Nicholas' brows were raised when he dropped the call. All his thoughts were centered on the call with Isabella just now. When he told her he sent her parents, she had gone quiet. Was it out of happiness or did she hate what he did?As he was thinking about that, his thoughts transcended over to when the call just connected and she called Joseph's name. He looked around the dimly lit room he was in, where countless other men wearing the same color of clothes as he was, were loitering around."David, who else are we expecting?" he asked, turning to face his assistant."Roman, Stanley and Shane," David replied immediately."By how many minutes have they been late?""Four, Sir," David answered, raising up three fingers of his hand in the air.Nicholas nodded slightly, his face void of any form of emotions as he walked back to his seat at one end of the room. David followed after him while the men who were loitering around the room were quick to gather around him."Joshua," Nicholas called
Isabella watched her younger sister walk across the garden until she came to stand before her, a spring in her footsteps that showed her excitement."Do you need something, Alice?" Isabella asked. As one of the people who knew Alicia best, Isabella knew the two of them had nothing in common even though they were sisters, and that meant there was no reason for Alicia to come find her except she needed her to do something.Alicia was the beautiful, intelligent and talented daughter of the Yates while Isabella was well...the direct opposite."Do I look like I need something? I simply missed you, Bella! Ever since you got married and came here, I've been so lonely back at the estate," Alicia lamented, wearing a sad smile.Isabella was shocked, and it was all she could do not to ask Alicia if she was talking about another sister and not her. Why? Isabella could not remember ever keeping Alicia company before she came here, so how come her sister was suddenly lonely after she left. She shar
She failed to notice the small frown that formed on Marcus' face when he saw her excitement. His master's wife was acting like this was the very first time she was seeing an elevator."Would you need me to follow you up?" he asked, shaking his head to clear off all strange thoughts."I can go myself."Isabella wasted no time in wheeling herself over to the elevator doors but contrary to what she expected, the doors didn't open on its own when she got there.'Aren't they supposed to open on their own?' she muttered inwardly, a frown forming on her face. She was sure that Marcus was beginning to stare at her with confusion in his eyes, by now.And she was right. The old butler who was supposed to have left the living room had stayed behind just to watch Isabella until she got in the elevator, but was not sure what she was still doing staying in front of the elevator without pressing the button."Is everything alright, Mrs Hunt?" he asked carefully so as not to annoy her. To the best of h
Just like the previous day, Isabella woke up when it was barely dawn, to the sound of her phone ringing. With drowsy eyes, she searched the bed with her hand and found the phone in less than ten seconds.Bringing it up to her face to see who it was that was calling so early, she jolted up from the bed with a start when she saw the familiar characters which she memorized the previous day.It was Nicholas.However, as she was about to pick up the call, her door opened and Angela's head peeped in."Come down immediately, Bella. Master and Mrs Yates are annoyed that you aren't there yet!" she informed Isabella, fear evident in her voice.Isabella's eyes moved from the door to the phone in her hand as she gauged which of her two masters to obey first. Since her parents were nearer and relatively more evil than Nicholas, she decided to reply them first. She could handle Nicholas later and prepare herself for his anger.With Angela's help, she got ready as quickly as she could and pulled he
Nicholas brows furrowed in confusion as he maintained eye contact with Joshua."What's the probability that you made a mistake?" he asked.Having expected that he would be asked that, Joshua wasted no time in answering, "Zero. We made several cross checks and arrived at the same conclusion. We just can't tell who exactly it was."Nicholas gave a curt nod and Joshua took it as his cue to leave. David took the latter's position, waiting for instructions from Nicholas."Place a call to Joseph."Without asking questions, David did as instructed and dialled Joseph's number. The call was connected immediately."Any problem?" Joseph's worried voice came through the call. Neither Nicholas nor the other men on the trip with him would call except there was an urgent situation that needed a doctor."There is one on your side. How's Isabella?" Nicholas took the phone from David, and asked."Fine, doing pretty well if I may elaborate. What's the problem on my side?""The one who poisoned her is cu
Alicia was unable to think of anything else with the feeling of utter despair that consumed her. With what she had seen in this room, the elegant designs and the facilities which were modified to help Isabella cater to her every needs without much difficulties; the dressing room which was filled with designer brands of dresses, shirts, shoes and bags which would be hard to collect even for someone like her; and the large portrait of Isabella which sat at one end of the closet which she could detect was the work of an expert artist, Alicia knew she and her parents had made a big mistake.This was not what they imagined. No, this wasn't it at all. Shaking her head to get her thoughts together, she turned to Isabella."Mum was in a bad mood so I'll suggest you go there now with Angela. When you're done with her, I can help pick out a dress then," she forced a smile."That will be best," Isabella pointed out. Hearing that Hazel was in a bad mood was one of the sentences which was topping
