Chapter 6 Preparations

"Three days. I still have three days." Christine whispered to herself, and then fainted by the foot of the stairs. Her body had grown weak from hunger and the wound she got from Wesley.

The past few days had already exhausted her to the core.

When Christine woke up again, she found herself trapped in her room. There were several bodyguards posted outside her door. They blocked entry into her room, and prevented her from leaving.

The feeling of being isolated from the world was not too bad, but she was in a bad mood thinking she was going to marry Wesley in three days.

Thinking of her situation, Christine missed Barrett even more.

'I don't know where Barrett is now. How is he doing? If only he were here.'

Christine's mind was in shambles. She wanted to hear news about Barrett, but she was a little scared. On one hand, she was threatened by her father, and on the other hand, she was regretful for losing her virginity carelessly.

'I'm not a virgin now. What will Barrett think if he knows? Will he think I'm a slut?'

When it came to Barrett, Christine would lose her cool.

Nathan feared the Helian family and felt sorry for his daughter. After all, she had barely eaten anything for days. If something went awfully wrong, he could not justify himself to Karl and Wesley.

Although he had told his daughter not to eat today, in the end, what mattered most was to curry favor with the Helian family.

Nathan called Vivian and said, "Send the leftovers to Christine. Don't let her starve to death." His voice was so loud as if he was intentionally making himself heard in the entire house.

When she heard her father's booming voice, Christine sneered in her heart.

She found it funny that her father did not want to starve her to death. He was clearly afraid of offending the Helian family if anything untoward happened to her. Otherwise, he would have been looking forward to her death.

Vivian brought a bowl of food to Christine's room, but she was stopped by the bodyguards. "You're not allowed to enter. Give me the bowl and I'll bring it to her," one of the bodyguards muttered and took the bowl from her hands.

The door opened and a burly guard walked in, food tray in hand. He placed it on the bedside table and left unceremoniously.

Christine looked at the food and felt sick. She smashed the bowl on the floor, and the porcelain bowl instantly broke into pieces.

"Even if I starve to death, I won't eat your food. If worse comes to worst, we will perish together!" Christine screamed her heart out. She had been suffering for days in Nathan's hand.

Christine's spirit was indomitable, but her body was not that strong.

She had barely eaten anything these past few days. No matter how strong her body was, she could not bear it for so long.

Christine was so hungry that she fainted. But it did not seem to be a big deal in the Ji family. If she was gone, Nathan had another daughter to spare.

When he heard Christine's defiant scream, he grew worried. After all, she was going to be a member of the Helian family. If she really died before the wedding, it would be troublesome.

So Nathan came to her room, and found Christine sprawled face down on the floor, seemingly unconscious.

"Don't play dead. Get up!" Nathan kicked Christine, but she was unresponsive. Nathan suddenly felt a little flustered. This was not looking good at all.

He bent over and checked her vital signs. Fortunately, she was still breathing, but barely. If it were not for the fact that she was to marry into the Helian family, he had no intention of saving her at all.

Looking at her unconscious expression, he was reminded of Christine's mother. However, his daughter had no trace of gentleness in her being.

'If only you could be obedient, Christine. Your beauty would have been an asset to our family. But you're so defiant. If you hadn't hooked up with Wesley, I wouldn't save you today,' Nathan thought to himself while looking at the woman lying on the floor.

He called the bodyguards in and together, they brought her to the hospital.

Karl had an impressive network. As soon as Christine entered the hospital, he received the news.

He handpicked her to be his granddaughter-in-law. He was also aware that his grandson harbored animosity towards this young woman, and now that she was hospitalized, he immediately suspected him.

Karl's walking stick almost made a hole on the floor. He was so angry that he demanded to his secretary to find Wesley as soon as possible.

Before entering the room, Wesley received a tip about what happened to Christine from a servant. He walked in Karl's room with a gloomy face.

Karl hit Wesley's back with his crutch and yelled, "She is your woman now. You must be tender to her! Right now, she's in the hospital. Get out of here and apologize to her."

Looking at his grandfather's angry, but heavily-wrinkled face, Wesley could not will himself to disobey him. After all, he was already so old.

"Okay, I'll go now."

Stepping out of the gate, Wesley felt a little annoyed. "This woman is really troublesome."

Meanwhile, in the hospital, Christine just woke up. She found herself alone in the huge ward, so she had to fetch her own drinking water despite feeling weak.

All that time, she thought it would be great if she did not have to be bound to the Ji family. It would be great if she did not have anything to do with Wesley. If only she could be with Barrett. 'In three days, I have to steal my passport, so I can leave my family behind, and escape this accursed marriage. I want to find Barrett.'

While Christine was immersed in her beautiful fantasy, she did not notice a figure entering her room.

"Are you so eager to marry me? Why can you smile so creepily while drinking water?" Staring at Christine's pale face, Wesley did not feel pity, but disgust.

Her wonderful daydream was ruthlessly interrupted. Hearing what Wesley said, Christine felt deeply disgusted as well. But, she assessed her situation carefully; she was alone in the room with a healthy, grown man, and in her weakened state, was no match for him. She swallowed her anger and remained silent.

But Christine's silence did not stop Wesley from mocking her even more.

"I heard that you were on a hunger strike. Why didn't you kill yourself a little more thoroughly? Do you want to gain sympathy by doing this?"

Again, the air was still.

"If you want to kill yourself, just crawl into some corner and die quietly. Don't bother me; I hate seeing your face."

Wesley continuously challenged Christine's patience, and she finally snapped.

Due to the phone call, Christine discovered Wesley's weakness. In the past, retorting back at him would only elicit a mild annoyance, but now she was able to stab through his heart steadily and ruthlessly.

She rehearsed every word in her mind, sharpening the blades that could pierce his soul. 'Aren't you worried about your lover? You can't find your sweetheart, right? Aren't you afraid that she will be heartbroken if she knows that you're going to marry me?'

"Wesley, you have so much time. Don't you need to look for your lover?

It seems that your lover is very miserable now. What? Have you forgotten her so soon?

You're going to marry me. Is your lover so tolerant and generous?"

Christine was also ruthless enough, and judging by the grimace on Wesley's face, she knew she had dealt some serious damage.

But in Wesley's eyes, she was courting death.

Christine knew how important Jessica was in Wesley's heart. She also bet that no matter how angry Wesley was, he would not risk his beloved woman's life to kill her.