Chapter 23\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cEthan!\u201d Natalie was pinned beneath him, stunned as she looked up into his pain-twisted face, his skin scorched, flames dancing across his back. The smell of burning flesh filled her\u00a0<\/p>\n
nose.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Rescue workers rushed in, dousing the flames on his back with a fire extinguisher.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Ethan\u2019s back was charred and blackened-too horrific to look at.\u00a0<\/p>\n
The agony nearly made him pass out, but he held on. The first thing he did was grip Natalie\u2019s arm, scanning her up and down in a panic. \u201cAre\u2026are you okay? Did you get hurt?\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
His voice was weak but filled with unmistakable worry.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Natalie stared at his ruined back, at the cold sweat dotting his brow from enduring the pain, and at the worry in his eyes. She opened her mouth but nothing came out.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Just then, Derek ran up-he\u2019d gone to check on another area and only rushed back when he heard the commotion. Seeing Ethan\u2019s injuries and how Natalie had been protected, his expression was complicated. But he quickly helped the rescue workers lift Ethan onto a\u00a0<\/p>\n
stretcher.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Ethan was rushed to the hospital.\u00a0<\/p>\n
The diagnosis: massive, deep burns all across his back, plus severe smoke inhalation. His condition was critical. He was taken straight to the ICU.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Natalie and Derek waited outside.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Derek glanced at Natalie\u2019s pale face and tight lips, and patted her shoulder gently. \u201cDon\u2019t worry, he\u2019ll be alright.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
Natalie didn\u2019t answer. She just kept her eyes on the closed doors of the ICU, her thoughts impossible to read.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Ethan spent the next two days fighting for his life.\u00a0<\/p>\n
His fever spiked again and again, and his mind drifted in and out. Through the glass, Natalie saw him once-tubes everywhere, his skin gray and lifeless, looking like the slightest touch\u00a0<\/p>\n
would break him.\u00a0<\/p>\n
During rare moments of clarity, he\u2019d clutch the nurse\u2019s hand with all his strength. The words that tumbled out-over and over-weren\u2019t about pain or begging for help, but broken whispers:\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m sorry\u2026 Natalie\u2026 run\u2026 it\u2019s dangerous\u2026 I\u2019m sorry\u2026\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
Chapter 23\u00a0<\/p>\n
The nurse brought these words out to Natalie.\u00a0<\/p>\n
She stood outside his room, listening to the steady beep of medical machines and the blurred sound of Ethan\u2019s mumbled apologies, lost in silence.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Ethan lay in bed, every breath pulling agony from the burns on his back, each breath tugging at the dull ache in his chest. But worse than his body was his heart-caught in an endless loop of torment.\u00a0<\/p>\n
He couldn\u2019t forget her cold, final words-\u201cNo need\u201d-spinning like a curse in his mind.\u00a0<\/p>\n
He knew-no normal apology, no confession, not even saving her life could move her now.\u00a0<\/p>\n
He needed a gamble, something absolute, to risk his life for even the tiniest sliver of a chance.\u00a0<\/p>\n
He remembered where everything started -that old riding club. Everything began with his carefully planned \u201cknight-saving-the-damsel\u201d act.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Maybe that was the place to end it, too.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Still injured, he ignored his doctor\u2019s furious protests and forced his way out of the hospital.\u00a0<\/p>\n
He used up his last connections to find the owner of that club and reserved the entire arena.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Then, he sent Natalie a message. Just an address and a time-no extra words.\u00a0<\/p>\n
He bet that, maybe, she\u2019d be curious about a place so full of bitter irony.\u00a0<\/p>\n
That day, the weather was gray-just like the day they first met.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Ethan stood at the center of the empty riding arena, wearing thin hospital clothes with a coat thrown over, his face ghostly pale. The wind whipped his messy black hair, making him look more lost and desperate.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Natalie showed up.\u00a0<\/p>\n
She wore smart pants and a long trench coat, walking with calm, measured steps. She stopped several yards away and watched him, her gaze cool and unreadable-as if she was just an onlooker to a show that had nothing to do with her.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cYou\u2019re here.\u201d Ethan\u2019s voice was hoarse, with a faint tremor.\u00a0<\/p>\n
He looked at her-his eyes full of despair and a nearly mad obsession. \u201cNatalie, I know\u2014 nothing I say will ever make you believe me again.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
He took a shaky breath and pointed toward the familiar, newly reinforced fence at the end of the arena.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cYou love freedom. I\u2019m the one who clipped your wings. Now I\u2019m giving you my life.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
Chapter 23\u00a0<\/p>\n
