Chapter 28\u00a0<\/p>\n
In the end, he still found out Natalie and Derek\u2019s whereabouts, but only by using shady connections and paying a heavy price.\u00a0<\/p>\n
They had taken a private jet to Iceland, checking in at a secluded and extravagantly expensive glass house hotel near J\u00f6kuls\u00e1rl\u00f3n Glacier Lagoon in southern Iceland.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Ethan didn\u2019t waste a second. He rented an off-road car and sped toward them, still in his thin suit, too frantic to even pick up a proper winter coat. Outside the car windows, a blizzard raged, visibility was nearly zero, and the roads were slick.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Ethan pressed the gas pedal to the floor. The car slid dangerously on the icy road, but he didn\u2019t care. There was only one thing on his mind: catch up with her. Stop her.\u00a0<\/p>\n
He drove for hours, rattled by the rough road and flirting with death at every turn. When the world was swallowed by polar night and his bones ached from exhaustion and cold, he finally saw it-the hotel rising from the empty plains.\u00a0<\/p>\n
The hotel was made up of several separate glass-domed cabins, like crystal balls scattered on black velvet, their beauty under the polar night sky almost unreal.\u00a0<\/p>\n
But the most piercing sight was outside one of the domes. Two people, huddled close in the snowdrifts, their matching long white down coats blending them into the landscape, looking\u00a0<\/p>\n
for all the world like creatures of the snow.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Natalie was wrapped in Derek\u2019s arms. Together, they stared up at the night.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Tonight, the weather was clear-no blizzard, just a deep blue sky. The aurora burst across it, green, purple, and pink ribbons swirling elegantly, like a goddess\u2019s skirts. The scene was so beautiful it seemed like a movie poster, yet to Ethan, it was a red-hot blade stabbing deep into his heart and twisting cruelly.\u00a0<\/p>\n
He flung open the car door and nearly fell out, stumbling to the ground.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Days of sleeplessness, nerves stretched taut, his body wracked by freezing cold and weakness -he could hardly stay upright.\u00a0<\/p>\n
He lurched forward, stumbling through the knee-deep snow toward those two figures.\u00a0<\/p>\n
His shoes were already soaked, icy water seeping into his pant legs, the biting cold crawling up his body-but he felt none of it.\u00a0<\/p>\n
He saw only the woman who drove him mad with love and hate.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cNatalie!\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
Chapter 28\u00a0<\/p>\n
His voice was ragged and raw, slicing through the silent wilderness like a siren.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Natalie Bennett and Derek Lawson both turned.\u00a0<\/p>\n
When Natalie saw Ethan standing there like a beggar, she frowned ever so slightly-a flash of annoyance passing through her eyes before she went cold and calm.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Derek Lawson pulled her protectively behind him, eyes sharp and icy with warning.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Ethan rushed to them and dropped with a thud, straight to his knees in the freezing snow!\u00a0<\/p>\n
The snow instantly soaked through to his knees, the cold biting so sharply he shivered, but he didn\u2019t notice at all.\u00a0<\/p>\n
He looked up, face streaked with snot and tears and dirt-an absolute wreck.\u00a0<\/p>\n
He reached out, clutching the hem of Natalie Bennett\u2019s coat as if it were his last lifeline. His voice was broken, shaking with desperation and pleading.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cNatalie\u2026 I was wrong\u2026 I really know I was wrong\u2026 I can\u2019t live without you\u2026 I really can\u2019t\u2026\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
Fumbling, he pulled a small velvet box from his inside pocket, hands shaking so badly he could barely open it. Inside was the wedding ring-warped and charred, but always close to his\u00a0<\/p>\n
heart.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cLook\u2026 your ring\u2026 I\u2019ve kept it all this time\u2026 I never forgot you\u2026\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
Suddenly frantic, he stammered, \u201cThe Fletcher family! I\u2019ll give you everything! My whole life, everything I have-I don\u2019t want any of it, I only want you\u2026 Natalie, come back\u2026 please come back to me\u2026\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
Derek stared down at the pitiful, groveling man before him, eyes colder than the Icelandic night. He didn\u2019t spare an ounce of pity, only disdain.\u00a0<\/p>\n
He lifted his boot and kicked Ethan\u2019s hand off Natalie\u2019s coat without mercy. Instantly, angry red welts sprang up on Ethan\u2019s knuckles.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cEthan Fletcher,\u201d Derek Lawson said, voice colder than the wind, \u201cYour love is cheap and pathetic. Too late, and filthy. Look at yourself-this is all you\u2019re good for: making Natalie sick.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
Ethan seemed not to hear him. His bloodshot eyes never left Natalie Bennett, still begging for even the smallest hint of feeling.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Finally, Natalie Bennett spoke.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Woke Up and Left the Cage of My Marriage 28 Chapter 28\u00a0 In the end, he still found out Natalie […]<\/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-20194","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\/20194","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=20194"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/20194\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=20194"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=20194"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=20194"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}