently. With bloodshot eyes, he looked ready to start a fight, but Seth Sinclair gestured for the expert to leave.

"Fourth Master, let’s go back first. We can wait for news there."

Ethan Lancaster scrubbed a hand over his face. "Seth, your family must be waiting for you, right?"

"I already told them I have something to do tonight."

"You don’t have to stay with me. You should go back."

Seth Sinclair insisted on staying. "I’m not leaving."

Ethan Lancaster kept vigil on that mountaintop all night, his body frozen stiff. Before the sky had even begun to break, the rhythmic crash of the waves seemed to carry Raina Reddington’s weeping cries. Ethan whispered, "Who’s crying?"

Seth Sinclair, his own face haggard, replied, "No one. You’re hearing things."

Ethan Lancaster had to be carried down the mountain and was taken directly to the nearest hospital. He was delirious with fever, his face covered in stubble, and he was muttering to himself even as the IV needle was inserted into the back of his hand.

"It’s just one day before the New Year, Raina. You didn’t even make it to the New Year."

"You left on this day. I’m about to be a year older than you. Raina, didn’t you always love the New Year the most?"

"Just talk to me... I’ll find the best doctors for you, find a bone marrow match, okay...?"

Gwen Sharp somehow heard the news and rushed to the hospital, entering Ethan Lancaster’s room.

She hadn’t seen him for only a day, but Ethan Lancaster had changed so much she almost didn’t recognize him. Gwen Sharp walked quietly to the bedside. "Fourth Master."

Ethan Lancaster’s eyelids fluttered. He opened his eyes and saw the woman standing beside him, but it was as if he couldn’t quite place her at first.

"Fourth Master, what’s wrong?"

Ethan Lancaster’s expression suddenly turned savage. "Get out. Get the hell out!"

Gwen Sharp trembled in fear, frozen to the spot. Ethan Lancaster sat up and shoved her hard on the shoulder. "Get out of here! Don’t ever let me see you again!"

’He had used Gwen Sharp to inflict so much suffering on Raina Reddington. He had openly elevated Gwen to such a high status, turning Raina into the laughingstock of all Stoneworth. In the end, what goes around comes around, and he was the one in the most pain.’

Ethan Lancaster waved his hand dismissively. Just looking at Gwen Sharp now intensified his pain. Seeing her still standing there, unmoving, he reached to pull the IV tube from his hand and get out of bed.

"Fourth Master, don’t do this!" Gwen Sharp was completely at a loss.

Seth Sinclair came in from outside and was shocked by the scene. He quickly walked over to Gwen Sharp. "Miss Sharp, you should leave immediately."

Ethan Lancaster got out of bed and kicked at Gwen Sharp. Unable to fend it off, she stumbled backward and fell. Seth Sinclair hurriedly restrained him.

Gwen Sharp scrambled out of the hospital room. She crouched by the door, not daring to cry out loud. She truly hadn’t expected things to escalate to this point.

Ethan Lancaster’s illness dragged on for nearly a month before he started to recover.

The search and rescue team couldn’t find a body and was eventually forced to give up.

Such a good person, a life so vibrant, had ended up as food for the fish, without even a grave to her name.

「Three years later.」

Stoneworth, The Serene Hill Cemetery.

Spring had just begun, and it was not yet warm and comfortable. The mornings and evenings were as bone-chilling as winter. The Serene Hill Cemetery was located on the summit of Mount Lunara. It was said that only the rich and powerful could be buried here; an ordinary family couldn’t even get in.

It was early in the morning, and there wasn’t a soul on the mountain. The higher one went, the thicker the fog became, until it was nearly impossible to see more than a meter or two ahead.

The gates of The Serene Hill Cemetery were open, but the cable car hadn’t started running yet. It was unclear when the woman had started her ascent up the mountain. She now stood at the cemetery entrance, wearing a loose-fitting, ankle-length overcoat. She wore a hat, with a scarf wrapped around her head as well, revealing only a pair of eyes behind glasses.

The security guard watching over the cemetery was dozing off. When he looked up and suddenly saw a figure standing outside, he was so startled his soul nearly left his body.

"You... you..."

The woman said nothing and walked straight inside. The guard thought he was seeing things. He rubbed his eyes, and a shiver ran through him, chasing away all sleepiness. He pushed back his chair and hurried outside.

"Hey! You need to register!"

But when he stepped out of the guardhouse, there was no one there. The fog was thick within the cemetery, and he could only make out the faint, shifting shadows of trees. No matter how brave he was, it was no use; he turned and ran right back into the guardhouse.

The woman walked to the deepest and highest part of the cemetery. She could faintly make out the tombstone she was looking for.

She took a few more steps and finally stopped in front of it. ’Just as I’d expect from Ethan Lancaster. He essentially recreated The Verdant Garden on a one-to-one scale. The small yard is filled with flowering trees, and the few railings at the entrance are adorned with small trinkets. This isn’t a grave; it’s clearly a miniature villa.’

Since Raina Reddington’s body was never found after her death, a cenotaph was erected, containing only that jacket and her single shoe.

The woman’s gaze fixed on the tombstone. She saw the words carved upon it: *Tomb of my beloved wife, Raina Reddington.*

Beside it were a few more words: *From her grieving husband, Ethan Lancaster.*

The woman let out a cold laugh, the curve of her lips dripping with sarcasm. ’So this is the misery of death. Even six feet under, you have to endure this kind of torture.’

’Beloved wife? Am I worthy?’

The woman bent down. The place was certainly arranged with exquisite care; there was even a teru teru bōzu hanging by the entrance. She reached out and ripped it down, then proceeded to pull off all the other decorations.

She didn’t know that Ethan Lancaster had planted all the flowers and plants with his own hands. Back then, at The Verdant Garden, everything that had a hint of life in it had died out completely. Along with Raina Reddington, it had all withered away. Ethan had someone clear out the entire yard and then replanted it all from scratch.

Every single plant here had been personally transplanted by him. Ethan Lancaster wasn’t good at tending to flowers and greenery; they would die, and he would plant new ones, only for them to die again. He had finally managed to keep these ones alive. The more resilient ones had even begun to bud, adorning this corner of the cemetery like a small garden.

He could never have imagined that his precious treasures would meet with disaster today, all of them ripped up by the roots.

The woman took out a tissue and wiped her hands. ’The person is already dead,’ she scoffed internally. ’Who is all this hypocrisy for?’