Chapter 50
Ella was too weak, and her words came out slurred.
The doctor didn't catch what she said.
He didn't pay her much attention either. After treating her injuries and setting up the IV drip, he left.
Soon after, another person entered the hospital room.
He looked about twenty-four or twenty-five, dressed in casual black clothing, with a tall and well-proportioned figure and clean, handsome features.
But his bewitching smile made him look wild and unrestrained.
He walked straight to the bedside, looking down at Ella on the bed.
Ella looked back at him.
He seemed somewhat familiar to her.
Like she'd seen him somewhere before.
But Ella couldn't quite remember.
She wondered, could he be the one who saved her?
Ella opened her mouth. Having no strength at all, her voice came out broken and halting.
"Thank you for saving me. My Aurora, is she okay?"
Just that short sentence took tremendous effort.
Perhaps because her body hurt so much, Ella's forehead was covered in sweat from the discomfort.
"What Aurora?"
Michael Johnson raised his eyebrows, leaning in to stare at Ella with a cunning smile.
"Ella, don't you remember me? I'm your slave."
That one phrase—"I'm your slave"—instantly exploded Ella's terrible memories that had been sealed away for years.
The person in front of her was Michael?
That child from a wealthy family who suffered from paranoid schizophrenia, sent by his family to recuperate in the countryside, living in a castle next to their village.
That year Ella was seven. She had simply passed by a river and pulled Michael out of the water.
And then she could never shake off this devil.
Ella clearly remembered how as a child, Michael would drag her into his castle and lock her up for a week at a time.
In the castle, he would always call her "master." He would kneel before her and crawl like a dog, make her pat his head.
Make her ride him like a horse.
If Ella refused to play those games with him, Michael would go crazy and hit her.
If her grandfather hadn't brought the police to the door, he wouldn't have been willing to let her go.
Later, when her grandfather fell seriously ill and feared she'd be taken again, he sent her to the Thomas family for protection.
She never expected that after all these years, they would meet again.
Ella tried to calm herself, thinking that after not seeing him for over ten years, Michael's illness should have gotten better.
He was twenty-four or twenty-five now. He shouldn't be as obsessive, sick, and crazy as he was as a child.
Ella endured the pain radiating through her body and asked weakly, "Did you save me?"
Michael crouched by the bed, hands folded under his chin. Though his whole being radiated an innate nobility, at this moment he was as docile as a lapdog.
He nodded at the bedside. "Yeah, I was playing games with friends on the sea, and you just fell from the sky and appeared in front of my yacht."
"Ella, don't you think this is fate? You can't escape from my grasp, can you?"
As Michael spoke, he smiled harmlessly and gently stroked her cheek.
"Poor Ella, how did you get hurt so badly? But don't worry, with me here, I won't let anything happen to you."
Ella froze, not daring to move.
Not daring to avoid his touch either.
She could tell.
Michael's illness hadn't gotten better at all.
He was still as sick as he was as a child.
Ella's whole body tensed as she asked again, "Did you only save me? What about the child?"
Michael frowned, somewhat confused. "What child? I only saw you, I didn't see any child."
"How could that be? I clearly saw Aurora being thrown down, that's why I jumped."
Ella murmured.
Thinking that if she had barely survived, then Aurora...
No, her Aurora must be okay.
As Ella struggled to sit up in discomfort, Michael suddenly changed his expression, leaning close to press her, "What child? You got hurt like this because of a child?"
"Who is this child to you? You're not already married and have a child with another man, are you?"
Michael grew more and more frantic, his eyes turning red, his hands trembling.
Ella knew that when his emotions got worked up, his illness would flare up.
And when it flared up, he would hit people.
Looking at her situation, she couldn't provoke him, or she might die here at any moment.
Ella knew how to make Michael behave.
Ella softened her voice, "No, no, Mr. Johnson, thank you for saving me."
Hearing her say she wasn't married and had no children, Michael finally calmed down.
He changed his expression, smiling at her like a spring breeze.
"Ella, don't call me Mr. Johnson. I'm 25 now, an adult. I can marry you now. Call me husband, okay?"
Ella just felt disgusted and nauseous.
Why was Michael still so crazy?
Why had she fallen into his hands again?
Ella thought about how she couldn't move right now and didn't know Aurora's situation.
She couldn't act rashly. She could only ask weakly, "I feel terrible. Can you let me rest for a while?"
Michael nodded in agreement. "Okay, Ella, rest well. I'll stay here with you, and when you're better, I'll take you home."
He sat by the bed, holding her hand, carefully caring for her.
From time to time, he would bury his head and nuzzle against her.
And take her hand to stroke his head.
Ella knew Michael was sick—he liked people to treat him like a dog and pamper him.
No matter how disgusted and repulsed she felt inside, she didn't dare resist. She could only endure it.
A week later.
Under the treatment of top experts, Ella gradually recovered. She could get out of bed and walk, and feed herself.
During this week, Michael stayed with her almost constantly.
Ella didn't dare ask about Aurora again, or mention that she was married and who her husband was.
She was afraid Michael would get angry and strangle her.
But she always worried about Aurora in her heart.
If she didn't get back to Tranquil Villa soon, Dorian would worry about her too.
This day, Michael finally left the hospital room for some reason.
Ella quickly got out of bed. Without even changing out of her hospital gown, she opened the door trying to escape.
But when she pulled open the door, two burly bodyguards at the entrance blocked her, stopping her path.
"Ms. Garcia, Mr. Johnson has instructed that you cannot leave."
Ella knew they would notify Michael quickly, so she had no choice but to turn back.
Sitting back on the hospital bed, when Michael came again, Ella decided to be honest with him.
"I want to contact my family. Can you give me a phone?"
Ella had tried asking the doctors and nurses for a phone to make a call.
But the doctors and nurses ignored her. They must have followed Michael's instructions not to let her contact the outside world.
Today Michael wore a black satin shirt of excellent quality, with a loose tie around his neck.
It made his already handsome features look even more attractive and distinguished.
He shook his head in refusal. "No. Your grandfather won't allow Ella to be with me. We'll ignore him."
Michael's slender fingers peeled an orange, removing every trace of white pith from the segments before bringing the fruit to Ella's lips.
Ella turned her face away, unwilling to eat, her voice turning colder.
"Michael, you've grown up. You're not a child anymore. Can you stop being so childish and let me go?"