Chapter 11 Nighttime Escape
She had been insisting on staying, but now she suddenly wanted to leave. He had given her opportunities to leave before, as well as chances to tell him the truth.
"Return to the Jennings estate? Not possible," Ethan stated firmly.
"Kate, this isn't some hotel where you can check in and out whenever you please."
Without warning, Ethan pushed Kate against the wall, his passionate, domineering kiss landing on her lips. She could feel his anger, as well as the punishing force behind his embrace. He held her tightly, as if trying to merge her completely into his body.
Kate could barely withstand the intensity of this impact. She pushed against him weakly, without any real strength to resist.
Her movements resembled more of an invitation than resistance. Ethan's eyes gradually reddened, and Kate could see the burning desire in them.
That scorching gaze nearly consumed her. Instinctively, she wrapped her arms around his neck.
"Ethan, my feelings for you are real. If it'll reassure you, then do it. I've wanted to make love to you for a long time—you always stop halfway."
She leaned in to meet his lips, her voice carrying a hint of playful reproach, as if blaming him.
Ethan froze.
After their previous kisses, Kate had grown more confident. When she tried to seduce him, however, Ethan remained unresponsive, his gaze fixed intently on her.
"She wants to return to the Jennings estate—is she trying to get back to Blake? But why doesn't she reject my advances, and even actively initiates them?"
"Why? Is she just going along with me? Or am I overthinking?"
"Could she have discovered that her mother's coastal property was sold to the Hamilton family, and she wants it back?"
Kate was fully focused on kissing him when his thoughts suddenly invaded her mind. She felt internal alarms going off.
Coastal property? Sold to the Hamilton family?
If she remembered correctly, in her previous life, when her father persuaded her to transfer her mother's assets to his name, he had promised never to sell them, insisting he was just temporarily managing them for her.
He'd said that a young woman like her wouldn't know how to manage such assets.
Later, when the Hamilton family began developing the property, her father only mentioned authorizing them to use it, claiming it still belonged to him.
She had been so foolish then, never questioning him.
So her father had already sold the property by this time. How could she have believed his lies in her previous life?
That property was left to her by her mother. He had tricked her into giving it to him—what right did he have to sell it?
Burning with anger, Kate stumbled. Ethan quickly steadied her.
"Are you feeling unwell?"
Kate shook her head, clutching her chest as she tried to calm herself. She reached for her phone, ready to return to the Jennings estate immediately, but Ethan stopped her.
Somehow, their hearts had become connected, and she always knew what he was thinking.
Her reaction confirmed his suspicion—she knew about the property.
Ethan frowned, pulling her to sit down. Kate couldn't regain her composure, trying several times to stand up, only to be firmly held in place by Ethan.
"You think going back will help you recover what you want?" he asked in a low voice.
Kate hesitated briefly, only understanding when Ethan continued speaking.
"I can help you, but I have one condition."
Kate's eyes grew moist.
So he had seen through her thoughts. He understood her so well—how attentive must someone be to comprehend another person so thoroughly?
She suddenly recalled Ethan's words from her previous life.
"We grew up together, Kate. The person who knows you best is me, not Blake."
Back then, she had sneered at him and said cruel things.
The memory was painful.
She had been so foolish to trust a group of greedy predators instead of him.
"My condition is that you formally get engaged to me and publicly break off your engagement with Blake."
As she pondered, Ethan's voice reached her ears again.
Kate snapped back to reality, seeing Ethan staring at her expressionlessly, though she could detect the nervousness hidden in his eyes.
She couldn't help but smile softly.
Ethan frowned. "You find this amusing?"
Kate shook her head. "No."
She smiled because despite caring deeply about her answer, Ethan pretended to be indifferent.
"Actually, I'm happy."
"Ethan, the fact that you're proposing this condition means you believe I love you, and that makes me happy."
Kate truly was happy.
She wanted to immediately agree to his condition, but after some thought, she hesitated.
She remembered the scene of Ethan's tragic death in her previous life.
In that life, while trying to protect her, he had perished in her predicament. This time, she couldn't let him get involved.
"I'm sorry, Ethan. I can agree to break off my engagement with Blake, but can we wait a little while for our own engagement?"
Her words were gentle, pleading, but in an instant, the atmosphere around Ethan turned ice-cold.
Wait? She was saying wait now, after proposing to him at the engagement party?
She was clearly deceiving him again!
Ethan grew increasingly angry. He grabbed Kate's arm and locked her in the guest room.
By the time Kate realized what was happening, the door had already been locked.
She helplessly knocked on the door, trying to persuade Ethan to let her out, but he only gave her a cold response.
"You are not returning to the Jennings estate without my permission."
His footsteps gradually faded away, and Kate sighed in resignation.
She pouted, sighing, understanding why Ethan had reacted so strongly.
He must believe she was deceiving him again, that her heart didn't truly belong to him.
But she couldn't explain.
Who would believe that she had been reborn and wanted to protect him?
Unable to explain, and with Ethan preventing her from leaving, Kate turned toward the balcony, already formulating a plan.
At eleven that night—following Ethan's habits, he would surely be asleep by then—Kate tied the bedsheets to the balcony railing. Biting her lip, she climbed down from the second floor. Worried about making noise that might alert Ethan, she wore only socks, keeping her shoes in her backpack.
Her sock-covered feet landed silently on the ground.
She carefully looked up at the window of Ethan's bedroom, and seeing it dark, she finally breathed a sigh of relief, tiptoeing toward the main gate.
After just a few steps, she froze, barely daring to breathe.
At the entrance, Max was sleeping soundly on the lawn. Kate knew that if he woke up, she wouldn't be able to leave.
Fortunately, everything went smoothly.
She successfully made it past the front door.
Kate didn't go directly to the Jennings estate. It was too late; no one would open the door for her. To avoid alerting anyone too early, she decided to wait until morning to give them a surprise.