The Paper Wife’s Empire novel Chapter 375

Ethan took her hand and enclosed it in his own. His hand was large enough to completely cover hers, as if he could shield her from all the storms of the world.

“No, you’re wrong. I wouldn’t be fine without you.” Ramona was on the verge of tears. She turned her head away, her denial sharp and brittle. Ethan was right; she would probably never give up, no matter how hard she was hit. But a heart is made of flesh and blood. How could it ever truly heal after being broken so badly? And because she had known him, her world would become a much lonelier place. The scenery would lose its beauty.

“Ramona,” Ethan murmured, his voice even deeper now, “then tell me this. If the danger was aimed directly at me, and you were by my side, would you think of protecting yourself first?”

Ramona opened her mouth to say “I would,” but the words caught in her throat. They would have been a lie. Her instinct, her very first thought, would be to protect him.

Her silence was the only answer he needed.

Ethan chuckled softly. “You see? We’re the same.”

“Protecting the one you love is an instinct… just like you would instinctively want to protect me.”

With no evidence linking the two men to the crime or to the Jordon family, the case hit a dead end. All the police could do was file a report and promise to increase surveillance around the Jordon Group and Ethan’s usual routes.

Ramona and Ethan had expected this outcome. But while the two men might have walked out of the police station, they wouldn’t be leaving Havencrest City. Ethan’s men were waiting for them, and the club they belonged to was shut down under a convenient pretext.

By the afternoon, Ethan received the interrogation results from his own team. The men had broken easily under a few threats. They mentioned an anonymous forum on the dark web: "Dark-Dolphin." They were low-level members who occasionally took on random tasks to earn points.