Much to Nathan’s surprise, Crystal picked up her piece of Cupid’s Arrow, popped it into her mouth, chewed, and swallowed. His eyes lit up when she opened her mouth to show that it was empty, and the crowd stood up to give her a standing ovation.
****
Nancy was now standing by the windowsill. It was a beautiful sunny day, and the sun’s glow was reflected off the snow in a way that implied that everything was right with the world. From her perspective, though, it seemed that nothing was right with the world. She had just learned that Paul had poisoned Noah. That was what caused his heart problem, and it was unlikely that they would find an antidote.
At this point, Crystal was her only hope. Crystal had a way of making the impossible possible. Nancy did not know how she did it, and she w
While Crystal was getting ready, Nathan attempted to feed Clark, but the boy kept his lips tight and refused to eat. “Did you forget that I’m your Uncle?” Nathan asked.“I’m not hungry,” the boy grumbled. “I just want Crystal to hug me.”“She’s tired.”“Don’t care.” Clark pouted.Nathan sighed unhappily, and then he called up to Crystal: “Clark is not willing to eat, what should I do?”“I’ll be there in a second,” Crystal replied, and as she came down the stairs, she said, “Don’t worry about it. He’s not familiar with you, and he’s going through a tough time.”
Crystal sat down beside Clark. He was clutching his toy gorilla, and tears were streaming down his face. “Why is Mommy so late?” he cried.“I don’t know,” Crystal admitted. “Hopefully, she will be here by the time you wake up. Why don’t you put on your pajamas? I could read some more stories to you, and we could fall asleep together. Would you like that?”Clark nodded and said, “Thank you, Aunt Crystal. I love you.”Crystal smiled and kissed him on the forehead. “I love you too.”****Nathan waited for a half-hour before he angrily gave up on Crystal. He took a cold shower to calm his lust, and then he got out of the bathtub. After drying hi
As Nathan and Crystal sat down to eat - Clark was still in his room crying - she asked him if he had heard anything from Nancy yet. He said that there was no news, except that her phone had been found in the underground parking lot of a downtown high-rise, along with several articles of clothing.After that, there was not a lot to say, so they ate in silence. They were just about done with their meal when Vic appeared. He had a big bag in his hand.“What’s in the bag?” Crystal asked curiously.“Nancy’s clothes and her mobile phone,” he replied. “I just picked them up from the parking lot.”Crystal took the bag and poured its contents on the floor. There was a coat, a sweater, and a pair of shoes. She recognized the garments
The time for Crystal to meet with Mrs. Davis had arrived, so she got dressed, arranged for Clark to be taken care of while she was gone, and set out. At first, she could not think of why Nathan’s mother would want to meet with her, but then she remembered that the older woman disapproved of her relationship with her son.Most likely, Mrs. Davis wanted to scare Crystal away, but she did not frighten easily. Besides that, now that she had the bracelet, Nathan would have no trouble finding her if she disappeared.Mrs. Davis’s black RV was waiting for her in the parking lot. So far, everything was set exactly as the older woman had said it would be. Crystal had her driver park next to the RV, and before getting out, she instructed the driver to get the RV’s License Plate number. “Just to be on the safe side,” she said. “If I am g
The beast closest to them was a ferocious mastiff, and when it heard them, its eyes lit up, and it began to growl. Crystal could tell that it had been mistreated and that if it ever got out, it would kill whatever or whoever got in its way. A cold shiver ran down her back as they walked past the angry beast.In the middle of the compound, they found Carlos. He was in a cage, curled up in a corner, and his eyes had a vacant look to them. He was no longer screaming, but the fresh wounds on his back implied that he had been recently whipped. Crystal whispered his name, and he snarled at her.Crystal was dumbfounded. She thought - He doesn't even recognize me…Eric turned to the closest guard. "Was this animal roaring just now?" he asked.
Carlos was released into the stadium first, but he did not move, and a guard had to encourage him with an electric baton. The tiger was released next, and it attacked right away. He is dead - thought Crystal - he does not even know where he is.Suddenly, and to everyone’s great surprise, Carlos’s survival instinct kicked in. He dodged the attack and punched the tiger in the face.The tiger growled. Carlos growled right back at him, and they began to circle each other and assess each other’s strengths and weaknesses.The tiger was caught off guard when Carlos took the offensive. Carlos jumped through the air and landed on the beast with his nails extended. His movements were so fast that Crystal could not see what was going on. It was not until the final stroke had been struck that things slowed dow
Carlos made peace with the fact that he was about to die. The wolves were circling around him. I never really had a chance - he thought not against twenty wolves. But he was proud of himself for how well he had managed with what he had. He closed his eyes and began to recite Psalm 23. “Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death...”Suddenly he heard a woman calling his name. “Carlos!” she shouted. He recognized the voice. It belonged to Crystal. What is she doing here? - wondered.“You can do it!” she shouted. “I know you can! You are the strongest person that I have ever known!”
