Chapter 44: Nick's Secret from Five Years Ago

Nick's eyes darted nervously over my face. When he saw my surprised yet composed expression, his own demeanor shifted to one of pain and inner turmoil.

"Anna, you saw it, didn't you?" Nick's arm wrapped around my shoulder, pulling me into his embrace.

My clothes were torn apart in an instant, and he rubbed himself between my legs a few times before thrusting inside me fiercely.

"Anna, tell me!" Nick demanded, thrusting violently.

I was on his lap, my whole body trembling with each thrust. As I lost my balance and fell backward, he thrust in that direction again, and when I lost my balance completely, he held my waist firmly.

I didn't dare answer him directly. Suddenly, I understood why Nick almost always only took off my clothes during sex while barely undressing himself.

The realization sent a chill down my spine. This level of secrecy might be enough to give him the motive to silence me.

Nick thrust into me again, pushing deeper and stretching me more than before. Then he fully inserted himself into my body, making me tremble with the impact.

Nick continuously stimulated the most sensitive part deep inside me, sometimes gently touching, sometimes grinding, and sometimes rubbing, almost driving me insane.

"Nick!" I tried to stop him, but it was useless.

He moved with relentless intensity, as if he was determined to extract every ounce of response from me, with me sitting on him, one leg wrapped around his waist from the stimulation.

His hand reached over to support my buttocks, adjusting my position as he fucked me, trying to make himself more comfortable.

"You clearly hate me, so why are you so good to me?" Nick questioned me while thrusting wildly, staring into my eyes.

I was silent for a moment, and then the hospital room door suddenly opened.

Nick's blanket instantly covered me; luckily, the hospital bed had curtains, so no one saw us going at it like crazy.

Emma's voice came from outside the curtain. "Nick, I heard you got hurt falling down the stairs, so I made some bone broth; would you like to have some while it's still warm?"

She walked up and was about to lift the curtain, but Nick pulled her back from inside. "No, I'm busy."

"Are you bored in the hospital? I brought a few friends to visit you." Another more melodious voice came from outside; it was Ella.

Since being betrayed by Danial, I had deliberately paid attention to the voices of the blonde girls around him.

Even at this moment, Nick was still pressed closely against my body, slowly thrusting into me.

Emma seemed afraid that Ella would completely steal the spotlight in front of Nick, so she quickly spoke to him enthusiastically. "By the way, Nick, I sent you a message earlier about Anna. Remember to check it."

After she finished speaking, Nick seemed afraid I would be unhappy. His fingers brushed over my body, and his thrusting suddenly sped up. The sudden rapid attack almost made me cry out, but he tightly covered my lips from behind.

"You all should go back." Nick's voice carried a hint of seriousness.

Emma replied regretfully, "Alright then, we'll come see you next time. The broth is on the table; remember to drink it while it's hot."

"Goodbye, Nick, make sure to rest well!" Ella's voice was sweeter than usual.

I remembered a time when Ella wore the same lingerie as Emma to invite Nick, and I suspected that this time she also hoped to spend the night with him. After they left, Nick seemed to lose control after holding back for so long.

The room was filled with rhythmic sounds as his thighs slammed into mine, his penis buried deep inside me with each thrust. He buried his head in my chest, his tousled hair tickling my skin.

"Anna, why don't you ever like me? You still haven't told me why you protected me last night?" Nick, usually so smooth and confident, now seemed like a boy who had never been in love.

I quickly pushed him away helplessly. "If I knew protecting you would result in being raped by you in the hospital, I definitely wouldn't have done it."

Nick grabbed my hand. "I do seem like a bastard in every way. But when I was young, my mother only took Isaac and Leon and never cared about me."

Hearing this, I was stunned; thinking of the slave brand on Nick, I felt inexplicably sad, not knowing what Nick had gone through.

"Nick, what were you doing at eleven?" I lay under him, tentatively grabbing his bandage.

"Going to school. With Isaac and Leon gone, all the elders and teachers in the tribe had to teach only me." Nick had a forced smile on his face.

"And at twelve?" I gathered the courage to ask again.

The blurriness of the brand on his body showed it wasn't a new mark; it seemed to have been there for many years.

"The same old thing." Nick shrugged nonchalantly.

I hesitated for a moment, then asked, "What about at thirteen?"

Nick's expression became particularly calm. "I became the best thief in Kyle City. If I didn't steal enough every day, I would get beaten."

I didn't expect such grim and twisted things to have happened to him, and couldn't help but ask, "And then..."

Nick answered frankly, "I got caught up in the best casino in Kyle City, and a man took an interest in me. To keep him at bay, I helped him win sixteen times the chips at the poker table that night.

"Then I learned to disguise myself as various identities, infiltrated some organizations or companies, and built an intelligence network for him. Since then, I focused on being an intelligence dealer."

I looked at him in shock; though he could speak of it calmly, the countless hardships he must have endured in the process were hard for anyone but him to know, even hard to imagine.

"Is that man still in Kyle City?" I asked.

"No, he never stopped exploiting me, but also coveted the huge profits I could bring him. I killed him when I was sixteen and took his place. Before he died, he even begged me to spare his life and gave me a top-secret message about my family." Nick replied.