Chapter 213 Heartache

Chapter 213 Heartache

Cecilia immediately felt some regret. She gripped the steering wheel tightly with both hands, forcibly suppressing the bitterness and grievance in her heart.

Just when she thought he had already left, the driver's side door was pulled open. Ethan reached in and pulled her out, dragging her to the other side and stuffing her into the passenger seat.

Cecilia watched as he got into the driver's seat and then leaned toward her. She immediately closed her eyes nervously and turned her head away.

Seeing this, Ethan let out a mocking laugh, then pulled the seatbelt over to fasten it for her, and taunted, "Stupid woman, what are you thinking?"

Cecilia's face instantly flushed red with embarrassment. She opened her eyes and glared at him, but he had already sat up straight, calmly and seriously driving, not even sparing her a glance.

She thought he was going to the manor, but after driving for a while, Cecilia realized something was wrong.

The route he was taking was still heading toward Golden Haven.

Could he have changed his mind and decided to go home with her?

Cecilia was puzzled when the car suddenly drove through the gates of Bayview Nature Reserve.

This was a key scenic area developed by Starry Sky District, not far from Golden Haven.

Before Cecilia could recover from her shock, the car passed through a landscape feature, and suddenly there was a spacious estate with a beautiful house standing in it—the kind she had only seen on TV.

The estate's iron gate opened, and Ethan drove the car straight to the front of the house.

When the car stopped, he turned to Cecilia and said, "We're home!"

Cecilia's heart trembled. She looked through the car window at the scenery outside, amazed by the luxury of the wealthy.

Ethan had mentioned before that he was only temporarily living in the manor in the suburbs and that his new home was still being renovated, but she never imagined this so-called new home would be inside a scenic area and built so beautifully.

He got out of the car, took the luggage, and walked inside. Cecilia could only follow slowly.

As soon as the door opened, servants came forward to take the luggage. They weren't surprised to see her—they must be people he trusted.

Cecilia followed him into a room, where she was suddenly pressed against the wall. Then his domineering, husky voice rang out, "Tell me, did you miss me?"

Under his unwavering gaze, Cecilia had nowhere to hide. She lowered her eyes, really unable to answer his question.

She was a conflicted person. Of course she missed him, but her resentment was also real.

Ethan leaned against her, seemingly trying to read her inner thoughts from her facial expression.

"Not answering—does that mean you didn't miss me? Or you don't want to talk to me?"

He freed one hand to pinch Cecilia's chin, forcing her to look up and meet his eyes.

Cecilia still kept her eyes lowered. She was afraid of falling into the trap of his tenderness. "It's not that I don't want to talk. I just don't know what to say."

Although the image of his rage that day had been haunting her mind all this time, at this moment, just smelling the faint scent of grass on him made her forget everything, her whole being filled with heart palpitations.

Those feelings of longing were like vines that couldn't be cut down, wrapping around every nerve in her body.

Seeing her remain silent, Ethan suddenly leaned down and gently bit her lip. "Say anything—I want to hear it. During this time, I've really missed you!"

Hearing this, Cecilia felt her heart racing wildly.

She was just a normal woman. Being teased by such a handsome man, if she could remain completely calm, that would be truly bizarre.

Cecilia turned her head, trying to avoid him, but he cupped her face and pressed his forehead close to hers, saying, "Don't hide. Do you think you can escape today?"

"I'm not trying to escape. Since I came, I've prepared myself to be at your mercy, to be at your beck and call!"

Cecilia's words made Ethan freeze. He belatedly sensed her emotions.

He released Cecilia and walked to the window, standing there. After a moment, he turned to look at her. "That day was the anniversary of my father's death. They were rushing back to celebrate my birthday. My older brother was on the plane, along with his assistant. None of them survived, except for Jasmine, who missed the flight!"

Ethan's words hit Cecilia like a thunderbolt. She froze in place, her head feeling like it was splitting open with pain.

She leaned half her body against the door, otherwise she might not even be able to stand.

That day she had wished Ethan a happy birthday.

Ethan was right—she was hopelessly stupid.

But all of this was Aurora—she was the one who revealed it.

Cecilia's body swayed. She was so foolish, actually feeling secretly pleased that she had learned about Ethan's birthday from Aurora, then presuming to celebrate it for him.

As it turned out, Aurora had done it on purpose.

"I'm sorry!" Cecilia said instinctively.

"I know I shouldn't blame you. I wasn't angry about that. What I blame you for is never knowing to ask me when something happens. I told you, you just need to listen to me and not believe what anyone else says."

Ethan looked at Cecilia with pain in his eyes, along with a trace of anger. "Do you remember what I said now? Cecilia, no matter what happens in the future, I hope you can trust me, only trust me!"

Cecilia looked back at him. On that handsome face, besides dominance, there was a rare seriousness.

His world was too complicated. The twists and turns in it were definitely not something Cecilia alone could handle.

She thought again of the scene she had seen in the surveillance footage, Aurora's gloating expression.

Too frightening!

Seeing her remain silent, Ethan slowly continued, "That day I rushed back to Majestic City overnight to pay my respects to them."

He seemed unable to continue. He walked over and held Cecilia in his arms. "I thought I could move on, but it seems I can't escape the curse!"

Cecilia truly felt sorry for this lonely man.

She raised her hands to hug his waist back, gently comforting him. "You're not cursed. You're fine. That incident wasn't your fault!"

After that, Ethan told her many things about his childhood. She listened while tears streamed down her face.

This man, behind his glamorous and strong exterior, had suffered more hardships and pain than anyone.

Cecilia's heart ached terribly listening to it.

Especially the pain Jasmine had caused him—it was even worse than what the plane crash had brought him.

A mother blaming the deaths of her husband and eldest son on an innocent child...

Cecilia could understand that Jasmine couldn't handle the blow, but what had Ethan done wrong? He was just a child then. He only wanted to celebrate his birthday—how could he have predicted a plane crash would happen?

When Ethan talked about the time before he was fifteen when he was with his parents, he kept staring at Cecilia's face, as if trying to see something in her expression.

Cecilia tried to recall her own life before fifteen, but couldn't picture anything.

Only then did she realize that she seemed to only have memories starting from ninth grade, which was also when she met Sophie and Damon.

Could she have lost her memory before? But she had never heard her parents mention it.