But the deed was already done, and Lucas had turned around to take the whip on the bed. He took slow steps to close the distance between himself and Isabella, his fingers wrapped around the whip."Get on your knees," he ordered.Isabella nodded and struggled to do as he said, but how could she kneel when she was not able to move her legs? She shifted slightly on the wheelchair and looked back at Lucas, pleas vividly expressed in her eyes."Aren't you just as I said? Useless and Stupid?" he scoffed, shaking his head in disdain. As he talked, Lucas grabbed Isabella by her collar and pulled her down to the hard floor with force.She winced as her legs hit the ground, the tears on the rim of her eyes finally rolling down her cheeks. Still, no sob escaped from her lips. She knew the pain was yet to come.She watched as Lucas kicked the wheelchair whose tyres rolled off to one end of the room, giving the man enough room to see her tear filled face clearly."You know my rules, Isabella. Shou
"My god...Bella! You have over a hundred missed calls from... what's this? Who is 'Monster'?!" Angela asked. "Monster?" Isabella echoed. The only way to confirm Angela's words was by seeing it herself so she collected the phone and studied the characters by herself. She raised her head in confusion, "It's Nicholas. Where's the monster?"The two stared at each other in silence, trying to comprehend what was happening until it dawned on them all at once."Don't tell me..." Angela started, shaking her head slowly."It's not me," Isabella defended herself. "I asked him to save it himself and he did. I didn't know he used 'Monster'. Do you think it was a test? Does he already know I can't read? No, if he knows then...Hold on, Angel, do you think that's why he sent Mum and—""Calm down, Bella. I uhm, I think we should start seeing things differently. He didn't say anything but just saved it as this, then it could either be that's he's testing you or that he's teasing you. With his reputati
Doctor Jane Branston had expected only two reactions from Nicholas, but she got neither. She expected him to be either angry that she insinuated his wife was supposed to be pregnant or be happy that she insinuated that he was having a happy marriage with his long time obsession turned wife, but instead... His usually sharp blue eyes went dull, and a hint of fear crept into them. That was...unexpected. "Are you alright, Nicholas?" Jane asked, rising from her seat. She walked around the table and didn't stop until she was standing in front of him. "Your face changed just now," she added. Nicholas gritted his teeth, his jaws set in determination as he lifted his gaze to look at her. "Let this be the last time you're broaching that topic, Jane. You know the nature of my job, how dangerous it is. I can't burden Isabella with my babies when I won't be around to take care of them," he stated. "You're joking, right?" Jane asked, her brows furrowed in confusion. Since she grew up with thi
Isabella didn’t bat an eye when the car pulled up at the entrance of the Saint Violet’s Hospital where a team of doctors led by Joseph Franc were waiting for them. Having lived all her life without venturing out of the Yates’ Estate, there was no way she would know that this was the private hospital that was solely meant for the members of the royal family in the country.‘’Need a shawl? It’s cold outside.’’She turned, hearing Nicholas voice right behind her ears. It was strange; how this man acted. Just like earlier in the bathroom when he had offered to help take off her shirt, her cheeks had reddened instantly and she had immediately stuttered her disapproval. As she didn’t expect him to honor her words, it had come as a shock to her when he turned and walked out of the bathroom.His words when he got to the door, ‘’Wearing that horrified look makes me feel like a monster so keep it off your face. It isn’t like I would touch you without permission.’’For the rest of her bath and
Back to present... Isabella was taking the same decision with Nicholas. She knew being on his side was the same as being on the most powerful side, if she was comparing him to her parents. And at least for now, he wasn't whipping her yet so she could take shelter behind him. She might have to suffer just like she did with Mrs Grey those years before but it was still preferable to getting whipped and locked in the dark room with its countless torture weapons and insects. "You said what?" Nicholas' voice snapped her out of her thoughts. "I did it myself." Nicholas tilted his head, staring down at her with a complex gaze. Though he didn't want to believe her words that she did all these to herself, David's words from when he had asked whom the latter suspected to poison Isabella at the wedding banquet, echoed in his mind. "Miss Yates refused to tell you what was wrong with her even after you showed you were annoyed. And after it got to your knowledge, she still refused to accept th