The guards led Carlos to the infirmary. Eric cut the rope that bound Crystal’s hands and legs, and they followed behind them. They had not been waiting long when they heard one of the guards begin to yell.“What was that?” Crystal wondered, and she ran into the infirmary.When she opened the door, she saw that Carlos had knocked a guard to the ground. The other guard was so frightened that he had backed himself into a corner.Crystal approached him as if nothing were out of the ordinary. She held out her hand to him and said, “Carlos. It’s me, Crystal. Let me help you.”Carlos hung his head but said nothing.Crystal nodded to the guards, and they ran out of the room. Then she put her hands
Crystal looked at Mrs. Bush in a trance.“Amos Davis is…”Eric stood up and pressed the wound with a swab of alcohol.“Is Amos Davis Nathan’s father?” Crystal asked again.“Yes.” Eric looked down at her. “Are you surprised?”“So you and Nathan...”“You have a good imagination. We are not related.”“What about the child?”“Isn’t it obvious? The child’s death was the main cause of her nervous breakdown.” Eric held out his injured hand and said, “Honey, aren’t yo
At night, Crystal woke up sweating from her nightmare.The servant somehow slipped down on the carpet and fell asleep by the door.Crystal opened her eyes in tears. It was dark and still. She looked down at the overlapping lights, her heart aching as if she had been sliced open by razor blades.She tiptoed out of bed and picked up the phone from the bedside table.She walked barefoot into the bathroom, sat on the toilet, and stared at the black screen for a while.A week before, she had lost control of herself and seemed to have unconsciously dialed the number she had branded at her fingertips.But there came a female voice without feeling:
Eric looked at Crystal in shock.“You can rest assured that these small cuts will not affect the child’s physical health. And it won’t affect your revenge on Nathan!” Crystal said happily, her jaw suddenly strangled.Eric clutched her jaw tightly. “I thought you were a strong woman, but you’re just so vulnerable.”“That’s right. I’m vulnerable. Didn’t you know that?”That was why Eric asked the servant to put the blades away.Just now, it was also the servant who heard that Crystal was looking for the blade, so she rushed to find Eric immediately.Looking at the sweat on his forehead, the way he was out of bre
Inside the villa, doctors came in and out. Luckily, Eric sent Crystal into his car, and he gave her warm measures in time and kept her cold feet warm.“Miss Smith and the baby are fine. But Miss Smith was cold and somewhat weak. As for her feet, it’s taboo to touch cold water in this weather,” replied the doctor. “You’d better help her now, help her to activate her blood lest she might fall off rheumatism when she is older.Eric had Crystal’s feet rubbed by himself with the best essential oil.Crystal fell asleep in a daze. Her tears never stopped, as though she had dreamt of something sad.Her dry lips moved, calling someone’s name.Eric got close enough to hear her.
Crystal seemed to see Nathan staring at her with an angry face in her bewilderment.Her heart was beating wildly across her chest. She broke down and wanted to reach out and let him take her away.Suddenly, she didn’t want to take care of anything. She was not as strong as she thought.She just wanted a man who loved her, and she loved. She wanted to be cared for, have a child, and live a simple life. But the next second, the figure turned into Eric.He held down the handrail of the wooden bridge and jumped into the lake.Splash! Splash!Several bodyguards also jumped down one after another.Eric quickly walked over to her, took
Vic came in from the outside and was quite surprised to see this scene.He had expected Nathan’s return to make up with Crystal.Crystal was thrown into the bathroom, and her body crashed against the cold porcelain wall.Nathan hadn’t given up yet, even though she had made it so clearly.He picked up a birdbath and jabbed it into her hand. “Pee.”Crystal held the basin. “Do you want to check, and then you give up and let me go?”“Now!”He tugged at her trousers.Crystal went out today wearing suspenders, and Nathan took off her coat and stripp
Crystal pulled away from his hand hard and turned to leave.He instantly retrieved her body, and she hit him hard on the chest.Nathan held her tightly, his last icy line collapsed.“Don’t go. Don’t leave me.” He said.This man, who had just been proud and arrogant, was momentarily weak again.Crystal was not feeling any better, and her heart was trembling.“I miss you so much. I’ve been thinking about you, Crystal, every minute of the day. My life was dull and sad. I function every day, but I’m dying inside,” His voice, with the hot air, blew in her ear.Crystal felt as
A man was sitting with his legs crossing on the dark blue leather sofa, silent and noble in the living room.Crystal stood at the door, only by seeing him at a glance did she want to run away. However, her feet were like a tree with deep roots, so steady and heavy that she could not move it a little.Every night, the man she saw in her dream was now sitting in front of her. The man put out the cigarette and said casually, “Miss Smith, here you are.”The voice was like thunder, which immediately woke Crystal up.She jerked around to leave…“Miss Smith, don’t you want your watch back?” Nathan’s cold voice sounded again.It’s him!
“More than 20 years?” Nancy didn’t understand. “That is to say, I’ve been waiting to meet you since I was born,” he gave Nancy a charming smile, “You’re in a cold sweat, am I so horrible?” Nancy shook her head, “No...” “I don’t want to be someone you’re afraid of,” he kissed on the back of Nancy’s hand, “I just want to be a big tree, to provide shade and shelter for you.” Nancy lowered her head in a panic, dared not look at him. That’s so unreal, and such dreamlike happiness would catch everyone unprepared, especially someone a boy crazy like Nancy. Marcos was like a noble prince; no woman could resist his charm and tenderness.