Chapter 82

Chapter 82

I looked at her coldly: "I thought the day you came to my manor with Marcus, you already knew very clearly what my bottom line was."

"You sold me a useful piece of information before, and I was willing to give you everything we agreed on."

"But you just had to court death and come after my people."

Hearing my words, Catherine's face darkened slightly.

Clearly, she could sense that I was furious at this moment.

I looked at the four men still pinned to the ground, my eyes cold and menacing. "Want to live?"

The four men quickly answered in unison: "Yeah!"

I said coldly: "Then do as I say."

The four men nodded repeatedly.

My gaze moved back to Catherine's face. "Didn't you want to torture my people to death?"

My tone was terrifyingly calm. "That treatment is all yours to enjoy now."

Hearing my words, Catherine's pupils dilated sharply.

She understood what I meant - I was going to have those men do the same to her, torture her to death.

"No," her voice trembled, "you can't do this to me!"

I said casually, "You can go after my people, but I can't touch you?"

I added: "Anyway, you're the one who found these men. I'm sure they'll satisfy you."

Catherine's expression tightened: "James, if you dare touch me, the King family won't let you get away with this."

I said coldly: "Do it!"

As soon as the words left my mouth, I turned and left the abandoned factory.

Did she really think the King family could do anything to me?

Behind me came Catherine's miserable screams and the sound of fabric being torn.

When my car slowly pulled into The Smith Manor, night had completely fallen over the land, and the clock hands pointed to eight in the evening.

Kai was already waiting at the manor entrance.

The car came to a steady stop. I pushed open the door, and Kai immediately stepped forward to report: "Mr. Smith, Catherine is dead."

I got out of the car calmly, my tone unruffled as I instructed: "Dump the body at the gate of the King Manor."

Kai frowned slightly and asked an extra question: "Mr. Smith, is this to provoke the King family openly?"

I smiled lightly and asked him back: "Catherine is dead. Do you think the King family members can't guess it was me?"

The implication was obvious - whether I dumped the body or not, the King family would point the finger at me.

In that case, I might as well use this corpse to teach the King family a harsh lesson.

Kai seemed to read my mind - this was what they call adding insult to injury, twisting the knife after the blow.

He seemed somewhat uncertain and continued asking: "Mr. Smith, what should we do with those four men at the abandoned factory?"

I showed an impatient expression.

Kill them all, of course.

Kai immediately understood and nodded: "I'll arrange it right away."

He paused, then continued reporting, "Mr. Smith, George, and Raymond failed to protect Ms. Thorne this time. I've already sent them back to receive their punishment."

At this moment, I was anxious and only wanted to see Ella quickly. I had no mind to listen to Kai's unimportant reports.

"Kai, why are you so long-winded today?" After saying this, I strode toward the manor.

"Mr. Smith..." Kai frowned helplessly, standing in place.

As soon as I entered the manor, Sophia came up to me and said respectfully, "Mr. Smith, you're back?"

I asked impatiently: "Where's Ella?"

Sophia quickly answered: "Ms. Thorne's injuries are all external. The doctor has given her medicine to take, and I've applied the ointment for her. After that, she locked herself in her room. No matter who knocks, she won't open the door."

I walked quickly to Ella's door and tried turning the doorknob, only to find it locked.

My instinct was to break it down directly, but at the moment I lifted my foot, I held back.

I raised my hand and knocked gently on the door, calling out: "Ella, open the door."

There was no response from inside the room.

I suppressed the urge to break down the door and knocked again, adding weight to my tone: "Ella, did you hear me? I'm telling you to open the door."

Still no sound.

I stepped back two paces, just about to break down the door regardless.

The door slowly opened from inside, and Ella's figure appeared before me.

She looked so weak, her face covered in bruises.

My heart clenched. I felt so sorry for her.

She must have just finished bathing, wearing loose home clothes.

Perhaps too rushed, two buttons at her collar were left undone, and water droplets hanging from her hair slid down her soft chest and disappeared into her clothes.

I instinctively reached out and buttoned up her undone buttons one by one, then pulled her into my arms.

My palm gently covered her head, pressing her face tightly against my chest.

My fingers slipped into her soft hair, stroking gently, trying to comfort her.

Ella didn't struggle, just stood there looking lost.

I coaxed her softly: "It's okay now. Those who hurt you have all been punished."

Ella showed no reaction. Naturally, she didn't know what my punishment meant.

I gently picked her up, walked into the room, and closed the door with my foot.

I placed her on the sofa, my hands braced on the back of the sofa, looking at her intently.

Honestly, when it came to comforting people, I really had no skills.

It wasn't that I hadn't tried to comfort Ella before, but each time I seemed to make things worse and ended up making her cry instead.

The result was that it was better not to try at all.

Since I couldn't comfort her, I'd just change the subject.

I touched her eyebrow and asked softly: "Tell me, what were you going to buy at the mall today?"

Only then did Ella speak quietly: "I was going to buy you a birthday present."

I nodded, waiting for her to continue.

"Then I couldn't find the same one in the store," Ella continued, "and the staff said to take a photo and send it to them, and they'd help me find it."

I raised my eyebrows slightly, took out my phone from my pocket, unlocked it, and handed it to her.

Then I straightened up slightly, lifted the hem of my shirt, revealing the belt at my waist and my firm abs, and said: "Go ahead and take the photo."

Ella held my phone, staring blankly without moving.

I took her hand, opened the phone's camera, and pressed the shutter.

After taking the photo, I sent it to her phone.

It seemed changing the subject was quite effective. I felt Ella's mood had improved somewhat.

I asked her softly, "When those people were doing that to you just now, were you scared?"

Ella frowned. My question seemed somewhat unnecessary.

What girl wouldn't be scared in that situation?

I held her soft body tightly, gently pulled her into my arms, gazed at her, slowly lifted her chin, and leaned down to kiss her tenderly.

This kiss was different from the passionate urgency of the past, but full of carefulness and tenderness.

Our bodies pressed close together. I breathed in the faint scent of her body wash, watched the moisture gradually filling her eyes, and felt her body trembling slightly.

I gently yet greedily absorbed her breath, exploring every inch between her lips and teeth.

After who knows how long, I gently released her and asked softly, "What about when I do this to you? Are you still scared?"