CHAPTER 32. Too tired

After class in the afternoon, Paula traveled to the sanotarium by bus. After asking Mark not to send Robert, she was determined to go by bus every day.

She was too sleepy, so she fell asleep on the bus. When she woke up, the bus had arrived at the last stop.

Helpless, she could only use a safety pin to prick her palm while reminding herself not to fall asleep.

Despite this, she arrived late at the sanatorium.

"Why did you come so late?"

Leah turned her gaze toward Paula before handing her a pile of dirty sheets. "Go and wash them."

Paula nodded. When she arrived at the laundry, she found that the power to all the washing machines had been cut off.

She could only go back and look for Leah.

"You can come for the next two days. So wash by hand."

Leah sneered at him. "Arthur said you were very capable. Could it be that you can't even do something as trivial as washing sheets? Although you can earn a lot of money by working part-time here, we don't make people lazy."

Paula nodded. "Alright."

Leaning against the door, Leah watched as Paula took care of the laundry. Inevitably, she recalled the scene where Arthur had brought Paula home the night before.

"Are you trying to take my lover away from me?" Leah sneered. "You're still so young."

Paula didn't hear Leah's words; she was focused on her laundry.

Leah gave Paula a lot of sheets, but Paula grew up in the village. She usually uses her hands to wash clothes, so it wasn't too difficult for her to wash them by hand.

The difficult thing was that she had to wash the sheets because she was so tired and sleepy. By the time she finished washing the sheets, she was so sleepy that she almost fell into the bucket.

"You only washed one sheet. How could you be so tired that you fell asleep?"

She heard Leah's sarcastic comment from the sidelines. "Paula, I bragged to the boss that you're very capable. Don't let me down."

"Mmm." Paula looked up and smiled at Leah. "I'll do my best."

After she said that, she poured cold water into her hand to pat her forehead and encouraged herself to continue working.

However, the effect of the cold water waned.

After that, he started using the thumbtacks that he kept in his pocket to prick himself every time he fell asleep.

In this way, he spent the entire afternoon in the sanatorium with a confused head.

On her way home in the evening, as usual, she bumped into Arthur, who was driving a car.

"It's getting late. You haven't eaten yet, have you?"

Paula did not refuse Arthur's offer to go home. Her body already felt very tired today.

Seeing Paula sitting in the passenger seat looking tired, Arthur frowned slightly. "Can I invite you to eat?"

Paula said no with her head. "Sir, just take me home. Someone has to wait for me for dinner."

Paula was very upset at the thought that, when she got home, she would have to face Mark, who was waiting for her to feed her and help her take a bath.

Someone was waiting for her at home for dinner.

Paula's words made Arthur's hand stiffen slightly as he gripped the steering wheel.

Feeling regretful, he saw Paula's pale and tired face in the rear-view mirror. "You work too much. Is it worth it?"

Arthur thought Paula should live a life of luxury after marrying a rich old man.

'Isn't it true that everyone claims that older men know more about how to adore their wives? Could it be that this old man was reluctant to give her money and even harassed her?'

Paula leaned back, exhausted. She didn't even have enough strength to speak, let alone the humor to talk so much nonsense with Arthur. "Sir, I'm too tired. I'm going to sleep for a while."

Having said that, she closed her eyes, leaned back in the chair, and soon fell asleep. Not having had a good rest for a whole day, and even having done manual labor for that long at the sanatorium.

It felt completely drained of energy.

Sitting in the driver's seat, Arthur looked at the young woman's tired face from the rear-view mirror. He felt very uneasy.

At the junction to Villa Swanlake, just as he was about to turn, he made a difficult decision and drove in the opposite direction.

He had done too much for her, but the old man didn't deserve her at all.

"She came home very late, but he didn't even call her. He probably has other women around him, and that's why he doesn't appreciate her at all, right?"

That made Arthur feel more righteous and comfortable.

The man's voice was cold and arrogant. Even without anger, he sounded dignified. Through the waves of the phone, one could also feel his domineering and harsh aura.

Before long, Paula's mobile phone rang, and it instantly made Arthur take her call.

After a pause, Arthur began to fidget, and in a trembling voice, he asked, "Who are you?"

"I'm sure you already know."

Compared to Arthur's anxiety, the man on the other end of the phone was so calm that it was frightening: "Obviously you knew she was married, but you took the risk of bringing her home when she was sleeping. Mr. Smith, if Paula finds out about your behavior, do you think she will continue to call you respectfully as her superior in the future?"

