Suddenly, a sharp pain erupted in Audrey’s belly.
Her face turned ghostly pale. She squatted down, and it was so painful that she curled up in agony.
Audrey?” A gentle voice of a man pulled her back to reality.
Audrey lifting her head and saw a familiar face.
“Henley…”
But before she could say anything else, her vision blurred, and everything went black.
“Audrey!” Henley immediately scooped her up and bolted toward the emergency room.
Lying in the hospital bed, Cecilia was diagnosed with a mild concussion and needed to rest for some time.
Cornell stood by her bedside, seemingly indifferent to the doctor’s diagnosis.
Cecilia stole a glance at him. She was captivated by the way his handsome face looked under the soft glow of the incandescent lamp.
There was no denying that he was handsome. His features were cool, almost icy, but magnetizing. He had that kind of allure that made it hard for Cecilia to look away.
The yearning in her eyes was as clear as day. She had no intention of ever letting go of this man who seemed like a gift from the gods.
At the thought of this, Cecilia’s eyes welled up with tears again.
“Cornell… Why does it still hurt? I’m not feeling well.”
Cornell frowned.
“You still don’t feel well? I’ll have Luis come and examine you.”
“No, there’s no need,” Cecilia disagreed at once.
“I’m actually feeling better. Plus, Luis is so busy. I don’t want to bother him.”
Cecilia was flustered. She did not want to see Luis since he was too sharp and perceptive and could easily see through her lies.
“Fine,” Cornell said, unfazed.
“By the way, why did Audrey hit you earlier?”
At the mention of this, tears quickly filled Cecilia’s eyes, and she lamented, “Audrey accused me of setting her up at the banquet earlier.
She blamed me for everything. Cornell, why would I do something Like that to her? You can look into it yourself.”
She was not afraid at all. After all, she had made sure she was clean from all angles.
“It’s Audrey’s fault,” Cornell said nonchalantly.
Cecilia abruptly stopped dabbing her eyes.
Why was Cornell so indifferent?
Audrey had slapped her hard enough to leave red marks on her face, and her face was still swollen and tingling from the hit.
Cornell should be furious and demand an apology from Audrey on her knees, right?
Aggrieved, Cecilia’s chest heaved violently, and tears slid down her cheeks.
Just then, Jocelyn burst into the room. Upon seeing Cecilia’s face, she was in utter shock.
“My lady, who did this to you? If my lord knew about this, he’d be devastated! Oh, my God! Nobody has ever dared to treat you like this.”
Jocelyn turned to Cornell and appealed, “Mr. Clement, we’re alone here in Ardlens, so we’re depending on you to set things right!”
Jocelyn had overheard their conversation and knew Cornell was taking Audrey’s side.
However, she was savvier than Cecilia and knew how to leverage Cecilia’s family influence to pressure Cornell.
Cornell, visibly irritated by Jocelyn’s theatrics, impatiently Looked down at Cecilia and asked, “What do you want to do then?”
A glint of malice crossed Cecilia’s eyes. If she had her way, she would want nothing less than to skin Audrey live, draw her bones, and dismember her.
But of course, she could not say that and let Cornell see her vicious side.
Cecilia balled her hands into fists and, although reluctant, pretended to take the high road.
“It’s just a misunderstanding. I’ll let it go if Audrey apologizes to me.”
Cecilia swore to herself to humiliate Audrey in public when Audrey did that.
However, Jocelyn was not on the same page.
“My lady, you’re letting her off too lightly. You’ve been the apple of your family’s eye since you were a child. You’ve never been disrespected like this!” Jocelyn looked at Cornell pitifully and implored, “Mr. Clement, I hope you don’t mind me being too nosy. But my lady is alone in Ardlens, so I must speak for her on behalf of the Murray family.”
“What do you want?” Cornell asked in a frigid tone.
Jocelyn knew how to play her cards right, so she offered a reasonable request.
“In my opinion, it’s only fair that my lady should slap Audrey back.
An eye for an eye.”
Cecilia felt much better when she heard Jocelyn’s words.
She vowed to herself she would make Audrey have a taste of her own medicine.
But then, to her disbelief, Cornell merely threw a cold glance in Jocelyn’s way and flatly said, “Not going to happen.”
Seeing the coldness in Cornell’s eyes, Jocelyn’s heart skipped a beat.
She could not understand why Cornell disagreed. It was not an unreasonable request, was it?
Did Cornell not care about Cecilia?
Even if Audrey was his wife, he should be defending Cecilia instead.
The atmosphere in the ward suddenly shifted.
Furious, Cecilia clenched her hands that her nails almost dug into her palm. Still, she kept her poker face.
“It’s okay, Jocelyn. Let’s not make things awkward for Cornell.
Besides, I doubt Audrey would agree to that. An apology should suffice.”
Cecilia’s words were carefully chosen and painted her in the role of the magnanimous socialite while making Audrey seem petty in comparison.
Even better, acting graciously might win her some sympathy with Cornell.
As for Audrey, well, Cecilia was just biding her time.
New Book: Back Home to Marry Off Myself
Loredana’s father left the family for his mistress, leaving them to fend for themselves abroad. When life was at its toughest, her father showed up with “good news” after 8 years of absence: To marry off Loredana to a paralyzed son of the wealthy Mendelsohn family.