Chapter 7 Your Life Belongs to Me
“Get out! I don’t need you! Get out, both of you!” Stellan shouted hoarsely.
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Evelyn could understand him. After all, anyone reduced to being a cripple would have a bad temper and lash out. Still, she shut him up. “Can you quit barking? In your condition, no matter how much noise you make, you’re still at other people’s mercy.”
Stellan went silent. I knew it! Another one just here to humiliate me!
“Oh dear, the stench in here is unbearable. I should at least clean the place up,” Penny muttered, already restless to get busy.
“Mom, don’t bother.”
“No?”
“Mm. I’m taking him with me. He can’t go on living like this.”
Her words stunned both Penny and Stellan.
When Evelyn had lifted the blanket earlier, she had seen the filth covering the sheets, maggots crawling inside, with no sign of cleaning for who knew how long. Clearly, the caretaker had been neglecting him–worse, probably abusing him. Otherwise, Stellan wouldn’t have become so hostile and distrustful.
“Evie, you’re not joking, are you?” Penny finally asked, still in disbelief. Their family wasn’t well off to begin with, and now she wanted to bring home a paralyzed man?
“I’m not joking. Mom, fetch a basin of hot water. I’ll clean him up.”
Stellan shot Evelyn a cold glance. “I don’t need your pity. Don’t bother taking me away.”
“What then? Do you plan to just rot away in here?”
Stellan let out a bitter laugh. “It doesn’t matter. I don’t want to live anyway. So what if I rot?”
“That’s not up to you anymore. From now on, your life… is mine to decide.”
Her tone was calm, almost casual, but Stellan froze. She didn’t sound like she was joking.
A moment later, Penny returned with hot water. “Evic, let me do this. I’m an old hag–doesn’t matter if I’m shameless. But you’re still young–better not let people gossip.”
Penny’s heart ached for her daughter, thinking it wasn’t appropriate for a girl to handle such things for a man. What was more, his lower half in particular looked filthy.
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“Don’t worry about it. I’ll do it, and I’ll check his legs while I’m at it.” Evelyn took the water, wrung out a towel, and got to work.
“Don’t touch me!” Stellan barked again, but Evelyn ignored him. She simply stripped off his
pants.
“My goodness! How can you be like this, young man? My daughter’s kindhearted enough to help you, and you still complain?” Penny shook her head in disapproval.
Evelyn worked with practiced ease, not showing the slightest trace of disgust. She had studied medicine—she’d seen plenty of bodies before. A man’s body was nothing. In training, she had even practiced with anatomical models. This was nothing new.
Years of neglect had left layers of grime across Stellan’s skin. The sheets were stained with waste. Even Penny, a country woman used to hardship, felt sick just looking at it. Yet Evelyn never flinched. To clean him properly. Penny had to fetch fresh water over and over.
“How long has it been since you had a proper wash? What’s that caretaker even paid for?” Penny muttered while working.
“Mom, check the cabinet for clean clothes. Bring them over, I’ll change him into something fresh.”
Penny rummaged through the drawers until she found a set. Together, she and Evelyn managed to get him dressed. Once he was in clean clothes, Stellan felt his whole body lighten, a sensation he hadn’t known in a long time. It was almost… pleasant.
“Why are you doing this? What’s your angle?” Stellan didn’t believe for a second that Evelyn’s kindness came without strings attached.
“My angle is saving you. Otherwise, tell me—what could I possibly want from you in this condition? To enjoy your lack of hygiene?”
Stellan had no response.
“Evie, what do we do now?” Penny asked.
“Take him home.”
“Alright. I’ll call Cosmo, have him come carry him. He’s got the strength for it.”
“No need.” Evelyn’s voice was calm as ever. She bent down, hefted Stellan onto her shoulder with practiced strength, and strode out the door as if it were the most natural thing in the world.
Penny was rendered speechless, and so was Stellan, who eventually shouted when he finally
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Chapter 7 Your Life Belongs to Me
came to. “Put me down! Where are you taking me? Put me down!”
“Shut up. Say one more word and I’ll throw you on the ground,” Evelyn warned.
Stellan burned with humiliation. A woman was carrying him on her shoulder!
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“Oh, my goodness… This daughter of mine…” Penny was stunned. She hurried after them, half running to keep up. The sight was just too bizarre.
Outside, the caretaker woman had been cracking peanuts. When she looked up and saw Evelyn walking out with Stellan slung over her shoulder, she nearly choked. “Y–You… where are you taking him?”
“Home. To take care of him.”
“You… You can’t take him away!” the woman quickly protested. If that cripple left, she’d lose her job. Her monthly wages here were equal to a year’s income elsewhere. Sure, it was dirty and smelly work, but she had been living comfortably.
“And why not? You don’t even take proper care of him,” Evelyn shot back.
“Who says I don’t?” the woman said defensively.
“His bedding was crawling with maggots. Did you see that? The sheets were soaked in urine, full of filth. Did you bother to clean them?”
The woman flushed with shame, but no matter what, she couldn’t let Evelyn take him away and ruin her livelihood. “Anyway, you can’t take him. No matter how I treat him, at least he’s still alive. The Iverson family hasn’t said a word–why are you sticking your nose in?”
“He’s
my
fiance. How can I not care?”
“So what? He belongs to the Iverson family. If you want to take him, you need their permission
Before she could finish, Evelyn’s fist sent her sprawling face–first into the dirt.
Holy hell, my daughter’s fierce! Penny stood frozen in shock.
And so, Evelyn carried a man on her shoulder from one end of the village to the other, drawing stares the whole way.
“Evie,” Penny whispered nervously, “shouldn’t we keep a lower profile? Everyone’s watching. Now the whole village knows you carried a man home.”
“Don’t worry about it, Mom. The village would find out sooner or later. Gossip here spreads faster than the internet.”
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Penny sighed and fell silent. She could only think that with two invalids in the house now, life was going to be even harder.
Sure enough, word of Evelyn hauling a man home spread quickly.
The first villager gossiped, “Did you hear? The Gulliver family’s younger daughter carried a crippled man back home!”
“Did you hear? The Gulliver family’s younger daughter is a madwoman,” the second villager spread. “She carried a crippled man home!”
And as the gossip spread, it got more and more outrageous.
“Did you hear? The Gulliver family’s younger daughter has gone mad, dragging a cripple home. She’s so twisted that she’d even go for one!”
…
“Evie, I’ve tidied up the room,” Penny said later. “Good thing we live in the countryside where houses have plenty of rooms. If we were in the city, we wouldn’t even have space for this many people.”
“Thanks, Mom.”
Evelyn laid Stellan down on the bed.
“You’ve got such a soft heart.” Penny sighed. “We agreed just to take a look, but you went and brought him back. Now look–two disabled men in this house. Life just got harder again.”
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