Chapter 138
“I don’t need anyone! I can support myself! My future has nothing to do with any of you Bennetts!” Elena burst out, her eyes wide with
agitation.
“Sis, please don’t be like this! I know you blame me give me a chance to make things right, okay? Mom, Dad, Julian, talk to her! I’m only doing this for her own good!” Annabelle pleaded.
Adaline frowned but said nothing.
She truly didn’t know whether letting Elena leave or forcing her to stay would hurt her less.
“Sis and I both have nothing left. Can’t we just take care of her for the rest of her life?” Annabelle sobbed, eyes brimming with pity as she
looked at Elena.
She played the role of the world’s sweetest little sister to perfection.
“Sis, will you forgive me?”
Elena stared at that false face and those venomous eyes, aching to tear them apart.
Swinging her legs off the bed, she lunged. “Annabelle Bennett, shut up! I don’t want to see you. Get out!”
Victor instinctively threw an arm in front of Annabelle.
Julian Bennett was perched on the edge of the bed; when he saw Elena Bennett suddenly hurl herself forward as if to fight, he grabbed her in alarm and barked, “Elena! What on earth are you doing?”
“Go get the registration papers–now!” Elena screamed hysterically, her fingers digging so hard into Julian’s arm that he could feel her nails through the cloth.
“Julian, we can’t let Elena be left out in the cold all by herself!” Annie cried.
Elena squeezed her eyes shut, fury consuming her features. “Julian Bennett–you all knew that painting was mine! Yet you branded me a
be satisfied only after you shackle me to the Bennett house and beat me to plagiarist. You hospitalized me twice to shield her name. Will you death?”
Every shrill accusation landed like a knife, slicing open Julian’s conscience.
Julian forced her back onto the mattress and warned, “Elena, you’re still injured–settle down! Nobody wants to hurt you. Annie was right; if you move your registration out, people will say the Bennetts cast you out. Stay home. Since you claim we ruined your future as an artist, then I’ll spend the rest of my life providing for you.”
Elena’s eyelids slid shut in agony; not even the torment she’d endured at the prison could compare to the soul–rending pain the Bennett family now inflicted.
Without warning she ripped the IV line from her hand and bolted out of the ward.
“Elena Bennett, where are you going?” Victor Whitmore roared, sprinting after her with Julian close behind.
Elena careened down the stairs, desperate to escape–anywhere, as long as it was far from a single Bennett face. Stumbling outpatient building, she slammed into a solid chest. Her teary vision cleared just enough to see the man standing before her.
the
“Simon Whitmore…” She clutched his arm as though it were the last raft on a storm–tossed sea. “Simon, take me away–please, get me out of here!” Tears streaked her pallid cheeks; in her eyes lay nothing but bottomless, bone–deep despair.
Chapter 138
His heart seized, as though an invisible hand had tightened around it.
Without a single question he swept her into his arms, pressed a soft kiss against her temple, and murmured, “All right. Fu lake you awa forever.” Still holding her hand, he guided her toward his cat.
“Stop right there!” A low voice cut through the air. Victor Whitmore strode over, his gaze dark as thunder. “Where do you think you’re rowing
her?”
Simon’s half–lidded black eyes glinted with a smile that never reached his voice. “None of your business.”
AD
Sara Lili is a daring romance writer who turns icy landscapes into scenes of fiery passion. She loves crafting hot love stories while embracing the chill of Iceland’s breathtaking cold.