Chapter 285: Chapter 283: A Year’s Time (3)
She pushed the door open and went in.
The door closed behind her.
Bianca Rhodes was sitting on the bed. She looked quite well, a world of difference from the state she was in when she fainted yesterday.
"You’re here. Have a seat."
Her tone was casual, as if she were greeting an old friend.
"This place is too filthy. I’m afraid I’ll pick up some germs," Zoe Ellsworth said, approaching the bed. "Can I ask you something?"
"Go ahead."
"Why did you break up with my husband in the first place? And why are you shamelessly crawling back to him now?"
"You want to know why? Fine, I’ll tell you. It was because he always acted like he didn’t care about me, on top of being busy with work. Also, my mother felt his job was dangerous. As for why I’m back now?" Bianca Rhodes’s eyes narrowed into a slight smile. "I just don’t want to see him with any woman other than me."
Zoe Ellsworth nodded. "So you’re just a dark, twisted person, driven by jealousy? I figured as much. But I’m just curious—if your mother was worried it was dangerous for you to be with him, did she ever worry that forcing your way into being a homewrecker is even more dangerous? Because the mistress can be destroyed by the legal wife at any moment. Now *that’s* a dangerous profession."
"Zoe Ellsworth, you don’t scare me. I just gave an interview to reporters. By tomorrow, the whole country will know I’m the woman who’s with Herman."
Zoe Ellsworth pulled a video out of her bag and flashed it at her. "Are you talking about this?"
Bianca’s expression changed. "How do you have that?!"
"You want to know? Why should I tell you?" Zoe put it away again.
Bianca Rhodes snorted. "This is a hospital. If you dare lay a hand on me again, I’ll call the police immediately."
"I won’t give you the chance to call the police." As she spoke, she took off her high-heeled boots with their eleven-centimeter heels.
She twirled one in her hand.
Bianca Rhodes’s face tensed. "Zoe Ellsworth, if you touch me again, I’ll call Herman right now."
Holding the boot, she viciously swung the sole at Bianca Rhodes’s face. The heel was long and thin; this was no gentle slap from a hand.
With just one strike, Bianca Rhodes let out a blood-curdling scream.
She scrambled off the bed, wanting to fight back, but the result was predictable. Miss Rhodes was beaten until she was collapsed on the floor, unable to get up.
Zoe Ellsworth straddled her and let loose a flurry of attacks. "Your mother didn’t teach you what it means to have some shame, so I’ll teach you myself! Since you’re so shameless anyway, what’s the harm in me ruining that face of yours!"
Bianca Rhodes never would have expected it. Zoe looked thin, but her strength was astonishing.
"Stop hitting me!!" Genuinely terrified of being disfigured, she begged for mercy.
Only then did Zoe Ellsworth get up, looking down at her. "Bianca Rhodes, this is just a swollen face. Next time, it’ll be a ruined face. And the time after that, it won’t be your face I’m going for, but that other mouth of yours. Don’t believe me? Just you try me!"
Bianca Rhodes’s heart filled with even more hatred for Zoe Ellsworth, but for now, she knew her place and said nothing.
Zoe Ellsworth left the hospital room, and the pent-up anger she’d been holding inside finally dissipated.
When she returned to Ethan Ellsworth’s room, she found that he was already awake.
He was staring at the ceiling with his eyes wide open.
Zoe Ellsworth sat down and called out, "Brother."
Ethan Ellsworth’s Adam’s apple bobbed as he responded with a quiet sound of acknowledgment.
"Brother, don’t be like this. You need to pull yourself together soon."
Ethan Ellsworth looked at her. "I know. Have the reporters outside left?"
"Why would they leave? They won’t go easily without seeing you."
He sat up and pulled out his IV drip. "Let’s go back."
Zoe Ellsworth exclaimed, "Brother, the doctor said you need to rest in the hospital for two more days before you can be discharged!"
"I’m fine. It’s just a lack of sleep. Don’t I know my own body? Go handle the discharge paperwork. I’ll satisfy this pack of media right now."
Seeing how insistent he was, Zoe Ellsworth had no choice but to agree. She then went to take care of the discharge paperwork.
His agent was waiting outside the door. Seeing him come out, the agent immediately asked, "Ellsworth, are you sure about this?"
"I’m fine. Let’s go."
The agent and the male assistant exchanged a look but didn’t dare say more.
Outside the inpatient building, just as expected, a large crowd of media was waiting downstairs.
When they saw him emerge, the crowd swarmed him, and a clamor of questions began all at once.
"Ethan Ellsworth, what are your thoughts on the helicopter crash incident?"
"Ethan Ellsworth, is it true that the real perpetrator hasn’t been reported?"
"Ethan Ellsworth, do you love Chloe Marshall?"
"Ethan Ellsworth—"
He looked at the reporters swarming around him. He desperately wanted to say it—that there *was* a true culprit. He wanted to say it without any regard for the consequences.
But he couldn’t. No matter how much he wanted to say it, how much he impulsively wanted to blurt it out, he couldn’t.
If he spoke up, it wouldn’t just mean complete hostility between the Grant Family and the Ellsworth Family; it would lead to mutual destruction for both sides and even greater turmoil.
"Let the police announce their findings. As for what I can say, I can only admit this: I love her. I love her very, very much. She is the woman I love most."
For a popular male celebrity at the peak of his career, admitting he had a woman he loved took courage.
Even if everyone already knew the truth, as long as he didn’t admit it or confirm it, most fans would still dismiss it as a publicity stunt, as something fake.
But now, he had said it.
Only he knew in his heart that this stemmed from his guilt toward Chloe Marshall.
He couldn’t bear the thought of her being gone and him still not being able to give her public recognition.
"Ethan Ellsworth, can you tell us how you two fell in love?"
"Ethan Ellsworth, what was so charming about her?"
"Did your love grow over time?"
"How long were you in love?"
These reporters only cared about the headlines, not the feelings of the person involved.
"Those are our memories together. I don’t wish to discuss them further."
The interview ended, and he left.
But this news blew up online. Everyone had already felt that Chloe Marshall’s death was a tragedy, but now that it was revealed they were in love, Ethan Ellsworth’s fans didn’t resent Chloe. Instead, they hoped for a miracle that would bring them together.
Ethan Ellsworth hadn’t updated his Weibo in a long time.
He was in no mood to post anything, but he saw the huge impact the public discourse was having online.
He updated his Weibo. It was just three short words: Thank you all.
Just that simple expression of thanks instantly garnered hundreds of thousands of shares and comments.
The most common comment was undoubtedly: Stay strong!
But Ethan Ellsworth didn’t see it, because he logged off Weibo right after posting those three words.
The two fourth-floor apartments across from Quentin Grant’s place had been secretly rented and paid for by Quentin himself.
Now, with this incident, Zeke Marshall was gone, and Chloe Marshall was...
Therefore, to prevent Ethan Ellsworth from being painfully reminded of the past, he terminated the lease on the apartments and had the sales department sell them off quickly.
Everyone’s mood was low, so that evening, Quentin Grant invited Ethan Ellsworth and Herman Hawthorne out to a bar called Lips.
Same old place, same old people, but the mood was completely different.
Herman Hawthorne glanced at Ethan Ellsworth and raised his glass. "Let it all out tonight. You have my permission to get completely drunk—anything, as long as it helps you feel even a little bit better."
