I Was His Secret Genius, Now I’m His Biggest Regret Chapter 28

I Was His Secret Genius, Now I’m His Biggest Regret Chapter 28

Night had fallen, and with it came the storm.

Large raindrops struck the pickup’s windshield, at first sparsely, then all at once, becoming a rushing sheet of water. Ethan turned on the wipers, their steady rhythm pushing the rain aside.

The cab was warm. The dashboard glowed with a soft orange light. Upbeat country music played from the speakers, a hoarse male voice singing about freedom and open roads.

Ava leaned back in her seat, watching the nightscape flash past the window, fragmented by rain and headlights. The magnificent sunset on the mountaintop already seemed long ago. But the feeling of openness and freedom had taken root inside her. She was no longer anxious, no longer angry.

The pickup drove steadily down the road, turning toward the distillery.

From a distance, Ava saw the black Mercedes parked outside the distillery gates. In the pouring rain, its body was a glossy black, like a dormant, silent beast.

Through the curtain of rain, two small figures could be faintly seen pressed against the back window, watching the road.

Ethan slowed the truck and turned to look at her. “Do you need me to call the police?” he asked, his voice low.

Ava shook her head. Her gaze swept over the Mercedes without any emotion.

“They’ll give up eventually,” she said softly, her tone flat, as if she were talking about something that had nothing to do with her.

The rain grew heavier, hammering the roof.

Just as the pickup slowly approached the gate, the rear door of the Mercedes was thrown open.

A small figure rushed into the storm.

“Mom!”

It was Daisy. The rain instantly soaked her carefully braided hair, and her expensive cashmere coat clung to her body. Her little leather shoes stepped into muddy puddles, but she didn’t seem to care. She ran straight in front of the pickup, her face, streaked with rain and tears, turned up toward them.

“Mom! Why are you with this man?”

Her cry was sharp and aggrieved, cutting through the heavy rain. “Do you really not want me and Dad and Beau anymore?”

Ava looked down at her through the thick glass of the window.

By the distant car, Clayton stood motionless, a stiff statue. The rain blurred his expression but couldn’t hide the tension radiating from him.

Ethan said nothing. He simply reached out and calmly pressed the window button.

With a faint mechanical sound, the dark window glass rose smoothly. Daisy’s cries and questions were gradually shut out, her voice growing smaller and smaller until, at last, only the soft melody of country music and the dull drumbeat of rain on the roof remained inside the cab.

That silent, protective gesture was like a needle, stabbing into the eyes of the man standing in the rain.