CHAPTER 16. Flogging

Mark smiled helplessly. "So you're okay?"

"I'm fine." Paula put down her razor.

"I believed you when you said that you would protect me from now on."

Sophie was silent. She coughed slightly before picking up her bag and heading to the hall to sort out the things she had taken and put them away.

"Pau, are you okay?" Tears filled Charlotte's eyes as she watched Paula pack up her things.

She said, "I'm so worried; she's..."

Charlotte didn't continue her statement. It was because she clearly felt that Mark, who was next to Paula, had a very dangerous aura.

Charlotte bit her lip and then said goodbye to Paula silently before leaving.

Mark didn't say anything all the way from the university to the mansion.

Paula wanted to tell him something several times, but she didn't know what. Therefore, she could only remain silent.

Back at the mansion, the first thing Paula wanted to do was slowly put back together the certificates that had been torn apart by William.

It was quite easy to collect the damaged certificates. However, more than half of the cards that her mother had written on the scrapbook for her had been burned and destroyed. It was very difficult to recover them.

Sitting in front of the table, she lamented over the album that had been burned and damaged. Inwardly, she repeatedly cursed William. After swearing at him, she was about to put the album away when a card fell out of it.

She picked it up and wanted to put it back into the album, but realized that there was actually something in the middle of the card; it was an old photo of a child.

More than half of the photo had been burned.

Paula stared at the card for a long time, trying to recognize the boy. However, she could not remember the boy. Therefore, she carefully put the photo into an album and put it away.

into an album and put it away.

When she gets the chance, she will definitely ask her mom about it. Why was there someone else's photo on the card he gave her?

By the time she finally finished everything, it was already dark. Kelley knocked on her door. "Mum, grandpa Aliston called and asked you to return to the old residence with Mr. Mark. Please be prepared."

Sophie looked up at that moment. It was eight o'clock in the evening, but Grandpa Aliston wanted her and her husband there at that time."

Vaguely, she had a bad feeling.

By the time she changed, Mark was already waiting for her in the car.

"Grandpa has asked us to go there very late at night... Could it be related to William's incident today?"

She asked as she got into the car.

"Of course."

There was a hint of disappointment in Mark's heavy voice.

"I told you many people would blame you if William got hurt."

Having said that, he tilted his head, looking at her with eyes covered in black silk. "Are you afraid?"

"No." Paula shook her head.

"I didn't do anything wrong."

"There are many things that cannot be defined by right and wrong." Mark shook his head. His answer seemed to be between tears and laughter.

"Paula, is your world so simple that there is only right and wrong?"

Paula nodded. "If it's not right, it's wrong. If it's not bad, it's good. Isn't the world like that? My teacher said that no one cares about your mental progress and experience during the exam. The leaderboard will only look at the final result. Either it's right or wrong."

She is so innocent that she looks like a girl who has never experienced worldly affairs.

No, she isn't. She really could be a girl who had not suffered any worldly affairs.

Mark sighed softly. Then he stroked her soft hair. "A disposition like yours is rare."

Paula didn't know whether he was praising her or criticizing her. Therefore, she became gloomy and remained silent.

They soon arrived at the Aliston family's old residence.

It was now past nine in the evening. Usually, the lights in the old residence went out at that time. However, the house was very bright tonight.

Paula pushed Mark's wheelchair, and they arrived at the old residence. William covered his bandaged chest and sat on the sofa while Milley fed him some fruit.

When he saw Paula, he immediately started crying. "Grandpa, you have to be fair to me!"

Milley also started crying. "Dad, that bitch is here! You have to seek justice for William!"

Her wailing was so exaggerated that it was like people kneeling to overcome the evil of an ancient masked drama.

Meanwhile, Aliston's grandfather was sitting at the chessboard, playing with Zerrick. As the mother and son began to wail, the chess piece in Grandpa Aliston's hand turned, and he made the wrong move. He was quickly defeated by Zerrick.

"I won again." Zerrick chuckled. He then asked Grandpa Aliston to stand up.

"Dad, Mark, and Paula are here. You should go and get to work."

Grandpa Aliston raised his head and glanced at Paula, who was pushing Mark towards the house. He frowned in a slightly visible way.

Then he got up, and his voice was strong and clear.

"Come with me!"

Grandpa Aliston brought a group of people and went straight up to a room at the end of the second floor.

As soon as the butler opened the door, Paula realized that it was a huge ancestral room. Many statues were worshipped there.

"Paula!"

Grandpa Aliston said it directly.

"Yes," Paula replied, letting go of the wheelchair handle.

"Come here and kneel down!"

Grandpa Aliston spoke sternly and pointed to the prayer mat next to him.

Although Paula had no idea what he meant, she still knelt down obediently out of respect for someone older.

As she knelt down, she could clearly feel Milley laughing in satisfaction.

Zaz!

Immediately, the butler next to her took out a whip and hit Paula hard on the back.

Paula could barely kneel down due to the sharp pain from the lash.

She bit her lip and said it stubbornly. "Grandfather, I don't know what wrong I have done to suffer this kind of punishment."

"You seduced William, and because William disobeyed you, you did something to him!"

Milley ground his teeth. "You started seducing Mark's cousin when you had just married him! How can you be so shameless and even dare to say you didn't know what you were doing wrong?"

Paula endured the excruciating pain and smiled. "Aunty, you said that I seduced William. Do you have any proof?"

"Do I need proof?" Milley snorted, 

"Everyone here can testify for Vernon!"

Having said this, he coldly glared at the butler holding the whip. "What are you waiting for?! Hit him!"

Hearing his order, the butler did it again. And he took another hit.

With those two lashes, Paula's white T-shirt was torn, exposing the skin and flesh inside. It was obvious that the butler had used great force.

On the other hand, Paula, who was kneeling on the ground, endured the cruel lashes without hiding or dodging.

She growled, "I did not seduce William, nor did I intentionally hurt him.

"How can you still be so stubborn?"

Milley gave her a sharp look. She then turned around and glanced at the butler holding the whip. "Keep going!"

Seeing that the butler was about to hit him for the third time, Mark, who had been silent all this time, spoke lightly.

"Grandpa hasn't said anything yet, but you hit him again and again. Zack, do you take my grandfather's or my aunt's word for it?"