Private Marriage, Secret Love-Chapter 200: Wanting to Seize Her Weakness

Raina couldn’t describe how she was feeling. Beyond the panic, she was filled with absolute terror.

Ethan Lancaster strode forward. Raina tried to grab his arm, but he was moving so fast she couldn’t keep up.

Ethan Lancaster reached the wardrobe and yanked open one of the doors. Raina threw herself in front of him, but she couldn’t block the door he had already opened.

Her hands, hanging at her sides, clenched into tight fists. Ethan Lancaster’s gaze passed over the top of her head to look inside, and the color drained from his face.

Seeing his reaction, Raina simply stepped aside. The man pulled the other door open, his eyes fixed on the two sets of pajamas hanging inside.

A man’s set and a woman’s, nestled closely together.

Raina’s eyes shot open. There was no sign of Miles Hawthorne inside.

’But that’s impossible. There’s nowhere else to hide in this room. Where could he have gone?’

"Satisfied?" Raina demanded. "You’re really good at finding excuses, aren’t you? Anything to get in the door, right? Fourth Master, have you always been this shameless, or can you just not read the room? Can’t you see how completely out of place you are here?"

Ethan Lancaster took a step back and turned to leave. As he reached the guest bedroom door, Raina leaned against the frame and called out to his back, "Sometimes I have to work overtime. He’s a light sleeper, so if I get home late, we sleep separately."

It was as if Ethan Lancaster had come here only to be humiliated. The apartment was tiny; it was impossible to hide a grown man right under his nose.

Raina’s mind was elsewhere. She had no idea how Miles Hawthorne had escaped. She walked out onto the balcony and looked down. A car was parked below, and an anxious Gwen Sharp was standing beside it, glancing up every so often.

Even though the woman was bundled up, Raina recognized Gwen Sharp’s timid, cowering posture in an instant.

She went back into the living room just as Ethan Lancaster was walking out of the bedroom.

"Where did you hear these rumors, Fourth Master? Did you really think I was hiding someone here? Even if I were that desperate for company, I wouldn’t have two men in my apartment at the same time. What kind of person do you take me for?"

Ethan Lancaster’s expression remained arrogant. Even with such words thrown in his face, he didn’t show the slightest hint of anger.

"Maybe someone just wanted you to think I’m a slut, a total piece of trash, so you’d finally stop pestering me. It’s not a bad idea. But next time, she should probably give me a heads-up. If it actually works, I’d be more than happy to play along."

Ethan Lancaster yanked the door open and stormed out. He slammed it with such force that the entire frame shuddered.

He went downstairs. When Gwen Sharp saw him, she hurried over. "Fourth Master, was it..."

Ethan Lancaster shot her a venomous glare. "Move out of your apartment tonight."

"What?" Gwen Sharp hadn’t expected this. She had clearly seen Miles Hawthorne go inside. "Fourth Master, there really was someone with Doctor Reddington! I’m not making it up."

Ethan Lancaster strode past her. Unwilling to give up, Gwen Sharp scurried to keep up with him. "Fourth Master, those photos of me... they’re not real. I’m just begging you to help me this one time..."

Gwen Sharp pulled a stack of photos from her crossbody bag and shoved them into Ethan Lancaster’s hand.

"You said you saw someone go upstairs with her. If it wasn’t Ian Sinclair, then who was it?"

If Raina didn’t have something to hold over her head, Gwen Sharp would have revealed Miles Hawthorne’s name long ago. "I... I don’t know him."

"Then what does he look like? You said it was another man, which means you must have gotten a clear look at his face."

Gwen Sharp swallowed nervously. It seemed Ethan Lancaster hadn’t found the man when he went up. "Maybe he got tipped off and hid. But he must still be in the building! Fourth Master, you have to get someone to check the security cameras..."

Ethan Lancaster sneered at her. "You really saw him?"

"Yes, I really did."

The man took an intimidating step closer. "You’re sure you saw him?"

His gaze was menacing, and Gwen Sharp broke out in goosebumps. "Doctor Reddington definitely has some ulterior motive for coming back. All those men coming in and out of her life... Fourth Master, you should investigate them thoroughly..."

Without even glancing at the photos, Ethan Lancaster slapped them across Gwen Sharp’s face. The hard, sharp corners cut her, and she cried out, covering her eyes as she crumpled to the ground.

Ethan Lancaster looked down at her pathetic state. "Be smart and move out on your own. Don’t make me call people to throw you out!"

Gwen Sharp’s eye had been cut by one of the photos, and tears streamed down her face from the pain. She lunged forward, trying to grab Ethan Lancaster’s leg, but he spun around and kicked her away.

"Get lost!"

"Fourth Master, please believe me! I’m telling the truth." 𝙛𝒓𝓮𝒆𝔀𝒆𝙗𝓷𝒐𝙫𝒆𝙡.𝒄𝓸𝓶

Raina watched from the balcony, a hint of schadenfreude in her eyes. ’That’s just how people are. Once you decide not to believe someone, even their truths sound like lies.’

She pulled her gaze away and, still in her slippers, went back into the bedroom. She searched it from top to bottom but couldn’t find Miles Hawthorne.

It was unbelievable.

When Ian Sinclair came in, he found her sitting cross-legged on the floor. "What’s wrong?"

"There’s no way he could have left this apartment. Where did he go?"

Ian Sinclair walked over to the open wardrobe. He pushed aside the row of hanging clothes, leaned his upper body inside, and forcefully slid a panel at the back of the wardrobe to one side.

Raina was floored. She never imagined that panel could be moved. Miles Hawthorne stooped and stepped out from the opening. Raina was utterly astonished. "This..."

"It’s a secret door."

"So I’ve never seen the neighbors across the hall because that unit is actually empty, right?"

Ian Sinclair slid the panel back into place. Raina looked at his still-bruised face and asked in a heavy voice, "That day Ethan Lancaster came looking for you, why didn’t you leave through here?"

Miles Hawthorne remained silent. Ian Sinclair said casually, "Why would I run? The whole point of me being here was for him to find me."

Hearing this, Raina’s heart grew heavy. Ian Sinclair’s appearance had been like ripping a festering wound wide open. It was probably for the best, but he was the one who had to suffer for it.

Gwen Sharp remained on the ground for a long time. When someone walked past, she hastily scrambled to pick up the scattered photos.

She clutched the photos to her chest, remembering what Cameron Fairchild had told her. ’I can’t just be passive like this. I have to find some dirt on Raina, and fast.’

’It has to be something fatal. And if I can’t find anything... I’ll just have to create it!’

’Raina crawled her way out of hell, and I’m going to make her crawl right back in!’