I shook my head with a wry smile as I hoisted Rufus onto the back of the brown wolf. When he was secure, Rin led us through the forest until we reached the mouth of a hidden cave.
There was a small lake near the cave. After I pulled Rufus off the brown wolf’s back, I hurried to turn off my phone to prevent being tracked. Then I went to the lake and gathered some water on a lotus leaf to clean Rufus’ dirty and bloodied body.
When I returned, he was still in a coma. I carefully made him drink some water first. Then I pulled his shirt off and ripped it into small shreds to use as rags to wipe his face. His chin had been scratched. There was blood caked around the wounds. Additionally, there was a swelling purple bruise on his forehead, as well as other wounds scattered all over his body.
Rin squatted down next to me and snorted. I turned to look at it questioningly. But Rin just covered its eyes with its forepaws, as if it couldn’t bear to look at Rufus.
With a gentle smile, I touched its head then continued to deal with Rufus’ wounds. A little while later, Rin stood up to leave, as though it had grown bored.
I carefully cleaned the blood off Rufus’ body, my expression darkening. Although most of the wounds had stopped bleeding, it was clear that they were infected.
My heart ached for poor Rufus.
After a while, Rufus felt worryingly warm. He had a fever. I tried to lower his temperature by pressing wet cloth to his forehead. Fortunately, it didn’t take long before his temperature finally dropped. But he still refused to wake up.
At a loss, I leaned over and kissed his forehead, tears welling up in my eyes.
Rin suddenly appeared with a pile of berries just then.
“Why, thank you, Rin.” I rubbed its head gratefully.
Rin sat next to me obediently and seemed to see how down I felt. It patted my hand with its paw to comfort me.
I looked into its eyes and smiled. “I need to get him some medicine. Can you take care of him while I’m gone?”
This time, Rin agreed readily. It nodded its head adamantly and even nudged me out of the cave, telling me to leave as soon as possible.
“Okay, okay, I’m leaving!”
I cast one last glance at Rufus before standing up to leave. I planned not to just get medicine but also inquire about what had really happened. The death of that child was just too odd. I suspected that it was another one of Richard’s evil ploys.
Lucy’s POV
As Sylvia ran off with Rufus, Ethan dispatched a large number of men to chase after them.
In the meantime, I was sent to the hospital for my wounds to be treated. The doctors there conducted a thorough physical examination.
As soon as I walked out of the examination room, I found Ethan and Richard waiting for me by the door.
“How do you feel?” Ethan asked, his forehead creased with concern.
Stunned, I glanced at Richard subconsciously. He winked at me meaningfully. I knew that he wanted me to continue with the pitiful act.
“What’s the matter? You must tell the doctors if you feel anything off,” Ethan added quickly when I didn’t respond fast enough.
“No, no. I’m fine, and so is the baby,” I lowered my head and answered respectfully, twiddling my thumbs nervously.
If I wanted the baby to be born without a hitch, then he needed to be born as a prince. I needed to completely conceal the fact that the baby’s father was Kyle, not Richard.
Ethan sighed with relief. “That’s good. I’ll have the best doctors treat the wounds on your face. Don’t lose hope, my dear girl. Just take good care of yourself and the baby for the time being.”
I nodded, not daring to say anything more. I felt extremely bad. Never in my wildest dreams would I have imagined that my face would be permanently disfigured one day. I was thankful to be alive, but…
Glancing at Richard once more, that damned hypocrite, I knew that there was still a tough hill to climb.
Richard reached out his hand and slipped it around my waist. In an overly affectionate tone, he said, “Even if your face scars, I’ll still love you. After all, I love you for who you are, not your appearance.”
Because Ethan was here, I had no choice but to hide the disgust in my heart. I let Richard hold me and forced a smile.
“Good. Mates should love each other, and now that you two have accepted each other as mates, you’ll be together for the rest of your lives. Richard, take good care of Lucy. Don’t let me catch you treating her poorly,” Ethan said to Richard in a low, ominous voice.
“Of course I’ll take care of her, Father. I’m willing to protect her with my life!” As he spoke, Richard looked at me tenderly.
This sent a shiver down my spine and it took all of my willpower not to gag on the spot. This bastard was even better at acting than me.
“Alright. If there’s nothing else, help Lucy back home and let her rest,” Ethan said wearily. He looked exhausted. Waving his hand dismissively, he asked Richard and me to leave.
As we turned to walk away, I wanted so desperately to swat Richard’s hand away, but he seemed addicted to this ruse. He kept his arm wrapped around my waist, planting kisses on my forehead from time to time, all the way until we made it back to the palace.
The whole time, I tried my best to endure the nausea and forced a smile until we were inside my room. As soon as I closed the door behind us, I shook off Richard’s hand with disgust.
Richard dropped the act, too. He grabbed my collar violently and hissed, “Where do you think you’re going?”
I pushed his hand away and kicked his shin. “Stay away from me, you bastard.”
Richard sneered and hugged me forcibly. “Why so cold, my dear? You should thank me for saving your life.”
My eyes went as wide as saucers. “How dare you? If it weren’t for you, I wouldn’t have been disfigured for the rest of my life!”
“You were the one who betrayed me first, remember? Huh?” Richard whispered in my ear, his voice as cold and vile as a snake’s.
“Fuck off! Get your filthy hands away from me!” I twisted my body and struggled to break away from his embrace.
Richard held me firmly in place and said coldly, “You let someone else violate you, but not me?”
“I will never let you touch me.” I glared at him with disgust. “You make me sick.”
Richard laughed angrily. “Okay, you’ve brought this upon yourself. I guess I have to touch you today.”
As he spoke, he began to rip my clothes off. His cold hand brushed against my bare skin, which sent shivers down my spine. How the hell could he still be in the mood to have sex with me?
“You fucking bastard! Let go of me right this instant!”
Thinking about what he had done to me, I couldn’t help but tremble and feel sick to my stomach. How dare he touch me again?
Richard ignored my demands and stripped me naked. As he leaned over to kiss me, I craned my neck and turned away. Sadly, my efforts were futile and he managed to press his lips against mine. I couldn’t control myself any longer and vomited directly into his mouth.
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