Crystal peeked into Nathan’s room. She was hunkered down so that he could not see her. The room looked like a tornado had passed through it. The dresser had been pushed to the ground. The vases were smashed, and there was glass everywhere. The pictures had been taken down and destroyed, and there was clothing everywhere.
Again, Crystal thought of her conversation with Eric.
Not knowing what else to do, she picked up the tray with the two bowls of soup, stood up, and went into the room.
Nathan was sitting on the bed. He was naked, but there was a blanket covering his private parts. His hands rested on his knees, and they were covered with blood.
“No!” Crystal put down the tray and rushed to his side. “What happened to you?” She suddenly reali
Finally, Crystal wiped the tears from her eyes. She stood up straight, looked Nathan in the eyes, and said, “You said that I am selfish... but you’re just as bad... You said that you loved me, and you forced me to love you back. But that is not how love works. You cannot force love! If you try, the best you can hope for is compliance - bitter compliance!”Nathan frowned and said, “I may be ruthless, but I have done everything that I can think of to show you that I love you and to win your love. I would dig out my heart to prove my love. Is that what you want? Crystal, I loved you so much beyond what you could imagine, but you hurt me!”For an instant, Crystal felt a lump in her throat, and she turned her face away from his. She could not bear the pain of seeing him being hurt. “I don’t need that,” she muttered. &l
There was a knock at the door. They both turned, and Crystal smiled when she saw that the servant had finally returned with the First Aid Kit.Crystal nodded and said, “I was just about to leave. Please take proper care of his injuries. I do not want them to get infected.”Nathan frowned, and he stopped Crystal with a word. He said, “Wait,” and she turned back to face him. He was confused. He wondered why she cared if he received proper treatment or not. He said, “Didn’t you say that you would be staying here for three days? There are still one, and a half-days left. Why are you leaving early?”“Why?” Crystal was confused, “You just told me to leave! What is wrong with you? Now that everything’s out in the open, what would be the point of my staying?&
(Triggered Warning: This chapter contains a sex scene and inappropriate words. If you're not comfortable reading it kindly skip it and move to another chapter)As Crystal swept the rest of the broken glass into a dustpan, she thought about Carlos. It would be so easy to abandon him. She wished she could run away and leave all of the men in her life in her past, but she refused to do that to Carlos. If not for her, he would not be in the trouble that he was in. He was innocent. If she did not save him, he would die. If that happened, she knew that her conscience would never let her rest.As she was lifting the dustpan, a shard of glass slipped past the guard and sliced the back of her hand. For some reason, though, she did not notice. It was as if her mind was so preoccupied with her predicament that her body was on autopilot.
Nathan held Crystal in his arms, and he wept for what he had done and for what he had lost. He had crossed a line with Crystal, and he knew that there was no going back.Gently, he picked her up, carried her into the next room, and placed her on the bed. He tucked her hair behind her ears and forced himself to look at the brand. Never in his life had he felt such great regret. He did not know what had come over him. It was almost as if a psychopath had possessed him. He stayed with her for as long as he could, but eventually, his grief consumed him, and he fled.****Crystal did not regain consciousness until later that evening. She sat up and looked around. She was surprised to find that she had been moved, but she was grateful for the privacy.Next to the
Crystal gasped. She thought - How could I ever carry Nathan up a flight of stairs? He was nearly two hundred pounds, and it had taken four servants to carry him inside. “I c-can’t d-do it,” she stammered.“Can’t or won’t?” Nathan hissed. “I have done so much for you. What have you done for me?” His cold fingers pinched her chin. “Crystal, what have you done for me except hurt me?”“Be reasonable.” Crystal sighed and said, “You are too heavy. I am afraid of dropping you.”“Do you honestly think that I care about being dropped?” Nathan asked, “You have broken my heart thousands of times. What is one more injury?”
Crystal had passed out in the hallway, and by the time she was awake, it was late in the evening. She was surprised to see that someone had put a blanket over her, and there was a bottle of water within reach of her arm. She smiled when she realized that someone had taken the time to care for her. It was not until she saw the bottle that she realized how thirsty she was. She was hungry too, but she knew that her stomach would have to wait until after she had checked on Nathan.The water was divine, and she drank it much faster than she meant to, and when she tried to stand, she realized that she would be sick if she moved too soon. While she waited, she did a quick body scan. Everything hurts. Her back had been ravaged, and she thought that she would need surgery, but nothing was broken, and she thanked God for minor miracles.Finally, she got on her hands and
Nathan stared at the drawing for a few minutes. Then he looked up at Crystal, grabbed her by the collar, and shook her. “What is the meaning of this?” he shouted. “Is this because you are afraid that I won’t let you go?!?!”Crystal frowned. “Why do you always have to assume the worst?”“Why wouldn’t I?” Nathan shouted. “You have given me a portrait of myself with blood on it! What am I supposed to think? Is this some sort of threat? Are you trying to frighten me?”Crystal flinched as Nathan tore the page out of the book and ripped it in half. Then he crumpled the two pieces into balls and threw them into her face. One hit her just above her right eye, and the other bounced off her forehead.Crystal s
Once Nathan was done eating, he pulled Crystal into his arms and gave her a giant hug. He seemed happy, but when he squeezed her, he flinched, and Crystal asked him, “Are you in pain?”“It’s my chest,” he replied. “My wound opened when you were carrying me. It is your fault, so you should be the one to fix me up.”Crystal leaned back, looked at his chest, and said, “It doesn’t look too bad. I will take care of it later.”Nathan gave Crystal a dirty look and said, “Do it now. I don’t want to be in pain when you serve me later.”What is that supposed to mean? - Crystal thought - Has he thought o
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.