To My First Love, With Regret - 38

Ethan uttered a daring wish through his clenched teeth.

—I want the Kentrell Ducal family.

This was the only way to clear his grandfather’s name and restore his honor. Changing the Kentrell family name to Fairchild, the very name the Sherwoods looked down upon, was a bonus.

Of course, before that, the first step was to push all the Sherwoods into hell and watch them be trampled by the devil they themselves created.

—Uh-ha-ha!

Jack Fairchild’s hearty laughter echoed on the hushed night street.

—A great ambition for a man. The nerve to pay back your enemies is worthy of my son.

Pleased, he made a promise.

—Good. Your father will give the Kentrell Ducal family to you as a gift.

—No. I will take my revenge with my own hands.

Slowly. Painfully.

I will squeeze the life out of them.

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—The Lady’s letter was in the newspaper. The Duke saw it and passed out again, you know.

Two days after secretly dispatching the letter, Chantal delivered the gratifying news.

But the news she desired most—that Ethan had been acquitted—never came, no matter how long she waited. The old man, perhaps unafraid of hell in his dying state, was clearly stubbornly blocking it.

Thus, a month passed meaninglessly. A maid, pitying Eve who was going mad while confined in the manor, secretly tipped her off while serving lunch.

—Lady, Mr. Ethan Fairchild is going to be released today, so please try to hold on just a little longer.

—…Is that true? How was he released?

—It seems Jack Fairchild pulled some strings.

This meant his family hadn’t been sacrificed again because of Eve’s family. Eve sighed in relief and murmured her thanks.

To think that the day would come when a gang leader looks like a savior. Now that Eve’s father was no different from a legalized gang leader, she had no right to morally despise anyone.

Eve felt as if a blockage had been cleared in her chest after the first good news in a long time. The maid, for some reason, checked her complexion and spoke cautiously.

—That’s why the Duke just collapsed a little while ago.

In fact, Eve had been sitting by the window and watched him being carried out by a servant and loaded into a car. She had thought that body had finally succumbed to the poison spewed from his wicked heart, but the cause was something else.

Her father must have believed he was the eternal king of this castle. Until a new, stronger person appeared and forced him to kneel.

Ah, how satisfying.

Eve savored the sweet air, as if she hadn’t been able to breathe for a month, and asked:

—Is the Duke still alive?

The maid was no longer surprised by Eve’s lack of filial piety.

—We don’t know yet. The hospital hasn’t called back.

Ah. Father, please die.

Then she would marry Ethan again and take control of the family estate. That would be a just reward for this bitter period of hardship.

Unfortunately, it seemed her father hadn’t died that day. The guards still prevented Eve from stepping a foot outside her room. Was it just her imagination, or had the surveillance intensified?

Guarding below the window, too. Even though they’ve nailed the windows shut so they can’t be opened anyway.

Last week, when her father’s persecution and attention lessened, the employees had moved Eve from the attic to a proper bedroom.

—Lady, why haven’t you eaten again?

The maid, who came to clear the dinner, was surprised to see the uneaten meal, as Eve spent all day glaring out the window. It was understandable. Lately, Eve had been frantically eating, as if she would starve if she didn’t eat immediately. It wasn’t a wrong analogy, as this was her survival instinct.

But that day, she couldn’t eat anything. It felt like butterflies were fluttering in her stomach the entire time she was waiting for Ethan.

He might come looking for me.

Now, he would have the power to do so. Eve gazed endlessly at the lighthouse, as she always did since being confined to the manor. At least tonight, her eyes were filled with hope.

The lighthouse still illuminated the sea even after the only lighthouse keeper Eve knew was gone. A new lighthouse keeper must have arrived. She was once again dwelling on the fleeting nature of life when it happened.

A procession of cars with yellow headlights streamed past the manor, following the road on the cliff. In this city, the Kentrell Ducal family was the only one with the wealth and power to drive around five or six cars.

Therefore, that was Jack Fairchild’s crew.

Ethan has returned.

