Chapter 804: New Love

Not long after Adrian Hawthorne left, Bernice was subjected to a fresh wave of torment. It was still early morning, leaving plenty of time before Adrian’s eleven o’clock deadline. With time to kill, the thugs naturally had to find a way to entertain themselves. Bruised by their earlier humiliation at Adrian’s hands, the hooligans needed a punching bag to vent their frustrations on. Bernice was the obvious candidate. Curled up on the freezing concrete, she wept tears of utter despair.

What was she going to do? She had thought she would live a life of luxury and become the envied Mrs. Hawthorne. Yet, before she could even reach the pinnacle, she had plummeted back into the dirt, coated in a thick layer of grime she might never wash off. Ethan Hawthorne would undoubtedly be repulsed by her. The man balked at even a minor scar on her hand; he would certainly never tolerate the fact that she had been defiled by street thugs and paraded in public.

Who on earth was trying to destroy her? She didn’t recognize the unfamiliar voice from earlier. It had sounded like a young man, but Bernice was absolutely certain she had never heard it before.

Meanwhile, Jacqueline Spann hadn’t slept a wink all night. Neither her aunt nor her uncle had returned. It was normal for her uncle to stay out late, but her aunt had explicitly promised to come home for dinner. Yet she still wasn’t back, and she hadn’t even bothered to call. The unease in Jacqueline’s chest deepened. She wanted to go out and look for her aunt, but she had no idea where to start. Tristone was a sprawling city, and her aunt hadn’t mentioned her destination.

Jacqueline could only pray that her aunt was safe and would return soundly. Bernice was her sole pillar of support; if anything happened to her, Jacqueline would be thrust back into a life of hardship. Her father, Vernon Spann, was completely unreliable. She harbored no illusions about the kind of man he was.

While Jacqueline worried, Ethan Hawthorne had spent the entire night with his new lover. He had met her just a few days prior: a young woman in her early thirties named Wendy Hughes. Reportedly divorced, she lived with her mother and stepfather, enduring daily mistreatment. Naturally, Wendy’s looks couldn’t compare to his wife, Rosalind Green. There were truly few women in the world as stunning as Rosalind. Ethan had resolved to marry her the very first time he laid eyes on her.

However, even the most exquisite delicacies grew tiresome over time. It was like feasting on shark fin and abalone every single day—eventually, one would crave a simple bowl of porridge and some pickled greens. Besides, every woman carried her own unique flavor. Ethan took immense pleasure in discovering those nuances. He had already grown thoroughly bored of Bernice. Initially, he had taken a liking to her for her shrewd competence, finding her looks merely passable. But now that her sharp edge had dulled, she simply didn’t appeal to him anymore.

Then he crossed paths with Wendy. Though she lacked Rosalind’s breathtaking beauty, she was still remarkably striking. Moreover, she possessed a natural, flirtatious charm coupled with innocent, guileless eyes. The stark contrast between seductiveness and purity within the same woman created a distinctly intoxicating allure. Ethan was captivated from their very first meeting and immediately resolved to make her his. He had anticipated a challenge, but she had taken the bait at his first pass. He promptly rented a courtyard house, a gilded cage to hide his new mistress. He had spent all his recent nights there, and at least for now, he hadn’t grown tired of her company.

“Darling… why don’t you stay today?” Wendy murmured, leaning seductively against Ethan. Her slender fingertips gently traced the contours of his chest. Her voice was so velvety and alluring it could turn a man’s bones to jelly. “I want to cook for you. I’m a really good cook, you know.”

How could any man bear to walk away from such an invitation? Yet, Ethan could. Though driven by lust, he was never blinded by infatuation. He knew exactly what he wanted. To him, women would never be the most important thing in the world.