Chapter 200
The manager hefted the stack of bills, and the difficulty on his face immediately turned into accommodation. He nodded and turned to go make the announcement.
A few minutes later, the manager returned and made a welcoming gesture. "Mr. Parker, Ms. Green is waiting for you in room 333 on the third floor."
Ethan followed the attendant through winding corridors to an elegant wooden door. The attendant pushed it open for him.
Nina was seated in the place of honor, wearing a well-tailored black dress with her long hair pinned up, exposing her slender, graceful neck. On the low table in front of her sat an exquisite coffee set, with wisps of white steam rising from the coffee cup.
She was alone in the room—her friends had obviously been sent away.
Hearing the movement, she looked up, her gaze falling coldly on Ethan with undisguised scrutiny and displeasure.
"Mr. Parker?" Her voice, like her presence, carried a condescending sense of distance. "Barging in here late at night, saying you have something about Damian to discuss with me. What could it be?"
Ethan calmly walked over and sat down across from her.
"Ms. Green, I apologize for the intrusion," he began, his tone neither humble nor arrogant. "But what I'm about to tell you, I believe you'll definitely be interested in hearing."
Nina picked up her coffee cup and gently blew on the steam, saying nothing, though her eyes showed a hint of impatience. She clearly didn't think an heir of the Parker family could have anything interesting to say to her.
Ethan stopped beating around the bush and got straight to the point.
"My sister, Grace Donovan, has disappeared."
Nina paused mid-sip.
But her expression didn't change at all. She merely hummed noncommittally, indicating he should continue.
"The last place she was seen before disappearing was Wolfe Corporation headquarters." Ethan stared intently into Nina's eyes, not missing any subtle change in her expression. "I went to see Mr. Wolfe. He denied it."
"So?" Nina put down her coffee cup, a mocking smile playing at her lips. "Your sister disappears, you go to Damian. He denies it, so you come to me? Ethan, aren't you looking for the wrong person? I'm not the police—I have no obligation to help you find people."
She picked up the coffee pot and elegantly poured coffee into the empty cup in front of Ethan.
"Besides, even if she really is with Damian, so what? She's just some insignificant woman. When Damian gets bored, he'll naturally get rid of her. The way you're so worked up, people might think you have some other feelings for this sister you're not even related to by blood."
Her words were just as cutting as Damian's.
Ethan's expression darkened, but he forced down the anger in his heart. He knew that with someone like Nina, getting angry was the stupidest thing to do.
He picked up the coffee cup in front of him but didn't drink, just held it, feeling the warmth from the cup.
"Ms. Green, do you really think Grace is just 'some woman he'll get rid of when he's bored' to Mr. Wolfe?"
His voice was calm, yet carried a strange, penetrating power.
Nina's brow furrowed almost imperceptibly.
Her heart sank as well.
Of course, she knew how important Grace was to Damian.
But after she went after Grace last time, her involvement was discovered, and she nearly got caught up in it, too. She hadn't had another chance to make a move since then.
Ethan continued, "A man like Mr. Wolfe has seen every type of woman, Yet he's set his heart on Grace. He's done many things for her, many things you outsiders don't even know about."
"Mr. Wolfe insisted on marrying Grace despite all the pressure back then. It was only because Grace herself didn't want to that she went abroad."
"He got into a car accident trying to win Grace back, and lost his memories of their relationship. Even though Mr. Wolfe lost his memory, for five whole years after that, he still had no women around him. The first designer he signed was Grace. When he bought that land on Thunder Mountain and built that estate that shocked the entire design world, the only designer he specified was also Grace."
Ethan set down his coffee cup and looked up, his gaze sharp as it met Nina's directly.
"Ms. Green, you might not know this, but Mr. Wolfe only had to see Grace once on the news before he looked up all her information and came to the Parker family, specifically asking for her as the lead designer."
"Even after losing his memory, he recognized her at first sight. That kind of impact, Ms. Green—do you really think it's just playing around?"
Nina's dismissiveness finally faded. Her expression grew colder bit by bit, her fingers unconsciously tightening around the coffee cup.
Ethan knew his words were working.
He decided to add fuel to the fire.
"You should know Damian's personality better than I do. He's proud, obsessive, and extremely possessive. Whatever he sets his sights on, he must have. Now that Grace is back, do you think he'll let go easily?"
"If he really has hidden Grace away, cutting off all her contact with the outside world—this isn't a temporary whim, it's premeditated imprisonment. What he wants isn't brief pleasure. What he wants is to completely turn Grace into his possession alone."
Ethan leaned forward slightly, lowering his voice, each word striking Nina like a blow.
"Ms. Green, I didn't come to you today to beg you to save Grace. I came to remind you that your fiancé is, step by step, going crazy over another woman. And you, and the engagement between your two families, are the biggest obstacle in his path to madness."
"Guess what—with his personality, to get what he really wants, will he or won't he kick aside this obstacle that is you?"
The air in the private room seemed to freeze instantly.
Nina's expression had become very ugly. Ethan's words cut to the heart. She wasn't some naive girl—she understood the nature of this arranged marriage very well. This was a transaction, a union of interests.
And love was the most unstable factor in this transaction.
She had always thought Damian held a practical attitude toward this engagement. She knew about Grace's existence, too, but she'd considered it an insignificant past.
But now, Ethan had exposed the harsh truth and forced her to face it.
Damian's obsession with Grace far exceeded her imagination. And this obsession was already enough to threaten her position, threaten the Green family's interests, threaten her pride as Nina.
Nina absolutely could not tolerate becoming a laughingstock herself.
After a long while, Nina finally spoke slowly, her voice no longer lazy but cold and sharp.
"What do you want me to do?"
Ethan knew he had succeeded.
He straightened his back and said calmly, "It's simple. You go to Damian and say you've heard rumors about Grace and want to visit his estate on Thunder Mountain. You're his fiancée—he can't refuse that request."
"As long as you can see her, confirm she's still safe, and somehow let her talk to me. Just one minute—no, thirty seconds would be enough."
Nina laughed coldly. "Why should I help you? Confirm she's safe? Let her talk to you? Ethan, have you forgotten that she's my rival?"
"She's not your rival." Ethan pointed out sharply. "A woman who's imprisoned and can't see the light of day doesn't count as your rival. She's just evidence that Damian isn't truly committed to you. Your rival is Damian's obsession with her."
"What you need to do now isn't get rid of her, but shatter Damian's obsession. Make him see clearly that he can't have both money and the woman he loves. He either chooses the marriage alliance between your two families, or for the woman he loves, he gives up his position as heir to Wolfe Corporation and becomes an enemy of the entire Wolfe family."
Ethan looked at her, his eyes calm and rational.
"Ms. Green, you're a smart person. You should know which choice benefits you most. Helping me is helping yourself. Making Damian choose is better than letting him drag this out unclearly until he finally embarrasses you publicly."
Nina fell silent.
She picked up the now somewhat cool coffee and drained it in one gulp.
The bitterness of the coffee spread across her tongue.
She set the cup down heavily on the low table with a crisp sound.
"Fine." She looked up, cold determination in her eyes. "I'll help you."