To My First Love, With Regret - 36

It had been a week since they separated at the police station, and she hadn’t seen him since. It had been quite a while since Ethan was released, too.

—I’ll find you somehow, no matter what it takes. Wait for me.

He naturally couldn’t keep that promise. How could he have the presence of mind for that when his grandfather had passed away? Furthermore, in this situation, coming to find Eve and provoking her father further would be like lighting a match to a powder keg.

Better not come. I’ll go to you.

But she couldn’t leave like this.

Knock. Knock.

—Miss, I’ve brought your meal.

The person knocking was Chantal. Fortunately, the nurse who had disobeyed her master and helped Eve escape hadn’t been fired. Dr. Kalas, who wasn’t exposed as an accomplice, had apparently pulled some strings.

Chantal, now that the Duke couldn’t move around well, was bold enough to visit Eve every day. However, Eve couldn’t bring herself to ask for help with another escape attempt. The shocking image of Chantal being dragged away by her hair was still vivid in her mind.

Eve quickly hid the ring and got up.

—Come in.

—How are you feeling?

As a nurse, Chantal immediately assessed Eve’s physical condition upon entering.

—Do you feel sick to your stomach, or…

—No.

—No spotting?

—No.

—Please tell me if you have a slight ache in your lower abdomen or feel like your period is about to start.

Eve didn’t know whether Chantal was worried about her pregnancy, a miscarriage, or staining her clothes and sheets due to a lack of sanitary napkins, but she asked and cautioned about the same things every day. Although it seemed a bit obsessive, Eve no longer suspected that Chantal was trying to pry into her pregnancy status at her father’s behest.

Chantal placed the patient tray she was carrying onto the bed and said:

—I have news to relay.

What news? If it was for Eve, it had to be about Ethan’s current situation or her father’s affairs. Eve couldn’t stand the brief delay of Chantal removing the dish cover and urged her:

—Tell me now.

—I’ll tell you after you finish eating.

This new trick to make her eat was an improvement. Eve forced herself to finish the soup. She had never drunk tea this quickly before. However, Chantal didn’t tell her right away, instead procrastinating by clearing the tray first.

—What is it you have to tell me?

—Mr. Fairchild has been arrested again.

Her stomach twisted, and what she had eaten threatened to come up. Eve asked, contorting her face in pain:

—Why on earth?

—On the charge of kidnapping and unlawfully confining you, Miss.

—That venomous old man!

Anger surged, making it unbearable not to throw and smash something. But there was nothing breakable around. That was why Chantal had cleared the dishes first.

—That’s not true. I was the one who suggested we run away first.

A non-existent strength surged through her body. Eve got out of bed and headed for the door.

—I have to get out of here. No one can stop me this time! I’ll kill everyone if I have to get out!

Chantal blocked the crazed Lady’s path.

—Why don’t you write a letter, and I’ll deliver it to the police?

—Yes, that’s a good idea.

Chantal immediately brought her a pen and paper. Eve didn’t start writing about Ethan’s innocence right away but stared at the white paper, pen in hand. She even threw away what she had managed to write.

She had to think of all the words that absolutely must be said and write them all down without missing anything. She could only send the letter once. The moment it fell into the hands of the police, her father would know about it.

And what if it’s destroyed?

She couldn’t even trust the police. After long deliberation, Eve handed the thick, completed letter to Chantal and changed the recipient.

—Publish it as an advertisement in the newspaper.

Then her father’s scheme wouldn’t work. The whole world would know of Ethan’s injustice, and the police would be forced to release Ethan, even under pressure from the Duke of Cantrell.

—Dr. Kalas will know how. The cost to run the advertisement is…

Eve didn’t have any money on her right now. The only jewelry she had was what she shouldn’t sell.

—Don’t worry, Owen will cover it.

—Are you sure? I won’t forget this favor, and I will repay you double once I get out of here.

—It’s quite alright. We aren’t helping you, my Lady, to earn a few coins.

—Chantal… you are an angel.

—You are more important to us.

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After the initial interrogation, the police locked Ethan in the detention cell for two full days before calling him back to the interrogation room.

