The Enticing CEO’s Chosen Bride

Chapter 2063

Lana immediately requested another meeting with her. "Why? Why did it turn out this way? Did you deceive me too?"

Holding the receiver, Cicely looked into Lana's distraught face and whispered softly, "Lana, he won't let me go."

"You could have left with me!"

Cicely closed her eyes and shook her head slightly, "Don't you understand yet, Lana? With me, you wouldn't have made it out."

"Although I may have been a bit of a scatterbrain in everyday life, I still have my wits about me. My mother was smart, my father was wise, and I was never meant to be a fool.

“I spent three days in detention. With the Ellis family's influence, how could they not manage even to get me out? Someone is aiding Seth, someone with far more power than the Ellis family. Even if I truly made it to the airport with you, he would find a way to block me. As long as he refuses to let me be, I can't escape."d2

Lana suddenly had an epiphany. Indeed, there was that to consider.

"But why wouldn't you let me help you? Why didn't you let me find out what was happening to you."

"He won't let me die, so he definitely will look into my situation, and he might learn from you. You would be under his surveillance. I don't want him to know anything about me. Using these three years to make him completely forget me is perfect. Only then might I have a chance at true freedom after I get out."

Lana was stunned, lost for words. This child, what had she been thinking? How could she be so incredibly meticulous?

"Lana, I am responsible for the deaths of Dad and Issac. These three years, let them be my penance for the lives lost."

"It's not your fault, Cicely."

Cicely shook her head, "It is my fault, all my fault. Three years for two lives, it's too short, Lana, far too short."

Lana covered her mouth, tears streaming down her face, unable to utter a single word.

"Lana, let's leave it at that. You should head back soon. Please, really, don't worry about me. I'll be fine in here. I won't see you out. I wish you Godspeed."

After saying this, Cicely smiled at Lana and then hung up the phone.

For several days afterward, Seth repeatedly requested to see her, but she refused each time.

Cicely began serving her sentence. Life in prison was tough. She really couldn't adapt at all.

She had been pampered since birth, a true princess in a tower. Her bed had to be the softest, her clothes the most comfortable, her meals of the highest quality. Everything she used had to be top- notch; she couldn't lift a finger or shoulder a burden. She didn't have to do anything; everything was laid out before her.

She had been raised to be "useless,” but no one ever said she had it bad. Everyone envied her.

If it weren't for her own foolishness, she could've lived carefree as "useless" for her whole life.

Why? Because Creighton had the confidence, and so did the Ellis family.

Even if Cicely squandered their wealth for ten generations, the Ellis family could still afford her. A daughter is born to be cherished, especially the daughter of Creighton and Millie.

Then Millie died, and Creighton too. Their daughter Cicely could still continue living the life everyone envied, but their daughter didn't turn out as heartless as they had hoped.

She felt guilty, she blamed herself, and she was using three years of imprisonment to punish herself for every wrong choice she had made.

Their daughter, Cicely, was the kindest, most well-behaved, and most heart-wrenching girl in the world.

*

As expected, Cicely found she was being given special treatment. Her meals were different from the others', so she tossed the food away, refusing to eat or drink for three days until her meals returned to normal.

Cicely was assigned to a solitary cell with new, soft bedding, which she promptly drenched in water. When new bedding arrived, she soaked it again. After three nights on the hard cot, standard prison bedding was restored.

Cicely was frequently in the guards' spotlight, receiving subtle care and favoritism. Sometimes they took photos, sometimes they recorded videos. In one video, she smashed a bowl and staged a suicide attempt by cutting her wrists.

Charlie, terrified, showed the video to Seth.

After watching it, Seth's eyes, dark and cold, seemed as if they might erupt in fury at any moment. He watched the video over and over, then suddenly let out a cold laugh.

He deleted the video completely. "Arrange a visit."

Charlie hesitated, "But she won't agree."

"One last time. Then let her be."

Seth picked up his phone with a calm and detached demeanor.

*

Cicely did indeed see him one last time.

Separated by a visiting glass, they looked at each other calmly. Finally, Cicely spoke first. "What did you want to tell me?"

Seth didn't respond, just locked eyes with her placidly. This text is © NôvelDrama/.Org.

