After a while, Jacob closed his eyes and then asked coldly, "Emily, are you sure?"
"Yes. I am sure. I am ready," Emily nodded firmly.
Jacob let out a taunting laughter but there was no trace of pleasure that could be found on his face.
"Emily, are you a masochist? Why do you enjoy getting hurt?"
"I don't like being hurt, but I love you very much. That's all," Emily said sincerely, her eyes resting.
Jacob held her gaze, but instead of the warmth of a lover it was with an icy hostility, as if nothing could
melt his cold heart. But his eyes betrayed him, desperately trying to avoid being seen by her.
'Sweet words are poisonous, so I must resist her temptation to avoid being deceived.' Jacob kept
reminding himself.
"It's such a pity! I don't love you any more," Jacob answered contemptuously as he stroked Emily's chin
gently. However, he couldn't help locking his eyes at Emily as if she was drawing him closer like a black
hole. Despite his efforts to turn her down, his words contradicted his actions.
"It doesn't matter. I don't care whether you love me back or not." Emily fought off the tears to keep a
calm disposition, even though she was deeply hurt by Jacob. After a while, she added, "My wound is
getting worse because of you. You should be responsible for your actions. Would you kindly dress the
wound for me?"
"Are you serious? No! I am not going to do that," Jacob said angrily.
What was wrong with her? Why should he be responsible for her?
Emily was on the verge of fainting when he cleaned her wound just moments ago. How could she
forget so soon? Now she wanted him to dress the wound again. Was she not afraid of the pain?
Jacob wanted to call a doctor for her, but she wouldn't let him. The pain must be getting to her head,
making her think irrationally.
"I only want you to dress the wound for me," Emily insisted.
In truth, Jacob didn't want to see Emily suffer unnecessarily due to his inadequacy. After all, he suffered
through all her pains just the same. Having her best interest at heart, he decided to call a doctor to
dress her wound, but she downright refused him!
Jacob wanted to get revenge on Emily, but not in this way.
"Emily, did you hurt yourself on purpose? You hurt yourself deliberately and then led me to rip off the
bandage, didn't you? You wanted me to feel guilty. Was that your real intention?" Jacob looked down
on her with disgust. Jacob was deliberately talking down to her to provoke her.
He thought he would be able to drive her away if he managed to get under her skin.
"Whatever, I don't want to explain myself anymore," Emily said peacefully, without any trace of
indignation.
She had grown accustomed to being wronged by Jacob.
Jacob didn't get the sense of satisfaction he was expecting. Instead, there was great discomfort in his
heart. He stood up and walked away without a word, tearing himself away from Emily as soon as he
could.
Emily watched Jacob walk away and she could hardly think of a time when she felt this helpless.
Everything she did was to get close to Jacob only so she could repair their relationship.
She would happily bear the pain of the wound just as long as she could win Jacob back.
She was willing to do anything so long as Jacob would stop ignoring her. All she wanted now was his
forgiveness. But why couldn't Jacob understand her?
Just outside the study, Jacob slammed his fist to the wall, causing a loud noise to reverberate across
the hallway.
Jacob couldn't understand what was wrong with him.
Why was he starting to feel pity for Emily all of a sudden?
Did she really do it on purpose? 'She was just using her weakness to show that she still loved me, but
actually, she was luring me into her trap step by step.' Jacob went on in his head.
If what he had guessed somehow turned out to be true, he'd have to admit that she was the most
complicated woman he had ever known in his life.
Jacob had been confident about his firm sense of self-control and willpower, but now he wavered.
Emily was his Achilles' heel. In spite of his efforts, he couldn't keep himself from wanting to get close to
Emily every time he was in her presence.
It was almost as if he no longer was in control of his own mind. 'No! I must resist the temptation.
I need to stay as far away as possible from that vicious woman.'
Since, Emily wasn't going to tell him the truth about how she got injured, he would have to make a
thorough investigation on his own.
Soon, the doctor arrived, following Jacob's order. He cleaned the wound for Emily and then dressed it
properly within minutes.
The following days passed slowly and as Emily hadn't seen Jacob since their last meeting, she was
certain that he was avoiding her deliberately.
Although they lived in the same house, she hardly saw him, let alone have a private conversation with
him.
Having run out of patience, Emily decided to break the deadlock, otherwise all her effort up until now
would have been in vain.
Besides, she was running out of time.
She felt determined to act fast and take further action.
One night, Jacob went back home late, seemingly exhausted.
