Chapter 202: Is It His Fault?

Ethan took off his coat, pulled away the blanket covering Cecilia, wrapped her in his coat, and held her in his arms.

Seeing the blood at the corner of Cecilia's mouth, his eyes darkened further. He gently raised his hand to wipe it away for her.

Cecilia fought back the urge to cry, biting her teeth and saying weakly, "I want to go home!"

Ethan said nothing and carried her up, heading outside.

As soon as they came out, Cecilia realized there were many people standing in the living room.

She buried herself awkwardly in Ethan's arms, hearing him give a commanding order, "Peter, clean this up!"

With that, he carried her out of the house as motion-sensor lights lit up step by step along the way.

Cecilia closed her eyes. She probably never wanted to come back to this place for the rest of her life.

In the car, they drove quietly toward Golden Haven.

Ethan carried her through the front door and set her down at the bathroom entrance, saying gently, "Go take a hot shower. I'll wait outside!"

Cecilia nodded and walked in numbly. The hot water poured over her pale skin, making the injuries look even more obvious.

When she came out, Ethan was standing at the door holding a bag of ice.

He carried Cecilia straight back to bed, then applied the ice to her swollen face, asking with concern, "Does it hurt?"

It hurt, but the physical pain couldn't compare to the heartache.

The harm Sebastian had caused her was endless. He had worn her down, body and soul.

Seeing Cecilia's silence, a flash of guilt crossed Ethan's eyes. "I'm sorry, this is all my fault!"

He had promised Cecilia that he would protect her and never let her get hurt again.

At this moment, Cecilia couldn't quite describe what she felt toward Ethan.

She was angry that he had kissed her in public without caring about her reputation, causing her to worry and fear, and nearly getting her assaulted by Sebastian.

She was grateful that he had broken down the door and rushed in to save her in time.

She stared blankly at the ceiling, not knowing what to say or what she could say.

Everything, in the end, was her own doing. She shouldn't have met Sebastian, shouldn't have gotten involved with Ethan.

Her condition made Ethan feel even more guilty and remorseful. "This is my fault. I'm sorry. I shouldn't have let you leave alone!"

"I don't blame you!" Cecilia replied flatly, then added, "You should go. I want to be alone for a while."

Molly was still at Sophie's house. In her current state, she could only ask Sophie to bring her back.

Ethan heard the distance in her words, but instead of getting upset, he said gently, "I'll stay here with you!"

"No need!" Cecilia refused, then struggled to get up, but the movement pulled at her wounds. She gasped in pain and fell back onto the bed.

Only then did Ethan notice she had other injuries. A cold glint flashed in his eyes, but his expression remained gentle as he asked, "Where's the first aid kit? Let me put medicine on your wounds!"

Cecilia wanted to refuse, but Ethan insisted, so she could only let him find the first aid kit and disinfect and apply medicine to each injury.

Ethan was only applying medicine, yet she didn't even dare breathe heavily because his expression was frighteningly dark.

During this time, she called Sophie and asked her to bring Molly over.

When Sophie came in and saw her condition, her face went pale with shock.

Cecilia knew she couldn't hide it, but she wasn't in a position to explain right now. She could only say quietly, "It's not serious. Don't worry. I'll tell you when I have time!"

Sophie had no choice but to hand over the sleeping Molly to her, glanced at Ethan, then turned and left.

Cecilia tried to carry Molly back to her room despite her discomfort, but Ethan crouched down and took Molly from her hands. "You sit here and don't move. I'll carry her to the room!"

After settling Molly in, Ethan came out and kissed her forehead, then said, "I'm going out for a bit. I'll be right back!"

Cecilia didn't know what he was going out for, and didn't understand why he was coming back.

"It's so late, you should go home. I'm fine!"

However, Ethan didn't listen at all. "Wait for me!"

He walked toward the entrance and took her house keys with him.

Cecilia dragged her injured body to Molly's room. Seeing her sleeping soundly, her heart softened.

Thinking about what happened today, tears fell silently again.

She was too stupid, too foolish, too weak to even protect herself.

But thankfully, Molly was safe and healthy. Otherwise, she really wouldn't have the courage to face such a terrible life.

She sat by Molly's bed for quite a while before getting up and leaving.

Cecilia looked at the empty living room and muttered, "Didn't Ethan say he'd be right back? Why has he been gone so long?"

Wait, she had clearly wanted to send him away. Wasn't him not coming back exactly what she wanted?

She wanted to check the time on her phone, only to realize she didn't know where her bag was.

After a busy day, she was clearly exhausted physically and mentally, but her mind was unusually alert.

She curled up on the sofa, hugging her knees, thinking over and over about the future.

Before long, the door opened and Ethan returned, holding her bag in one hand and a shopping bag in the other.

"I bought you some food!" He took out a small cake from the bag, opened it, and handed it to her.

Even though she had no appetite, Cecilia still took it and put a spoonful in her mouth.

The cream was very sweet, but today it tasted bitter in her mouth.

"Thank you!"

Seeing her return to being polite with him, Ethan apologized again, "I'm sorry, this is all my fault!"

"It's not your fault. You've already helped me a lot," Cecilia said calmly.

She couldn't seek others' protection for her whole life.

From now on, she not only had to become strong, but also learn to protect herself.

Maybe eating sweets really could improve one's mood. She perked up a bit and asked Ethan, "How did you know Sebastian took me away?"

"My assistant Peter saw Sebastian driving away in a rage when he was seeing Aurora out. He was worried and told me about it, so I had him follow and then rushed over."

Cecilia nodded and asked again, "So he really did take photos of us, didn't he?"

Ethan nodded and said apologetically, "I was careless. I caught a glimpse of him when we were leaving, so I had Peter find a way to delete the photos."

Hearing this, Cecilia closed her eyes wearily.

Should she blame him? He caused the situation, but he also handled it.

Otherwise, Cecilia didn't dare imagine what the consequences would be if photos of her and Ethan kissing got out.

That night, Ethan stayed to keep her company.

Probably from the shock and the cold wind, she developed a fever in the middle of the night. Ethan wanted to take her to the hospital, but she refused. She swallowed a few cold medicine pills and fell back asleep.

The next day when she woke up, Cecilia touched her forehead. The fever had broken, but Ethan wasn't there. On her charging phone was a message he'd left, saying he had something to take care of and reminding her to eat breakfast when she woke up.