Chapter 77: Chapter 77

"Ma’am, it’s absolutely true, he came in holding someone!"

The servant spoke mysteriously.

Chloe Quinn was very anxious: "Where are they now?"

"They went to the hot spring pool."

Chloe was shocked; this was indeed unusual.

What kind of women does Ethan Sterling like?

In the backyard of the castle, Chloe’s foster daughter, Selena Quinn, sat on a rocking chair watching a maid fly a kite.

Her gaze followed the kite as it gradually soared further and further away until it vanished into the blue sky.

She suddenly coughed a few times, her face turning pale.

After marrying into The Sterling Family, Chloe hadn’t had any children, so she adopted a girl, who became the third young miss of the Sterling, but because she didn’t share the Sterling bloodline, her surname remained Quinn.

Selena Quinn was twenty years old, a sickly child unable to engage in vigorous activity. When she wanted to play, she could only watch others.

The only permanent residents in the old house were her, Chloe, and Ryan Sterling.

The former matriarch of the Sterling family and her daughter had died; her son, Ethan Sterling, was often away, and the fourth child born to Ryan and Chloe was currently studying in A Country and hadn’t returned yet.

"Miss Selena!" A woman ran over, out of breath and looking anxious, "Young Master Sterling returned home, holding a girl in his arms."

Selena widened her eyes: "Holding a girl?"

"Yes, he went straight to the hot spring pool!"

Selena couldn’t help but widen her eyes: "Isn’t that hot spring built by second brother’s mother?"

After Ethan took full control, the hot spring pool was sealed off.

Now he had personally broken the rule?

"Yes, Young Master Sterling wouldn’t even allow you to visit the hot spring pool, yet he brought a stranger there. I was standing at the back of the line and saw that woman was covered in blood, and Young Master looked very worried."

Ryan’s original wife once had poor health and somehow obtained a medicinal hot spring, which was extremely effective for recuperating. Miss Selena used to enter for treatment, but once sealed, no one was allowed in, and Selena’s condition worsened.

Selena couldn’t imagine Ethan looking worried for someone else.

The Ethan in her memory was fierce and aloof.

She remembered, two years ago, she was playing the piano at home when something drastic happened.

The castle was surrounded by armed bodyguards, and the doors were easily breached by those people, as Ethan stormed in with a gun.

The home’s entire defense system became a joke.

She sat in front of the piano, trembling, watching Ethan covered in someone else’s blood as he entered Ryan’s bedroom.

Yet his eyes seemed as if they were touched by snow.

That was the time when the power in the Sterling family shifted.

Could someone like Ethan genuinely worry about others?

Seraphina Redgrave, of course, wouldn’t know everyone in the castle was in shock.

At that moment, she was being held in Ethan’s arms, entering an elegantly decorated room.

The room was large, with a waterless pool in the center, fully equipped with entertainment facilities, even featuring a projector for watching movies; in front of the floor-to-ceiling windows were pale pink gauze curtains, beautiful and ethereal.

Before Seraphina could make sense of it, Ethan placed her on the sofa, then walked to the room’s entrance and pressed the main switch.

The pool slowly filled with water.

Seraphina didn’t understand what Ethan intended to do; she looked around and decisively walked into the bathroom, washing the blood off her arm under the water, though the wound hadn’t healed yet.

There’s no time left.

Since Ethan knew, they needed to talk.

She looked at the towel in the bathroom, casually picked one, wrapped it around her hand, and secured it with her mouth and hand as a simple way to stop the bleeding.

After tending to her injury, Seraphina exited the bathroom and saw Ethan had already walked to the poolside, and the pool water was an unusual milky white, the air filled with a faint herbal scent.

Ethan glanced at Seraphina, his gaze lingering on the towel on her arm for a few seconds, then couldn’t help but sneer, "This is too careless."

She was quite casual about it.

"The injury isn’t serious."

Seraphina spoke unemotionally, walking step by step toward Ethan.

For the first time, Seraphina, in front of him, was completely unguarded, which made Ethan a little uncomfortable, but he forced himself to adjust: "Get in."

At this moment, she had no time nor mood for a bath.

"Young Master Sterling, we still have unresolved matters between us."

"We can talk once you’re in."

Ethan was very straightforward.

Seraphina didn’t hesitate either; Ethan underestimated her too much.

Ethan left no room for arguments, reaching out directly to push her into the pool.

Seraphina reacted quickly, already starting to dodge, but Ethan seemed to have anticipated this, showing no hesitation before pushing her into the pool.

Ethan’s push landed on her back, precisely where she fell while grappling with some men-in-black earlier today.

Seraphina had no strength left to resist, slipped in pain, and fell straight into the pool.

She slowly sunk to the bottom.

It was a familiar feeling, akin to being back in a forbidden zone, where one could neither live nor die at sea.

The next instant, she instinctively emerged from the water, gasping, her hair now wet and dripping.

She shook her head vigorously, splattering water all over Ethan’s trousers.

The pool wasn’t deep; her posture was just wrong, which made her choke.

In the water, she turned around and saw Ethan standing by the pool, his gaze pinned on her.

The sight of her drenched, with her dress clinging to her well-defined body, added a touch of allure; a deep look flashed in Ethan’s eyes.

A moment later, he dragged a lounge chair to the poolside and sat leisurely, "Stay in there and enjoy. My mother put quite the effort into researching this pool. Who knows how many people went bankrupt for a chance to soak in it even once? You’re quite lucky."

This was no ordinary hot spring.

Seraphina realized just now that Ethan intentionally let her feel pain, indicating she had more than just a surface wound—she was injured internally too, thus he brought her here.

Ethan indeed had good intentions.

Seraphina stopped struggling to get out; this was a rare opportunity not to squander.

"You just said you wanted to resolve matters? Speak." ɪꜰ ʏᴏᴜ ᴡᴀɴᴛ ᴛᴏ ʀᴇᴀᴅ ᴍᴏʀᴇ ᴄʜᴀᴘᴛᴇʀs, ᴘʟᴇᴀsᴇ ᴠɪsɪᴛ novel⸺fire.net

Ethan watched Seraphina, his face expressionless.

Seraphina walked to a spot in the pool directly facing Ethan, raised her towel-wrapped hand away from the water, and slowly met his penetrating gaze: "I’m Seraphina Redgrave, female, an adopted daughter of Jonathan Redgrave, Councilman Redgrave’s surrogate for Mia Redgrave. Mia was predicted at birth not to live past eighteen, so I, who was born under the same celestial sign, was adopted to die in her place. On the day I came of age, I was thrown into a forbidden land; the identity and ailment were forcibly assigned to me by Jonathan Redgrave."

Ethan wasn’t particularly concerned, even stretching lazily.

"After you rescued me, I plan to take action against the Redgrave Family. You saved me; I should have explained the situation to you..."