3\/3\u00a0<\/p>\n
He didn\u2019t wait for a reply. He turned and headed for the stables.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Waiting for him there, just as he\u2019d ordered, was the wildest, most unbreakable purebred horse in the club. The horse pawed at the ground anxiously, nostrils flaring, eyes blazing with wildness.\u00a0<\/p>\n
With stiff, painful movements, Ethan hauled himself onto the horse, clenching his jaw hard enough to draw blood. He yanked the reins tight, gripped the animal with his knees.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cGo!\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
The horse let out a long, shrill cry and shot forward like an arrow from a bow-straight toward the fence at the end of the arena!\u00a0<\/p>\n
Wind howled in Ethan\u2019s ears as he lowered his body against the horse\u2019s neck, his gaze locked straight ahead-not acting, not slowing for a second.\u00a0<\/p>\n
He really meant it. He was ready to throw everything away, reliving that old scene for her- but this time, not to deceive, but to atone!\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cIf this time\u2026 I still can\u2019t get your forgiveness\u2026\u201d His voice was shattered by the wind, tinged with madness and resolve. \u201cThen let\u2019s end it right here\u2026\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
As the horse thundered toward the solid barrier, disaster was only a heartbeat away.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Natalie, who\u2019d been coldly watching all along, suddenly froze.\u00a0<\/p>\n
She stared at Ethan\u2019s retreating, never-looking-back figure-saw the look on his face, the\u00a0<\/p>\n
way he\u2019d abandoned all hope, on the brink of madness. Her heart clenched as if some invisible hand was crushing it.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Three years ago, he\u2019d appeared like a god, saving\u2019s her-only to push her into ruin.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Now, he was about to destroy himself for her sake, full of regret.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Chapter 24\u00a0<\/p>\n
Chapter 24\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cEthan Fletcher-!\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
A piercing scream echoed through the empty arena!\u00a0<\/p>\n
Almost as soon as Natalie screamed, Ethan used the last bit of his strength and yanked the\u00a0<\/p>\n
reins hard.\u00a0<\/p>\n
The horse let out a pained scream, its front hooves flailing in the air, nearly crashing through the fence-but at the very last second, it stopped, less than half a yard from disaster.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Ethan was thrown from the saddle by the sudden force and crashed onto the grass.\u00a0<\/p>\n
He lay there, coughing so hard his whole body shook. The wound on his back must have split open again-fresh blood seeping through his coat. But he couldn\u2019t care less. He forced his head up, his face covered in dirt and bits of grass, tears streaming without restraint. He looked toward Natalie, like a child awaiting judgment-despair and a faint, fragile hope mingling in his eyes as he gazed at her.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Natalie stood frozen, her chest rising and falling, face as pale as paper.\u00a0<\/p>\n
That moment of terror left her trembling from head to toe.\u00a0<\/p>\n
She looked at Ethan lying on the ground, like a broken doll, the pleading in his eyes laid bare. And suddenly, all the hurt, anger, pain, and injustice she\u2019d bottled up over the past three years\u00a0<\/p>\n
flooded out at once.\u00a0<\/p>\n
She charged at him-not graceful or composed as usual, but with a force that felt like the world was collapsing.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Natalie stopped right in front of Ethan. She didn\u2019t help him up. She raised her hand and, using every ounce of strength, slapped him hard across the face!\u00a0<\/p>\n
Smack! The sharp sound cut through the quiet arena.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cEthan Fletcher! You bastard! You lunatic!\u201d Natalie\u2019s voice broke, trembling with years of pent -up pain. \u201cYou think I\u2019ll forgive you just because you did this? Dream on!\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
She screamed and sobbed, raining blows down on his shoulders and chest-her fists weak, but full of all the pain she needed to let out.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cI hate you! I hate you to death! How could you do this to me? How could you frame me over and over? How could you make a fool of me again and again? And all for Vivian Grant-how could you humiliate me like that? Do you have any idea how much it hurt? Do you know what that dove meant to me? Do you know how much skin graft surgery hurts? Do you know I nearly died in that holding cell? Do you know how cold it felt to hear you say I\u2019d \u2018survive\u201d?\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
Woke Up and Left the Cage of My Marriage 23 Chapter 23\u00a0 \u201cEthan!\u201d Natalie was pinned beneath him, stunned as […]<\/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-20189","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\/20189","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=20189"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/20189\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=20189"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=20189"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=20189"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}