Chapter 267
Every time Austin saw Emily, he always wore the brightest, sunniest smile. This time was no exception. “Emily… Austin called out.
Austin hurried forward, his smile fading as he took in Emily’s disheveled appearance-pale face, swollen cheeks, messy hair, and torn clothes. ‘She’s been through hell,’ he thought, stopping abruptly.
Even after hearing everything over the phone, Austin didn’t expect Emily to look so battered. The Bennetts really outdid themselves. “They’ll pay for this, he thought, a cold glint of murderous intent flashing in his eyes. Cloudridge’s elite needed a shake-up.
Because they were standing so close, Emily caught the emotion in his eyes and froze for a second. Austin was always bright, sunny, cheerful, and sincere. His eyes, always so clear and innocent like a newborn’s, had never shown that kind of emotion before.
Lost in thought, she was snapped out of it by the cool touch of Austin’s fingers on her swollen cheek. “Does it hurt?” he asked.
Emily came back to herself and turned her head away a little, feeling uncomfortable. “I’m fine,” Emily replied.
She didn’t say if it hurt, only that she was fine. I’ve endured worse, Emily thought, used to Bennetts’ cruelty. Austin understood her meaning, his eyes darkening with concern.
He remembered that first day they met, when she was helping him with his wounds, she’d said, “When you’ve been hurt enough times, you just get used to it.”
He’d looked into Emily’s background and knew she’d grown up pampered by the Bennett Family. The worst she’d suffered was probably in the years since Lydia returned, but that still didn’t seem enough to make her say something like that.
During the two years Emily was “sent abroad” by the Bennetts, Austin couldn’t find any records, not even travel documents. ‘What happened to her during those years?’ he wondered, knowing the Bennetts alone couldn’t have pulled this off.
Austin desperately wanted to know, but he knew it was Emily’s deepest secret, like the ten graves. ‘I won’t ask if she doesn’t want to talk,’ he thought, suppressing his thoughts and leading her back to the car, pulling out the medicine he bought.
Besides the slap marks on her face and the belt welts, Emily had plenty of scratches and scrapes all over. Austin carefully cleaned and treated each one, then wrapped some ice in a towel and gently pressed it to her face.
He stayed completely silent the whole time, but his mood was clearly off. Emily seemed to notice something was wrong and reached out to take the towel with the ice from his hand. “I can do it myself,” she said.
Before she could touch the towel, he caught her wrist. They were standing pretty close, and Austin’s dark eyes looked like an endless whirlpool, threatening to pull Emily in. His voice was unusually serious. “You don’t have to handle everything by yourself, Emily.”
Emily’s heart skipped a beat. She understood what Austin meant. ‘He wants me to know that I can rely on him, Emily thought. Just like he’d told her more than once over the years-she was the only one he had left in this world.
Their eyes locked, both seeing unspoken emotions swirling in each other’s gaze. After a long moment, Emily silently pulled her hand back. Austin’s lips twitched slightly, saying nothing, and continued gently applying medicine to her face.
His gentle touch and the absence of the tense atmosphere at the Bennett residence made Emily slowly close her eyes.
Feeling her steady breathing, Austin draped his jacket over her, his hands moving even more gently, never pausing. She slowly closed her eyes and fell asleep before she knew it.
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