Chapter 8 A Fever

Wesley went to Ji family's house to invite Christine out so she could pick her wedding dress. But it never occurred to him that she dared to refuse him. It was really out of kindness that he made that suggestion.

How could he even think about wanting to make Christine happy? He began to regret bringing up the topic of the wedding dress. Was he struck dumb by his grandpa's punishment?

At that point, Wesley seriously doubted if he had a mental problem.

Witnessing what happened, Nathan tried to win curry favor with Wesley once again.

When Wesley was about to leave, he heard a loud and crisp sound that echoed throughout the corridor.

Christine was knocked down by Nathan.

"Shame on you, Christine! I don't have an ill-bred daughter like you."

Nathan did not show any signs that he cared about her at all. He was just like a mad dog biting blindly at anyone nearby; it did not help with his image at all.

"Nathan, you're such a rude man. I can't believe you discipline your daughter so ruthlessly in public," Wesley sneered.

Looking at Christine's sprawled figure and the clear palm print on her delicate face, Wesley felt a little more sympathy; he could not help but mutter a snide remark as he stared at Nathan's disgusting face.

Nathan couldn't believe it. What Wesley said was like a slap in his face.

When he heard Wesley criticizing his treatment of Christine, Nathan was left frozen in shock.

He clearly underestimated his daughter's feminine charms. He never expected she was so good at seducing Wesley to the point of him defending her right now.

Meanwhile, Christine was indifferent to this display of violence. She had gotten used to being beaten by Nathan ever since she was a child.

After all, Nathan wanted to kill his daughter; a slap paled in comparison to his morbid desire.

It was always Nathan who humiliated her in public. Her soul had been numb from the embarrassment and pain; would she still care now?

Perhaps the reason why Wesley spoke in her defense was that he had never seen a father who could humiliate his own flesh and blood so blatantly in front of strangers.

Anyway, there was nothing else to his act of kindness. How could she expect that Nathan would like her, even for a little bit? That idea was ridiculous.

Wesley did not think it was necessary for him to stay there any longer.

Besides, he had nothing to do with this woman's well-being. Perhaps he ought to be happy after seeing Christine being beaten and humiliated like that, since he found her very annoying.

Despite this, Wesley instructed one of his men to stay behind and monitor Nathan's every move.

No one knew if Wesley was afraid that Nathan might kill this woman by accident, incurring Karl's wrath in the process, or he was genuinely fearful for Christine's life.

As expected, as soon as Wesley was gone, Christine was treated inhumanely.

Now that Wesley wasn't around, Nathan did not have to worry about anything. He had to give his daughter a good spanking since she inconvenienced him a great deal.

He could not care less whether Christine could stand his torture or not even though she just came back from the hospital.

As Christine huddled on the floor, a basin of freezing water was dumped on her body. Ever since she was slapped, she was like an emotionless doll, staring blankly ahead. The cold pierced her to the bones, sobering her up with a jolt.

"You ungrateful bitch! Open your eyes and see how truly lucky you are for hooking up with Wesley. You wantonly gave yourself to him, but you even had the gall to refuse his kindness? Look at you! Who would want a slut like you? Do you think Barrett would want you now?

You'd better take advantage of the fact that you could still be of some use to our family. Build a good relationship with Wesley. Don't look for trouble and further shame our family!"

Nathan stared at his daughter with hatred in his heart. This bitch knew his secret and he really wanted to kill her. He was only allowing her to live because she was to marry Wesley.

Thinking of that man, Nathan cursed his fate. How could Wesley be so disdainful and sarcastic towards him earlier? He promised to himself that someday, he would stand in a much higher position and trample the brat hard under his feet. He longed for Wesley to experience the humiliation he was suffering now.

He could clearly use the Helian family as a sturdy foothold to reach further heights, but his uncouth daughter wanted to break ties with this family. He could not bear to think about what would happen if she could have her way.

Thinking of this, Nathan felt all the more annoyed at Christine. He could only vent his anger by dumping a basin of freezing water on her, which was far from satisfactory. He had suffered extreme humiliation from Wesley; if only he could punish her more than this, then he could at least sleep peacefully later.

"Throw her back to her room!" Nathan shouted at the bodyguards while pointing at Christine, who was dripping wet.

"There's no need. I can walk there by myself," Christine muttered coldly.

Seeing her walk to her room while shivering, pretending to be strong, made Nathan want to spite her. The corners of his mouth just moved, but no words came out of his lips. He had to let her go.

In the past few days, Christine had been severely exhausted, and she had just recovered from a serious illness. Her body was completely unable to withstand the burning sensation of the frigid water.

She was too tired to change into something dry and she fell asleep on her soaked clothes.

In her dream, Barrett smiled gently at her.

Her dream world was infinitely better than reality. Her sweet and tender Barrett, holding her close in his arms, and the feeling of freedom like the birds in the sky made everything so beautiful.

That night, Christine was feverish. After all, her body was not made of steel; she could not bear so much torture.

Her body temperature was fluctuating, her dream less gentle.

At first, she dreamed that Barrett was very cold to her after he knew that she had lost her virginity. She could only watch him go farther and farther and finally disappear. She was crying her eyes out in her sleep.

The people outside Christine's room could hear her sobs and could even feel her despair. They sympathize secretly with the poor woman.

Then Christine dreamed that Nathan wanted to hurt Barrett, but she could do nothing about it.

In the end, she found herself in front of a gorgeous wedding scene. Countless flowers decorated the isle, waves of pink and white filled the air with a heavenly scent. The door opened and golden sunlight cloaked the groom as he came into view. It was Barrett! She wore a sweet smile as the groom approached her. Closer and closer he walked. When he was a few feet away, his face changed and he became Wesley. The bells played a song of mourning as the flowers dried up and scattered to the wind.

In the dream, Christine was so scared that she began sweating bullets.

In reality, Christine was indeed covered in perspiration.

Wesley's underling, who was posted outside the house, heard the woman crying and laughing. He was so worried about her that he decided to infiltrate her room to see how she was doing. In order to avoid the bodyguards, he jumped into the room from an open window.

The woman inside was having a nightmare. She kept waving her hands, as if she was attempting to drive something away from her.

When she calmed down a bit, he quickly put his hand on her forehead. He was alarmed at how hot her skin was to the touch.

However, he was there only to spy for Wesley. He could not bring the poor woman to the hospital without instructions from his boss.

Christine seemed to have been forgotten by the Ji family. No one cared whether she lived or died that night; it seemed that everyone had abandoned her to a gruesome fate.

The man told Wesley the news that Christine had a fever.

Wesley could not help but pity the woman. She had faced so many hardships in the past few days, and her father had even beaten her at every opportunity. Being tortured like that, her body was bound to collapse.