Love On Ice: Don’t Leave Me, My Charming Liar

Chapter 420: He had christened it Maple Cloud, a name that carried a whisper of its predecessor's legacy. Stepping inside, Ethan set his suit jacket down on the sofa, the garment folding into the quiet, cozy decor of the home. Yet, the silence wasn't peaceful-it pressed against him, heavy and suffocating, like a storm brewing just beyond the horizon. He sank into the sofa, the villa's eerie stillness swallowing the hours as he sat through the night, his thoughts spiraling endlessly in the void.

When Keith arrived the next morning, the sight of Ethan, motionless and worn, caught him off guard. "What's going on with you?" Keith exclaimed, his voice breaking the oppressive quiet like the first clap of thunder. "I've been calling you-ten times at least! You didn't pick up once. I thought something had happened to you!" Keith held up a bottle of whiskey like a peace offering. Ethan, still seated on the sofa, looked like a man caught between exhaustion and an unsettling clarity-a storm in the guise of calm. "Why are you here again?

Drink?" Keith asked, setting two glasses down and pouring without waiting for a response. Ethan leaned back, taking the glass in his hand. He sipped it slowly, his voice gravelly from the weight of the night. "What did you find out?" Keith arched an eyebrow, a playful smirk tugging at the corner of his lips. "Straight to the point, as always. Can't a friend drop by just because he missed you?" Ethan's silence was answer enough. Keith shrugged and relented. "Fine, fine. There's chatter from overseas, and... news about Hayes." Ethan's eyes flicked toward him, sharper now.

"Hayes is back in Ulares," Keith said, swirling his drink as though it held answers. "He came alone, which makes me..." "Think something happened to his companion?" Lㆀ$† ¢∆þŧëяş ¡η Ġ@lnøνêlş.¢ø₥ "Where has he been?" Ethan asked, his voice steady but weighted with meaning. "He's been to a cemetery, visited the old Green villa, stopped by Claudine's old residence, and even checked out a neighborhood. Maybe he's house-hunting?" Keith speculated. But Ethan clearly wasn't convinced by this theory. His gaze bored into Keith, making him squirm under its intensity. "What?

Did I say something wrong?" Keith asked, setting his glass down with a nervous chuckle. Ethan's reply was quiet, but it landed like a thunderclap. "Nyla is back." Keith looked at Ethan, his eyes wide, questioning whether he had misheard. "What did you just say?" He touched his ears, struggling to grasp the reality. Yet, Ethan's serious demeanor convinced him. "She's alive? Then what was her reason back then? We found out it was Stella who broke into the villa, but who started the fire? Was it actually Nyla?" At that time, Ethan had concealed everything.

The investigators confirmed that Nyla was deceased, and there was no evidence to suggest what really happened. The true events remained shrouded in mystery. . . .