He was probably on his way to retrieve something he left at home. On his way back, he would come to reclaim the wife he left behind. At that moment, she might have to witness armed gang members break in and clash with the guards.

I don’t want anyone else to bleed.

From the beginning, Eve had no intention of sitting still like a princess trapped in a castle, waiting for a knight to rescue her.

I will go to Ethan.

She had planned her escape every day, and even practiced, just waiting for this day. It was finally time to execute the plan.

Eve picked up the box of matches from the mantelpiece above the fireplace and opened it. She pulled out a bundle of matches all at once and struck them.

Fwa-ruruk.

She threw the bundle of matches, which instantly became a ball of fire, onto the carpet in front of the bedroom door. The flames greedily consumed the door. By now, the fire should be visible from outside.

Crash.

Eve threw a vase, breaking the window, and screamed.

—Fire! Help!

Indeed, her father must have ordered them to confine Eve, not to simply watch her burn to death.

—Fire!

The guards outside the window shouted along, frantically looking around. There was no ladder nearby.

—Lady, we’ll catch you, jump!

It wasn’t that high; even if she broke a bone, her life wouldn’t be in danger. Of course, only Eve’s.

—I’m scared. I can’t do it.

While she resisted, shedding tears, someone brought a ladder. A guard climbed up, smashed the window open, and helped Eve out.

As soon as her feet touched the ground, Eve lost consciousness and collapsed.

—What should we do?

The guards muttered, embarrassed. They should put her back in confinement, but they couldn’t take her into the burning manor. Inside, the butler was clamoring for them to come and put out the fire.

—Call the maid… for me…

The Lady, half-conscious in the guard’s arms, searched for the maid. The men, realizing the solution, called the maid who was just running out of the manor and entrusted the Lady to her.

It was a very thoughtful favor to move Eve to a bench far from the fire before rushing into the manor to extinguish the flames.

—I’m thirsty….

Eve grabbed the maid’s skirt and pleaded. The maids didn’t guard her as diligently as the security team. As expected, when the maid ran off to the kitchen, leaving her alone, Eve got up as if she had never fainted.

No one had received a script, yet everyone acted according to Eve’s screenplay. The feeling of outsmarting the very guards who confined her was intensely exhilarating.

The guards had all rushed into the manor, so the garden was empty. There was no one chasing the bird that had escaped this large, luxurious cage.

Eve found herself on the road again. This time, she didn’t run toward the city center. She ran toward the lighthouse, toward Ethan.

It was just as the cottage beneath the lighthouse began to faintly appear. The line of headlights exited the grounds and headed her way.

She was delighted, but Eve did not rush into the path of the cars. She might get hit and turn into a corpse, like a deer that sometimes jumped out in the darkness. She retreated to the roadside and quietly waited for Ethan to approach.

The beam of the first headlight illuminated Eve. She pressed down on her chest, which was swelling with anticipation, and checked the faces inside the car. But he wasn’t in the first car, nor in the second. Eve bit down hard on her lower lip to suppress her anxiety.

It was the moment the third beam of headlights poured onto Eve. Her gaze met the man in the back seat.

—Ethan!

Tears burst forth. From both joy and heartache.

How much he must have suffered. The delicate, gentle countenance of the university student had been roughened, like a sailor who had weathered a storm. His sharp, ferocious gaze, like that of a wild beast, seemed to reveal the hardship of the past month, during which he couldn’t afford to lower his guard even for a moment.

But why was he only staring at her with those sharp eyes, as if to stab her, and just driving past?

—Ethan! Ethan!

She called out again, but the car didn’t stop. Frozen in shock, Eve stood rooted to the spot, watching his receding figure in a daze.

Ethan is leaving me. It was unbelievable, yet undeniable.

He had clearly recognized Eve. His eyes spoke of anger and disgust. Directed at Eve.

Why me…

The words he had once thrown at an innocent Eve rushed into her mind like the waves beneath the cliff.

—Because you’re a Sherwood anyway.

I, I became a madwoman who even wished for my father’s and brother’s deaths, abandoning the Sherwoods…

All for you.

For the selfish you who never believed in my sincerity, or even my love.