This time, a different investigator handled the case, not Shepherd. This made Ethan realize that Shepherd wasn’t actually the Duke’s dog. Consequently, Ethan didn’t hold much hope as he asked:

—Have you been to Montfleur?

During the first interrogation, Ethan had brought up Montfleur as proof that Eve had willingly left with him for Lavinia, married him, and lived together.

The residents, the landlord couple, and the priest who officiated the wedding would testify, and the signed Marriage Registry with Eve’s own signature was still at the church.

—The Mercia police don’t have enough budget to send an investigator on an overseas trip.

Yes, of course… even expecting anything was useless. It was exactly when Ethan was losing hope.

The investigator, who had snapped at him, sat opposite him and pulled an envelope from his pocket.

—Lady Evelyn has sent a statement to the police.

A statement?

This ordeal was finally over. Eve must have told the truth. Hearing the news that he had been framed, she had sent this letter despite being watched. The thought of his lover fighting alone to save him brought tears to his eyes; he was so grateful and sorry.

Eve, when I get out of here, I’ll find you, no matter what it takes. Just wait a little longer.

However, what was written on the letter the investigator unfolded and presented was not the truth.

⌈…Ethan Fairchild kidnapped and unlawfully confined me. The time he stole was merely a month, but the honor of a lady that he trampled upon will never be recovered in my lifetime.

Although my body has escaped that place, my soul remains trapped in the prison he created. I am now merely enduring a life like a ghost, alive but not truly living.

Therefore, I implore you, Investigator:

Please impose the heaviest and most severe punishment that the law permits on Ethan Fairchild. Make him pay the price for his crime, proportional to the depth of the wound he inflicted upon me, and the weight of the human dignity he destroyed.

Lady Evelyn Sherwood of Cantrell

Someone else wrote it, pretending to be Eve.

It’s a fake, fabricated statement.

The woman who loves me wouldn’t stand with the father she despises and try to destroy me⌋

However, denying the false accusation before his eyes became meaningless as he reached the end of the letter.

That letter was clearly written by Eve.

In fact, there was no room for doubt just by looking at the first part of the statement. Their first awkward but thrilling date and kiss at the tavern were recorded as the night he had forcibly molested her, and their secret relationship and the time Ethan disguised himself as her chauffeur for her sake were all twisted into actions solely driven by his threats.

Every distortion written in the statement subtly twisted the private facts they shared, which he had told no one. Therefore, this false accusation, meticulously built upon the truth, was a betrayal that only Eve could commit.

Ethan was now intimately familiar with Eve’s handwriting. He had worn out the book he lent her, reading the reply notes she had left in response to his own observation notes tucked inside.

Even the signature next to the name was Eve’s handwriting. He had seen it countless times when she signed checks. Eve had abandoned him using the very signature she used to swear to be with him forever on the marriage registry.

Solely for her own sake.

Yes, you were a Sherwood, too.

Tears streamed down Ethan’s cheek, his eyes finally opening after his deepest sincerity and his entire life had been trampled beyond recovery.

Evelyn Sherwood, you were the most reckless and desperate gamble I staked my entire meager life on. But to you, I was just a cheap chip you bet on for a momentary distraction and then discarded the moment the game became dangerous.

Loving a despicable Sherwood was the biggest mistake of my life.

He regretted it.

He shouldn’t have opened that sketchbook.

No, at the very least, he shouldn’t have trusted the woman who toyed with him on the night she stole his first kiss.

—I’ll give you a warning too. If you’re a coward who’s afraid of my father, of our difference, then you should run away right now. Never appear before me again.

If he could go back to that day, Ethan would rather be a coward than a gambler who lost everything.

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Ethan was indicted. Solely because of Eve’s single statement.

He was immediately transferred to the detention center. The university student who once dreamed of a brilliant future in his ivory tower had now fallen to the status of a prisoner, dressed in a prison uniform, chained, and dragged by a guard. As he walked down the cold corridor with its endless rows of iron bars, unpleasant stares clung to him persistently.