Chapter 232

Chapter 232

Christina didn't ask more questions. She knew that with Ellie's abilities, finding a better job wouldn't be difficult, so she didn't offer to make any introductions.

When they left the dessert shop, the sun was setting. The glaring sunlight fell on her, making her feel dazed for a moment.

The day before Ethan went abroad, Christina left with Henry, and Brice picked them up.

At their parting, Ethan cried uncontrollably, but ultimately couldn't win back her heart.

"Let's end it here. Since you've decided to separate, there's no point in dragging this out." This was the last thing Christina said to Ethan before getting in the car.

Ethan stood downstairs at the apartment building, watching the car gradually drive away, his figure looking especially lonely in the morning light.

Brice drove, glancing at the calm-faced Christina through the rearview mirror, and asked in confusion, "I've been saying I'd take you back to Seaside City before, but you never wanted to leave him. Why did you suddenly let go?"

"Brice, can you help me look into Ethan's trip to Harmony City?" Christina suddenly asked.

"Christina?" Brice was a bit surprised.

"If it's too much trouble, forget it."

"It's no trouble, I'll look into it for you."

Christina returned to Seaside City with Henry and finally felt the long-lost warmth of family.

The love and care she had never enjoyed before, she experienced it all in the half month since returning to Seaside City.

Henry also loved it here—he loved everything about this place and the family members who cared for them.

Occasionally when talking on the phone with Vivian and Abigail, Christina would hear some news from Emerald City, including about Ethan.

But every time she heard the name "Ethan," she would get drunk and cry alone in grief.

No one knew that this Ethan wasn't the one she loved at all.

Her Ethan might have already died in the deep sea, but even if there was only a one in ten thousand chance, she had to keep investigating.

After New Year, Emerald City had a heavy snowfall. Overnight, the world turned completely white.

When Christina came downstairs in the morning, the servant was playing in the yard with Henry and Snowball, their laughter clear and pleasant.

Watching this scene, she couldn't help but think of Harold, think of their days living in Astoria.

She often wondered, if they hadn't returned to Celestria back then, would everything have been different?

Harold wouldn't have been in that plane crash, and Ethan wouldn't have fallen into the deep sea.

She even began to doubt herself, wondering if everyone who was with her was doomed to a bad ending—Harold was like that, and so was Ethan.

Christina stood quietly under the porch, staring blankly at the distant snow, not even noticing when Brice walked up beside her.

"What are you thinking about? You're so lost in thought." Brice's voice sounded beside her, pulling her out of her thoughts.

Christina turned around and called softly, "Brice."

Brice followed her gaze, then looked at her. "Nothing, just watching Henry play. It feels a bit unreal."

She looked at Brice seriously, full of gratitude. "Brice, thank you. If it weren't for you, I probably wouldn't have the chance to stand here now."

If Brice hadn't provided a donor, her kidney transplant wouldn't have gone so smoothly, and she wouldn't have her current healthy body.

Brice smiled and ruffled her hair. "Silly girl, I'm your brother. This is what I should do."

"By the way, I have news about Ethan's trip to Harmony City that you asked me to look into." Brice changed the subject.

Christina's eyes brightened, and she said gratefully, "Thank you, Brice..."

Brice was a bit confused. "Since you've already decided to separate, why do you still care about his whereabouts?"

Christina looked at him, and for a moment wanted to tell him all her doubts and suspicions.

But in the end, she didn't say anything—if that Ethan was fake, if he was the person who had threatened her and Henry to make the real Ethan jump into the sea back then, then everything at the Carter Family now was part of a carefully planned conspiracy.

She didn't know how deep this conspiracy went, or what kind of trouble would be stirred up after exposing it. She didn't dare gamble with her family's safety or that of the Darden family, so she could only investigate quietly on her own.

"Mr. Darden, Mrs. Darden is asking for you upstairs." A servant came downstairs to call him.

"Brice, you go up first." Christina said.

Brice could tell she was hiding something, and reminded her, "If something's bothering you, don't keep it to yourself. Tell me, and I'll help you solve it."

"I know, Brice."

After Brice left, Christina stood under the porch for a long while.

Her phone suddenly buzzed with a WhatsApp message. It was from her group chat with Abigail and Vivian. Vivian had sent photos of herself trying on several diamond rings, saying she and her boyfriend were choosing a wedding ring and asking them to give their opinions.

Christina's mind suddenly recalled the phone call she had received from Novaria Jewelry before leaving Emerald City.

The phone she was using now was prepared by that "Ethan." After returning to Seaside City, she had it checked right away. Fortunately, no monitoring devices were found.

For some reason, she pulled up that previous phone number in her call history and dialed it again.

"Hello, Ms. Reed." After the call connected, the other person's voice came through. "The diamond ring Mr. Carter customized for you a year ago is ready. Since custom jewelry is unique, the contract has dual authentication set up, and only Mr. Carter himself can pick it up. We've contacted Mr. Carter multiple times, and he told us to handle it ourselves, but the ring is linked to your identity information, so we could only contact you."

"Whatever happens next, you need to come to our store in person."

"Please send me your address in Harmony City." Christina said.

Before the holiday was even over, Christina boarded a flight to Novaria. Her visa had been arranged well in advance.

Christina dragged her simple suitcase out of the airport and took a taxi directly to that high-end jewelry store.

The female manager came up to greet her.

"Hello, are you Ms. Reed? I'm Chloe, the regional manager who spoke with you on the phone." The manager put on a warm smile and led her to the VIP reception room.

After they sat down, Chloe put on white velvet gloves and solemnly took out a velvet gift box from the temperature-controlled safe behind her.

"Ms. Reed, this pink diamond ring named 'Christina' has a main stone that's a rare 5.20-carat flawless Argyle pink diamond. Mr. Carter said at the time that this was a gift he was preparing to propose to you again with on your tenth wedding anniversary."

Chloe gently pressed the hidden clasp, the gift box popped open, and a dazzling pink light instantly leaped into Christina's eyes.

Inside the ring, a small line of text was engraved: [My life, My Christina.]

Christina's eyes stung with tears, the pain making it hard for her to breathe.

"Chloe, since the ring is already made, why didn't Ethan come to pick it up himself?" Christina suppressed her emotions and tried to appear calm as she asked.

"That's exactly what's been giving us a headache." Chloe sighed helplessly, pointing to a tiny electronic sensor area below the gift box. "This ring is priceless, so the contract has the highest level of dual biometric authentication—he must personally do a fingerprint and iris scan before the system will issue a pickup authorization code."

Chloe paused and continued, "These past few months, we've contacted Mr. Carter multiple times. But his attitude was irritable, telling us to 'handle it ourselves.' Ms. Reed, as you know, without his biometric authentication, we can't complete the delivery process, and we don't dare dispose of it randomly, so we could only take the liberty of bothering you."

"Handle it ourselves..." Christina repeated these words.

Even if Zack and Ethan were identical twins with similar DNA, fingerprints and irises are unique in this world!

So Zack didn't dare come to pick up the ring at all.

"Ms. Reed?" Chloe called softly, seeing her expression change.

Christina came back to her senses and forced back the tears in her eyes. "Chloe, please continue to keep the ring for us. Due to some complicated changes between Mr. Carter and me, we can't pick it up in the near future. I'll pay you for all the storage fees."