Chapter 50 Hurt
“Audrey, I don’t have time to waste on your little pity act!”
Audrey looked up in shock. Her lips tightened as she stared at Theodore’s cold, sharp features. “You don’t have to worry about
me.”
“Not worry about you? So you can turn around and complain to Grandpa?”
Audrey opened her mouth to explain, but then thought better of it. It wouldn’t matter anyway. Theodore would never believe. her. A wave of helplessness choked her, sharp and stifling.
Seeing her silence, Theodore thought he had called her out. He lost patience and yanked her toward him. “Audrey, I warned. you about those tricks. Wait, you’re hurt?”
The phone’s flashlight illuminated Audrey’s face, so pale it was almost translucent.
Audrey pulled her hand back without a word, slowly moving along the railing.
Theodore’s earlier pull had worsened the pain that had just started to subside. She didn’t have the strength to respond.
“Audrey!” Theodore stared at her frail back, feeling like
something had hit him hard in the chest. He grabbed her wrist instinctively. “If you were hurt, why didn’t you say anything from the start?”
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Audrey stopped, glancing at her wrist in his grip. She didn’t have the energy or desire to pull away. With a smile, she asked, “If I had said something, would you have believed me?”
The answer was obvious.
Theodore met her gaze. Those clear almond eyes, where even the sarcasm was plain to see.
His expression darkened, and he let her go.
Audrey hadn’t been expecting an answer. When he released her, she continued forward. After just one step, she suddenly felt weightless. Theodore had swept her into his arms.
Out of the corner of his eye, Theodore glanced down at her, frowning.
How could this woman be so light? Had she not been eating?
“Theodore, you…”
“Shut up. If you say one more word, I won’t hesitate to finish what we didn’t last night!” Theodore snapped. His face was dark with irritation, not wanting to hear another sound from her.
Remembering how he’d humiliated her on the sofa the night before, Audrey’s face paled. She didn’t doubt for a second that Theodore meant it. Her lips pressed tightly together, and even her breathing softened.
By the time the Maybach pulled into the underground garage of Kingwood Villa, the rain had finally lessened.
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Once the car stopped, Audrey unbuckled her seatbelt, ready to get out. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Theodore doing the
same.
She paused and asked calmly, “Are you staying the night at Kingwood Villa?”
She wasn’t surprised by her own question.
After all, Theodore rarely came back here, and he rarely stayed the night. Didn’t Ava just get discharged this morning? Shouldn’t he be with her, comforting her?
“Where I stay is none of your business,” Theodore said flatly, staring at her intently. “Are you afraid I’ll come back and catch. her doing something shady behind me?”
Audrey had always felt that his gaze was aggressive, like he could see right through her.
“No,” she replied.
The image of that photo flashed in her mind again.”
Theodore narrowed his eyes and warned coldly, “You’d better be telling the truth.”
Audrey looked away, saying nothing, then got out of the car and headed straight for the elevator without looking back.
******
After nearly a day and night without rest and the shock she’d experienced, Audrey fell into a deep sleep not long after taking
Chapter 50 Hurt
medicine.
She slept until morning, only waking when the alarm rang.
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She tried to sit up but immediately regretted it, pulling at her injured lower back. The pain made her gasp, and it took her a while before she could finally get out of bed and walk to the
closet.
She had been too exhausted last night to check how bad her
injury was.
That tug just now hurt even worse than last night. It had probably gotten worse from being left untreated overnight.
Standing in front of the full–length mirror, Audrey lifted her nightgown, turning to see the reflection. A large, dark bruise covered the right side of her lower back, stark against her pale
skin.
Audrey sighed.
Her skin rarely scarred, but any bruise or mark took forever to fade. Last time, it had taken almost a week for the red marks on her wrist from Theodore’s grip to disappear. This bruise was much worse. It would take at least half a month to heal.
“Mrs. Ainsworth, are you awake? Breakfast is ready,” Hazel called through the door after knocking twice.
Audrey let the fabric fall and answered, quickly changing clothes. before walking out of the closet.
Just as she was about to open the door, something caught her
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It definitely hadn’t been there before she went to bed last night.
She picked it up and opened it. A brand–new tube of ointment fell into her hand.