As he entered the living room, he laid eyes on a lean figure lying on the sofa. Jacob walked over to
take a closer look and found that it was Emily. She was breathing evenly in her sleep. Had she been
waiting for him?
Looking at Emily's fragile face, Jacob felt a surge of guilt flash through his cold heart. His refusal to see
her these past few days must have upset her.
Feeling guilty, Jacob sighed and frowned. He went to fetch a quilt from his bedroom and carefully put it
over Emily as he didn't want her to catch a cold.
Emily sensed that someone was putting a quilt over her body and she woke up. She fluttered her
sleepy eyes slowly and found Jacob standing in front of her.
"Jacob, you've finally come back," Emily murmured.
Jacob must have been drinking again because she could smell the stench of alcohol on him from a
mile away. "Have you been drinking?" Emily looked up to him, feeling concerned.
"Yes," Jacob replied shortly. He had no intentions of conversing with her, but after just one look from
Emily's appealing eyes, his defenses fell apart almost immediately.
Emily got up to fix her dress and pat her frizzled hair down. "I've prepared dinner for you, but it may
have gotten cold. I will heat it up really quick," she said softly.
Jacob was deeply moved by her concern for him, but he still gave her the cold shoulder. "I have
reminded you several times that we have servants for that. There's no need for you to bother yourself.
Why do you refuse to listen to me? You need to think about your wound!" Jacob raised his voice as he
pointed at her wounded hand, which hadn't healed yet.
"I wanted to cook something nice for you. It was my choice, and it has nothing to do with the servants,"
Emily replied and smiled at him.
Jacob stood there silently as though he had no snarky comebacks to throw at Emily. After a while, he
changed the topic. "By the way, I have found the person responsible for your wound. Don't you want to
know how she is now?"
"No, I don't want to hear that right now." Emily shook her head slightly. Her eyes shifted to the side and
her lower lip quivered as words slowly made their way out of her mouth. "The only thing I want to know
is why you have been hiding from me all these days?"
"Don't be ridiculous! Why would I hide from you? I don't know what you're talking about." Jacob raised
his voice again, as if trying to cover up his anxiety. Once again, he returned to the topic of her wound,
attempting to distract her attention. "I have already punished that woman for you," he said coldly.
That was Jacob's modus operandi: ruthless and cold. He would never allow anyone to hurt Emily and
get away with it. No matter who that person was, he or she would have to face Jacob's wrath if they
ever did anything to harm his woman.
However, this time, it seemed as though Bonnie had paid a heavier price than usual for her treachery
against Emily. Jacob wouldn't have cared if it were anyone else, but the moment Bonnie had crossed
Emily, her fate was sealed.
It came as no surprise that Emily didn't want to know what had happened to Bonnie. "You didn't answer
my question. Why have you been hiding from me?" Emily asserted her question firmly.
Jacob still refused to give her an answer. "Emily, I want to make one thing very clear to you. As long as
you are my woman, no one, will be allowed to hurt you or harm you in any way. Except me. You belong
to me, mind, body and soul. Even you, yourself no longer have the right to bring harm upon yourself.
Do you understand?"
After making his point, Jacob then turned around to leave.
Emily wasn't irritated by his arrogance because she knew that Jacob wanted what was best for her,
and his bark was worse than his bite. She stopped Jacob and gently said, "As you wish. Well, why
don't you have dinner first before going to bed?"
Jacob paused and turned around to Emily. "I said, no!" He stormed out of the room.
Did she just ignore everything he had said? Did she just cast aside his words as if they were rubbish?
Emily really hit a nerve this time! Anger boiled deep inside Jacob, churning within like hot lava and
hungry for destruction.
Emily, however, understood that he was only angry because he cared for her from the bottom of his
heart. With a satisfied smile on her face, Emily stared at Jacob's back, feeling warm.
Jacob went to the study and opened the windows to get some air. A minute ago he felt like he was
being swallowed by his darkness, but the cold breeze felt like it was flowing through his veins, calming
him from head to toe. Having the anger dissipate in him felt nice, and he decided to take a shower
before calling it a night.
As he stepped into the bathroom, a faint, unfamiliar fragrance invaded his senses.
The unfamiliar fragrance made him feel relaxed, but it also aroused his vigilance. Where was that smell
coming from? He was certain that it couldn't be his perfume or his shower gel, or else he would have
known.
The fragrance emitted a refreshing scent, making him feel as though he was standing in the sunlight
and enjoying the beauty of nature with a gentle breeze caressing his face.
The sound of water flowing from the faucet brought him back to his senses.
'Who dares to take a bath in my bathroom?' Jacob wondered.
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