Chapter 11\u00a0<\/p>\n
Ethan Fletcher was in the middle of a crucial international video conference when word of the explosion at the family estate arrived.\u00a0<\/p>\n
His assistant burst into the room in a panic, forgetting to even knock. The man was white as a sheet, his voice trembling uncontrollably.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cMr. Fletcher\u2026 the mansion\u2026 the estate just exploded!\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
On the other end of the call, executives watched as their always unshakable young leader suddenly shot to his feet. His leather chair scraped sharply across the floor with the force of his movement.\u00a0<\/p>\n
For a split second, the calm on Ethan\u2019s face shattered, and a kind of fear he\u2019d never known \u2014 almost panic-flashed through his deep eyes. \u201cWhat did you say? Exploded? Where\u2019s Natalie?! Wasn\u2019t she there alone today?!\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
He didn\u2019t wait for an answer. He bolted out the door like the wind, leaving a screen full of\u00a0<\/p>\n
stunned faces behind in total silence.\u00a0<\/p>\n
As he ran for the elevator, his voice, usually cold and calm, was now hoarse and desperate as he yelled into his phone, \u201cGet the car! Now! Get me to the estate-fast as you can!\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
The Rolls-Royce tore through city traffic, running every red light. The roar of the engine was like the pounding of a drum-matching his own frantic heartbeat.\u00a0<\/p>\n
A bad feeling twisted in his chest, cold and relentless, as if a snake had wrapped around his\u00a0<\/p>\n
heart.\u00a0<\/p>\n
As the car raced up the winding road to the family mansion, flames shot into the sky and billowing smoke turned half the night red.\u00a0<\/p>\n
The mansion-once a symbol of power, tradition, and rules-was now nothing but a burning\u00a0<\/p>\n
ruin.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Sirens, shouts, and the crashing of collapsing walls all blended together-a scene of utter catastrophe.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Ethan\u2019s car hadn\u2019t even stopped when he pushed open the door and rushed out.\u00a0<\/p>\n
A wave of heat slammed into him, but he barely noticed. His eyes, bloodshot and desperate, locked on the burning ruins. He grabbed the lead bodyguard by the arm, his voice raw, on the edge of breaking. \u201cWhere\u2019s Natalie?! Where is Mrs. Fletcher?!\u201d,\u00a0<\/p>\n
The bodyguard, terrified by a side of Ethan he\u2019d never seen before, stammered out, \u201cMr. Fletcher\u2026 she\u2026 Mrs. Fletcher isn\u2019t here. We, we checked the outside cameras\u2026 Saw her leave\u00a0<\/p>\n
Chapter 11\u00a0<\/p>\n
alone in a cab before the explosion\u2026 Headed to the airport. And\u2026 preliminary investigation shows the explosives\u2026 they might have been planted by Mrs. Fletcher herself.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cThe airport?\u201d Ethan repeated, as if the word made no sense, his heart gripped by an invisible hand, suddenly frozen.\u00a0<\/p>\n
She wasn\u2019t at the scene\u2026 but she went to the airport? And she set the explosion herself?\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cFind out! Now-check every flight leaving South City! Track her down!\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
His command was a near roar, veins bulging at his temples.\u00a0<\/p>\n
But after pulling every possible string and using all his power, the result crushed him.\u00a0<\/p>\n
No flight records for Natalie. No entry or exit logs. It was as if she\u2019d vanished into thin air- gone without a trace. For the first time, Ethan truly understood what it meant to lose something. A cold, empty panic seeped into his bones.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Propped up by her housekeepers, Margaret erupted into a frenzy of sobs and curses. \u201cNatalie\u2026 she\u2019s a curse! A goddamn disaster! She\u2019s going to destroy everything we\u2019ve built! Why has God inflicted a jinx like her upon our family?!\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
O\u00a0<\/p>\n
Relatives crowded around, voices harsh and mean.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cTold you we should never have brought a woman like that is untamable \u2013she has absolutely no regard for our rules!\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cNow she\u2019s blown up the estate-what won\u2019t she do next?!\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cWe have to find her and punish her, no exceptions!\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
As Ethan listened to the flood of vile words, standing before the burned remains of the place that had been their so-called \u2018home,\u2019 flashes of three years ago hit him-the day Natalie crashed her red Ferrari through the gates, standing on the ruins with her chin raised, smiling\u00a0<\/p>\n
at him.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Back then, she was fire-stunning, fearless, so bright she seemed untouchable.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Irritation and resistance roared up in his chest. He spun around, his eyes icy as he cut through the noise with a single, frozen word: \u201cEnough!\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
Silence slammed down. Everyone stared at him, stunned that he\u2019d defend the person they all\u00a0<\/p>\n
blamed.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Ethan took a slow breath, forcing down the strange feeling twisting inside him, regaining control-mostly. His voice, however, still carried a barely suppressed violence. \u201cSearch. I don\u2019t care what it takes-find her. The Fletchers\u2019 reputation will not be ruined like this!\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
After everyone scattered, Ethan stood alone in front of the rubble, the firelight painting\u00a0<\/p>\n
Chapter 11\u00a0<\/p>\n
strange shadows across his face.\u00a0<\/p>\n
3\/3\u00a0<\/p>\n
It was as if he was possessed. Ignoring the guards, he stepped straight into the still-smoking ruins, sifting through burnt debris with his bare hands.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Sharp cement and twisted metal tore his expensive suit and sliced his fingers. Blood mixed with ashes, but he didn\u2019t even flinch.\u00a0<\/p>\n
At last, he reached the spot that had once been the master bedroom. There, in the charred wreckage, he found a scorched, bent ring-the outline just barely recognizable.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Their wedding band.\u00a0<\/p>\n
She\u2026 hadn\u2019t taken it.\u00a0<\/p>\n
He clenched the cold, twisted piece of gold so tightly his knuckles turned white.\u00a0<\/p>\n
A sharp, needle-like pain pierced some hidden corner of his heart, spreading slowly outward.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Woke Up and Left the Cage of My Marriage 11 Chapter 11\u00a0 Ethan Fletcher was in the middle of a […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"site-sidebar-layout":"default","site-content-layout":"","ast-site-content-layout":"default","site-content-style":"default","site-sidebar-style":"default","ast-global-header-display":"","ast-banner-title-visibility":"","ast-main-header-display":"","ast-hfb-above-header-display":"","ast-hfb-below-header-display":"","ast-hfb-mobile-header-display":"","site-post-title":"","ast-breadcrumbs-content":"","ast-featured-img":"","footer-sml-layout":"","ast-disable-related-posts":"","theme-transparent-header-meta":"","adv-header-id-meta":"","stick-header-meta":"","header-above-stick-meta":"","header-main-stick-meta":"","header-below-stick-meta":"","astra-migrate-meta-layouts":"default","ast-page-background-enabled":"default","ast-page-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"ast-content-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-4)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-4)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-4)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"footnotes":""},"categories":[28],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-20177","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-woke-up-and-left-the-cage-of-my-marriage"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/20177","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=20177"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/20177\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=20177"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=20177"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=20177"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}