Five years ago...17 year old Isabella waited alongside the rest of the Yates family members with their maids and butlers, outside the family mansion. As usual, she was positioned at the back of the maids, and her presence was just as important as that of Angela who was standing beside her. She was basically invisible."They allowed you out of the dark room because of the guest that's to arrive today?" Angela asked, surprise evident in her eyes. Isabella was usually locked in the dark room for a minimum of two weeks, but this time around she was already out even though she had only been there for just two days."That's what I think," Isabella replied. Tilting her head so she could see if her family members had already taken their positions in front of the workers, she added, "It was tougher this time. Dad put some bugs in the room."She rolled her sleeves up to reveal the purplish bite marks which she had itched until it turned to bigger wounds."Oh my goodness, Bella! How did you man
Nicholas stepped closer to the bed, his eyes narrowing at Isabella's action of covering her body. "How have you been?" he asked."Me? I—I have been well! Perfectly well...Nicholas," she added the last word after a moment of thought, as if she was wondering if he would be annoyed by that or not."I could tell. I've been here earlier today and I must say, you seemed to have enjoyed yourself during my absence," he murmured, his tone laced with sarcasm.Isabella, however, didn't notice anything wrong with what he said."How was y—your trip?" she stuttered, clenching and unclenching her hand that tightly gripped the sheets."Hectic, as usual. Though this one was particularly worse since someone refused to pick her calls or even return the calls she missed for two whole weeks.""Ah... I'm sorry for that. I was...Busy and uh—I did..." Isabella stopped talking when Nicholas took another step closer to the bed. If he took one more, he would be right beside her. And he did."I heard about the p
Raph beamed, revealing all his whites as he smiled."I will be 20 in a few days," he replied."It's my first time seeing you around. When did you arrive?" Nicholas' tone was strangely soft, surprising everyone in the room. Even Marcus was not left out."It's been a year, Sir."Seeing the questioning gaze in Nicholas' eyes, Marcus interrupted in their conversation, "After the incident with my son last year, I asked Raphael to come join me here. You have been mostly out of the mansion in the past year so that's the reason you weren't aware of his presence."Nicholas gave a curt nod. He could vaguely remember the man taking a long leave in the previous year due to a car accident that took the lives of his son and daughter-in-law. He could guess Raph was Marcus' grandson."So, do you have anything to say about what happened while I was away? Anything about the party or whatever you can think of," he asked.Raph nodded vigorously, ignoring the signal his grandfather was throwing at him."S
The mention of his wife's name sent every trace of drowsiness away from Nicholas' face."What's with her?"Joseph hesitated a while before speaking, "I...I think she's sick. Not physically so don't give me that glare. I think she's mentally sick."Whatever Nicholas had been planning to do to Joseph for saying Isabella was sick when he was the doctor in charge of her, he completely lost all motivation to do it. His doctor was simply stupid."If you're done, Joseph, could you get out of my room? I'm not in the mood for jokes," he stated, pointing at the door.Joseph sighed, "Then don't blame me when the maids begin treating her like a psycho."He straightened and turned on his heels to walk out of the room, thinking Nicholas would call him back. But it didn't happen. Instead, the man in question picked up the earplugs on the bedside table and placed it over his ears."Jobless," he muttered, though his voice was loud enough for Joseph who was at the door the hear him.The door closed and
"Where is my wife?" Marcus wasn't surprised that the question had been directed at him, and even though he knew Isabella was not behind him, he still turned out of formality."Master Hunt...ah, it doesn't seem like the Madam knows you are ba—"Nicholas strode off without listening to all that Marcus had to say. From the old man's hesitance from the get go, he knew what the answer was; and though he was surprised that Marcus was trying to cover up for Isabella, he didn't show it.Hearing the maids and butlers disperse behind him, he headed straight to the elevator which he had ordered to be installed, while Marcus hurried after him."Did she like it?" he asked.Marcus chuckled slightly at the shy question. In a way, he felt like both Master and Madam of the Hunt mansion were similar in a way. They had this childlike behavior that was hidden behind their countless facades of cold and strong individuals."What's with the laugh? Did she dislike it?" Nicholas asked again, his tone showing
"My god...Bella! You have over a hundred missed calls from... what's this? Who is 'Monster'?!" Angela asked. "Monster?" Isabella echoed. The only way to confirm Angela's words was by seeing it herself so she collected the phone and studied the characters by herself. She raised her head in confusion, "It's Nicholas. Where's the monster?"The two stared at each other in silence, trying to comprehend what was happening until it dawned on them all at once."Don't tell me..." Angela started, shaking her head slowly."It's not me," Isabella defended herself. "I asked him to save it himself and he did. I didn't know he used 'Monster'. Do you think it was a test? Does he already know I can't read? No, if he knows then...Hold on, Angel, do you think that's why he sent Mum and—""Calm down, Bella. I uhm, I think we should start seeing things differently. He didn't say anything but just saved it as this, then it could either be that's he's testing you or that he's teasing you. With his reputati