Chapter 2
“Calista!” Estelle burst in, her heels clicking sharply against the floor, her expression twisted with frustration. “How many times did it happen last night?”
Calista instinctively stepped back. “Seven… seven times…”
Smack!
A stinging slap landed across her cheek.
“Liar!” Estelle snapped. “I was counting outside and it was eight times! You were only supposed to have the child. Why are you trying to get close to him?”
Calista held her face and did not say anything.
She had never tried to seduce anyone. Eric simply lost control, but that was something she could never explain.
Estelle’s eye
eyes swept over the faint marks on Calista’s skin, and her expression crumbled further.
“You’re disgusting! You did this on purpose, didn’t you? Trying to show off?” Another slap landed, and a thin line of red appeared near Calista’s lip.
Estelle then waved at two servants at the door.
“Clean her up,” Estelle said with a cold smile. “Use a scrubber, make sure all those disgusting marks are gone.”
Calista was dragged into the bathroom and forced down onto the cold.
marble tiles.
The servants did not hesitate. They pressed the rough scrubber to her skin and began scrubbing harshly.
The coarse scrubber scraped across her sensitive skin, leaving painful red streaks behind.
“Ah!”
“Don’t stop!” Estelle stood at the doorway, watching coldly. “Especially around her neck and chest–scrub thoroughly.”
When the scrubber reached her collarbone, Calista winced, her vision. blurring from the pain. She felt like she might pass out.
However, Estelle was not done. She ordered the servants to drag her to the disinfectant pool out back.
“She’s filthy–she needs to be thoroughly cleaned,” Estelle said, yanking her hair. “Throw her in.”
Calista was tossed into the strong–smelling disinfectant. The sting on her raw skin felt like tiny needles piercing her all over.
She fought with all the strength she had, but was pinned down even
harder.
“Let her out after she’s soaked all night,” Estelle told one of the servants. with a yawn. “I’m going to catch up on my beauty sleep.”
Calista lay by the edge of the pool, barely conscious.
Then, someone gently lifted her up.
Through her haze, she caught the faint, familiar scent of cold pine.
“Eric…” she whispered faintly.
“Don’t speak.” Eric looked down at her, eyes unreadable. “The doctor’s on the way.”
Back in the bedroom, Eric carefully placed her on the bed.
He grabbed the first aid kit and started tending to her wounds.
When the alcohol–soaked cotton touched her skin, Calista flinched.
Eric hesitated, then continued applying the medicine. “Estelle can be a bit much sometimes, but she’s not a bad person. She’s been feeling really off this past year, so that’s probably why she acted this way.‘
Each word cut into her heart–not sharply, but like a dull knife dragging
across.
She was already in this state, and still, his instinct was to defend Estelle.
Of course.
Estelle was the one he cared about. This was always how it would be.
From the beginning, he told her not to expect anything…
Eric gently wiped the tears from her face and said, “I’ll arrange the best medical team for your father to make up for today.”
She shut her eyes. More tears slipped down quietly.
There was no need.
Her father was already gone.
And this arrangement should come to an end.