His voice was serious and calm, and he didn't seem to be Paula's husband but just an observer.

However, those words caused a stir in Arthur's heart.

Arthur gritted his teeth and asked, "You... Are you aware of my relationship with Paula?"

"You are the man who dared to date my wife one day after their wedding. How could she not be aware of their relationship?"

The man on the other end of the line had a voice so cold and deep that it made people shudder.

"Since you were once the boss she respected, I can give you a chance. I'll give you ten seconds to consider. Do you want to send him back to Swanlake Villa, or are you going to challenge my limits?"

Arthur's forehead was covered with light sweat.

"Who are you really? Paula's husband is just an old "nouveau riche"!"

'How could a human have a voice like this, with an extraordinary aura like this?

"An old nouveau riche." The man repeated it in a low voice before laughing.

"This is probably the most unusual comment I've ever heard. You still have seven seconds left."

"Six, five, four, three..."

"I'll send him home!"

Not that Arthur was a coward, but it was simply not worth it for him to take that kind of risk for a married woman like Paula.

He took a deep breath and hung up before turning the car around and driving back to Swanlake Villa.

Seeing the white car drive away, a young man dressed in white who was hiding under a street lamp snorted. He then returned the man's woman.

****

"I'm so hungry..."

Aliston House.

Paula woke up to the delicious smell of cooking.

"Are you awake?"

She heard Mark's cold and indifferent voice. Paula was stunned. Only then did she get up from the table.

She realized that she had been sitting in the dining room with her whole body slumped over the table.

The man, whose eyes were covered in black silk, was sitting in the chair opposite her, gracefully holding his teacup and enjoying his drink.

He was really hungry. "Can I eat first?"

"Of course, you have to feed me first before I can eat." Mark gave a small smile. "It should be like this, right?"

Frowning, Paula felt a little annoyed, but didn't express it.

Paula took a deep breath before forcing herself to stand up. Then she sat next to Mark to feed him.

After he was satisfied, he began to devour the food.

However, just as she finished eating, he started complaining and asked her to take him upstairs to take a shower and lie down.

Despite Paula's inner reluctance, she obediently pushed past him to take the lift upstairs.

Sitting in the bathtub, she almost fell into the tub a few times due to exhaustion. Even so, she always regained consciousness due to a harsh reminder.

"Are you still tired of your revision?"

Leaning against the bathtub, Mark looked at her with sunken eyes. "Maybe you can tell me about the difficulties you're facing."

Paula stared at him. After a moment, she gently shook her head. "There's no need. I can handle it myself."

Paula's bold behavior caused a silent anger to appear in Mark's eyes.

He returned the bath towel Paula had just given him. "I think you didn't clean me well. Do it again!"

Paula didn't expect Mark to ask her to wash him again.

The fatigue she had been experiencing for a few days was finally too much for her, and she then replied. "I think I've cleaned you up."

"I told you to do it again!"

There was a hint of anger in the man's heavy voice.

Having no other choice, Paula released the water in the bathtub. After that, she obediently filled it back up with water.

Throughout the whole process, Mark sat aside and sneered.

He was waiting for her to beg for mercy. He wanted her to be so tired and devoid of energy that she would then tell him everything she was hiding from him.

However, Paula did not say anything.

"It's ready."

She tested the temperature of the water in the bathtub before looking at him with a bright smile on her face. "Get in."

Feeling a little nervous, the man lifted his leg and stepped into the bathtub. He lowered his head and then took a towel from the side to rub it carefully.

Although his strength was weaker than before, he still had no intention of begging for mercy.

The man narrowed his eyes. After he did so, he looked at her thin and pale face. He still wouldn't let her go. "You still have to bathe me again."

No matter how stupid she was, Paula already realized that she was doing it on purpose.

"Did I do something wrong?"

Mark snorted before pointing to the bathtub and saying, "Fill it up again."

Gritting her teeth, Paula felt that all her strength had been drained. Nonetheless, she stubbornly filled the bathtub with water. Then she tested the water temperature and helped him in.

"Again."

Gritting her teeth, Paula felt like all her strength had been drained. Nonetheless, she stubbornly kept filling the bathtub with water. Then she tested the water temperature and helped him in.

"Again!"

"Again!"

"Not yet."

As Paula was filling the bathtub with water for the umpteenth time, she finally fainted and fell into it.