Cicely frowned, "If you won't speak, I'll leave."

That seemed to elicit a reaction from Seth. He smirked, still fixated on her face, "Life or death. Shall we never meet again?"

That was all Seth said during the visit. Then he left.

Cicely sat in the chair for a long while, eventually letting out a cold laugh. This man's need for revenge was strong and juvenile.

She had fooled him a few times, and now he was using such a childish method to get back at her. It was almost beneath him.

*

"Cancel all special arrangements. From now on, I don't want to hear anything about her."

Charlie, who was driving, was taken aback, "But it's still a prison."

Seth looked ahead with an indifferent expression and tone. "Living is better than dying. She won."

*

Like all newcomers, Cicely couldn't escape the bullying from the old-timers.

She’s locked in the bathroom and drenched in dirty water.

Her food was spat in.

She cleaned up only to have trash deliberately thrown in her path.

Her few product pieces from the work detail were sabotaged in the shadows.

Cicely had never been one to hold back, but she was carrying a child. Those women were capable of anything. She had seen them drag another woman covered in soap across the bathroom floor, laughing wickedly behind their hands.

All alone, she couldn't stand against them. She was pregnant. So, for the first time in her life, she learned what it meant to yield. It was all for the child growing inside her.

From the moment she discovered the existence of her unborn baby, she was thrown into a whirlwind of panic and confusion. Deep down, she knew she probably shouldn't keep the baby, that it would be the right thing to do. But at that moment, she couldn't bear the thought of letting go. She couldn't let go of the fact that this was her child with Seth.

Eventually, when she felt she had nothing else, the baby became her everything. It seemed all the more reason to hold on to this tiny life. She was aware that she was making excuses to keep the baby, so any reason felt like a good enough reason.

She began to adapt to others' preferences, learning to read between the lines, finding her own ways to survive in this new reality. She needed to get out, to live, not just for herself but for her child.

She’s once the untouchable princess of P City, and the transformation was excruciating—a psychological breakthrough, a compromise of actions. But she had to endure.

And endure she did.

She didn't know how she ended up hanging out with that group of women and then pitying each other.

Why was it that in most relationships, it was the women who ended up hurt?

*

Someone had requested to visit Cicely again. It was a stranger's name. Cicely pursed her lips. Perhaps the person she had been waiting for had finally arrived.

At the visiting window stood a man completely unknown to Cicely. "Ms. Cicely, I am here on behalf of Mr. Harper," the man said.

Cicely nodded. That was it, then. "I have a score to settle with Mr. Harper."

The man nodded in understanding. "Mr. Harper accepts all your accusations and is deeply sorry. He's willing to meet any demands unconditionally."

A wry smile danced on Cicely's lips. Indeed, the Harper family's dominance in P City wasn't without reason.

"Don't worry。 I won't make it too hard for him. I have just one condition: ensure that no one, especially his dear friend, knows anything about my time in jail."

The man nodded. "Of course. You could ask for more, though."

Cicely stood up. "No need."

*

Perhaps the baby sensed that he would be kept, or maybe he felt too much sympathy for Cicely's burdens, or perhaps he inherited Seth's quiet and unassuming nature from the womb. He caused no more trouble.

Creighton’s generous and kindly nature had left Cicely with one last favor.

The warden had once been in Creighton's debt, but a public servant's life wasn't easy, and he couldn't show Cicely blatant favoritism. However, upon learning of Cicely's pregnancy and honoring her request, he arranged for her to serve her sentence under house arrest as discreetly as possible.

Labor pains, heightened by sensitive nerves, nearly claimed Cicely's life. To the seasoned doctors, however, this was a detached observation. Childbirth isn't pain-free for any woman.

It's said that giving birth is like a walk on the edge of the underworld, and Cicely had grazed the nose of the Grim Reaper himself, but upon seeing her child, she felt that it was all worth it.

From that moment on, she had another family member in this world, someone who would never leave her.

Her son.

But, to ensure they would never part in the future, they had to separate temporarily now.

A month later, the baby was sent away, and Cicely gave him a nickname—Hugo.

It was only a temporary separation, just temporary.