Chapter 237

Ethan had been careless with her. But she had been vindictive with him. And somehow, in the twisted maze of her heart, she had convinced herself that if she stayed close to Adrian… if she let him protect her… Ethan would finally feel her absence.

Finally regret everything he’d done.

Finally chase her.

But today, when she saw the raw panic in his eyes, the fear of losing her, something inside her cracked.

He did care.

And when she saw his expression seeing her with Adrian…

God, she wished she could rewind time.

Adrian wrapped an arm around her shoulders gently. “Lila… he’s unstable right now. Don’t take anything he said to heart.”

But she flinched.

Not because of what Ethan said, but because Adrian’s voice felt wrong.

Too steady.

Too certain.

Too calculating.

He didn’t understand, and he never would.

Adrian loved her obsession. Ethan had loved her soul.

Lila swallowed hard and whispered, barely audible: “…I didn’t want him to look at me like that.”

Adrian tensed. “What do you mean?”

Lila shook her head quickly, forcing a smile, pretending, lying, surviving.

“It’s nothing. I’m just tired.”

But her chest was tight. Her vision blurred. Because she knew the truth: She had chosen the wrong man in her moment of weakness. Not because Adrian was terrible, but because Adrian wasn’t Ethan.

And now Ethan hated her.

Wanted to ruin her.

Blamed her for everything falling apart.

Her throat tightened until it was hard to breathe.

She had never intended for this to happen.

She had wanted attention.

Security.

An escape.

Not this.

Not Ethan’s heartbreak.

Not his rage.

Not the realization that she still wanted him, desperately, even as she stood in another man’s penthouse.

Adrian kissed her temple, oblivious to the storm inside her. “Lila… don’t worry. I’ll protect you like I said.”

But she didn’t want protection.

She wanted forgiveness.

She wanted Ethan.

And for the first time since she chose this path… Lila felt the heavy, suffocating weight of regret settle on her shoulders like chains.

Because deep down she knew.. She may have broken Ethan… but she broke herself in the process.

Lila sat on the edge of the couch, her fingers twisting the hem of her gown, her eyes unfocused.

She still saw Ethan’s face every time she blinked, shock, hurt, betrayal, rage, all of it tangled in the center of his gaze.

Adrian finally spoke.

Not gently.

Not comfortingly.

Not even kindly.

But sharply, the way a knife taps against glass. “So,” he said, not looking at her, “that little performance… what was that?”

Lila stiffened. “I… I didn’t perform anything.”

Adrian chuckled, low and dark, as he dabbed antiseptic on his cheek. “No? Because it looked to me like you were seconds away from running after him like a kicked puppy.”

Her heart lurched.

“Adrian...”

He turned sharply, eyes burning with a possessiveness she hadn’t seen before.

“Don’t play dumb, Lila. I felt you pull away from me the moment he showed up and left. Like you didn’t even want to be here.”

She swallowed hard.

That wasn’t fair.

That wasn’t accurate.

But it also wasn’t entirely wrong.

Adrian stood, wiping the blood off his fingers with a slow, controlled motion, before walking toward her.

His voice dropped.

“You came to me,” he reminded her. “You were the one who crawled to this penthouse after he pushed you, after he doubted you, after he made you cry.”

She flinched.

He wasn’t lying, but he wasn’t telling the whole truth either.

“I just… needed help,” she whispered.

“And I gave it,” Adrian snapped. “I gave you everything. I took you out of that hospital before the media swarmed you. I hid you from Ethan. I stood by you when no one else wanted to touch you.”

He leaned in, his tone chillingly calm.

“And now you want to act like you’re confused?”

Lila’s pulse hammered.

“I’m not confused. I’m just...”

“Regretting?” Adrian finished for her, his smile razor thin. “Don’t bother lying. I saw it in your eyes the moment Ethan spoke. You still want him.”

Her breath caught.

Adrian crouched down before her, gripping her chin between his fingers, not harsh, but firm, possessive.

“Let me remind you of something,” he murmured. “You’re the one who begged for a way into this family. You wanted to be a Feng more desperately than anything. You wanted the status. The life. The security.”

She stiffened. Because that truth hurt more than any lie.

He wasn’t wrong.

She had wanted that. She had fantasized about being the next Madam Zhao, not Adrian's. obviously because it was not possible.

The plan had always been simple.

Marry Ethan.

Strip Serena of everything.

Take control of the Zhao Group as the future matriarch.

That was supposed to be her destiny.

But Serena had walked away first.

Serena had broken the engagement, flipped the script, and somehow ended up with Lucien, the one man powerful enough to burn all of them to ashes.

Lila’s voice trembled.

“That was before,” she whispered. “Before everything fell apart.”

Adrian’s expression hardened.

“Exactly. And now’s not the time to get sentimental. Ethan’s a sinking ship. He’s lost everything, his company, his dignity.” Adrian smirked coldly. “And soon, his mind.”

Lila felt sick.

She had never wanted Ethan to be destroyed.

She had wanted him to regret losing her.

Not… this.

Adrian stood abruptly, towering over her.

“You stay with me,” he ordered quietly. “You don’t call him. You don’t chase him. You don’t embarrass yourself.”

Her chest tightened.

“Adrian...”

“You want to be a Feng?” he cut in. “Then act like it. Keep your mouth shut. Keep your head straight. And stop thinking about a man who wouldn’t lift a finger to save you.”

Her lips parted.

But she couldn’t say it.

Couldn’t say that Ethan had cared.

He had raced to the hospital.

He had panicked when she wasn’t there.

He had broken when she betrayed him with Adrian.

But she said nothing.

Because she knew Adrian wasn’t helping her out of protection or affection.

He was using her, as leverage, as a pawn, as a means to strike at Lucien.

Unlike Ethan.

Ethan…

Ethan had loved her enough to build a future with her.

And she had ruined that with her own hands.

Her eyes burned, but she blinked the tears back fiercely. She couldn’t break, not here, not in front of Adrian, not now.

But inside her chest, regret curled and twisted until it felt like she couldn’t breathe.

Because for the first time, she admitted to herself, she had chosen wrong. Horribly, disastrously wrong.

And now?

There might be no way back.