CHAPTER 17. Identity disclosure?
Actually, everyone could see that the butler had used great force to hit Paula, and it was done very quickly. It should be pointed out by others.
Mark's words made the butler stop. After a while, he withdrew the whip obediently.
"I listened to Grandfather Aliston."
Milley rolled her eyes. "We're applying corporal punishment to someone who doesn't adhere to the etiquette that women should adhere to. When is it the turn of someone who has no parents or education to step up and make irresponsible comments?"
Mark had never said anything during situations like this in the Aliston family, but suddenly he spoke up today. Naturally, Milley was upset.
"You hit my wife. Obviously I have to talk!"
Mark spoke, and his voice was soft.
Paula could hear that it was indeed what Mark said. In this family, she had no status or dignity, so much so that no one took her words seriously.
"You have married a very bad woman! Even now you're asking for something so difficult!"
Milleu snorted. He then looked away and glanced at his grandfather, Aliston. "Father, I don't think Paula would have remembered if we hadn't hit her."
"However, since she is the daughter-in-law of the Aliston family, we can't cross the line either. As long as you're willing to admit your mistake, we won't hit you. Understood?"
Apparently, Milley was teasing Paula by giving her a way out. But in truth, she knew very well that Paula would not admit her mistake, given her stubborn nature.
That was until Grandpa Aliston looked down and glanced at Paula. "Do you admit that you were wrong?"
"I don't." Paula straightened her back.
"I did nothing wrong in this incident. Why should I admit..."
Grandpa Aliston waved his hand in frustration.
Zaz!
The butler hit him again.
"Are you admitting your mistake now?"
"I'm not wrong!"
Zaz!
"You still won't admit your mistake?"
"I don't admit it!"
Zaz!
The butler used a lot of force and hit her hard.
Paula, who was kneeling on the prayer mat, was in so much pain that she could barely straighten her back. Still, she gritted her teeth, and she prepared herself to receive punishment.
However, she was surprised when she heard the sound of the whip but did not feel the blow for a while.
"Stop!"
Suddenly, she heard from behind her Aliston's grandfather's confused cry.
Paula immediately turned around. Because then she realized that Mark had gotten out of the wheelchair at some point and had thrown himself backwards forcefully to block the blow.
His white shirt was stained with blood, and his beautiful face was even paler.
"Who asked you to hit him?" Paula clenched her hands into fists, roaring at the butler.
"Are you blind?! It wasn't me! How can you continue? Don't you know that her body is wrong? You idiot!"
It was completely unexpected for the butler that Mark quickly blocked the attack on Paula. He didn't even expect to see Paula roar at him like that, for Mark's sake.
Obviously, she didn't say anything when she was in so much pain from the whipping earlier. Mark had only been hit once, but he was already yelling at her loudly.
"I'm fine." Mark looked weakly at Sophie. "I'm just a little dizzy."
"Take him to the hospital!"
Seeing that his grandson had been whipped, Aliston finally became anxious. He gave a stern order while looking at the butler. "Go and receive your punishment for whipping my grandson!"
The butler in charge of the whipping could only resign himself to his bad luck, put down his whip, and leave.
Shortly after, the servants from the old residence came to take Mark to the hospital.
"Don't touch him!" Paula stopped the servants beside her.
She lifted Mark's body alone and helped him sit on the wheelchair again. "He's my husband. I'll take care of him!"
After saying that, she pushed Mark into his wheelchair and left the ancestral hall.
Standing in the center of the ancestral hall, Grandpa Aliston looked at Paula's back as he pushed Mark away. There were several red wounds on her back. A tinge of satisfaction flashed in Milley's eyes.
"Look at this mess."
Although Mark was the most disliked person in the Aliston family, he was still one of them. Milley knew that more than anyone else.
She smiled awkwardly. "I didn't expect Mark to love Paula so much. In fact, he locked up the whip for her."
"That's enough. Don't shed crocodile tears here!"
Grandpa Aliston rolled his eyes at Milley. "I've taught Paula a lesson. That's the end of this incident. No one is allowed to mention it from now on!"
Having said that, he looked coldly at William. "Why did you go to Paula's college for no reason?"
William, who had been enjoying the misfortune of others, naturally didn't know how to answer that question when he was suddenly asked by his grandfather. "I... I..."
"Don't think that I'm unaware of the trick you have in mind. Do you think you are innocent in today's matter?"
William turned pale.
"Don't do this little trick secretly in the future. Otherwise, I won't give you a single cent of my property!"
Meanwhile, at the hospital...
Paula let out a long sigh of relief as the nurse started the treatment for Mark. "He won't feel any pain now, right?"
The nurse agreed. "The analgesic effect of this medicine is very good."
Another nurse tilted her head and glanced at Paula's back. "Madam, why don't you let me treat your wounds too?"
Obviously, her wounds were much more serious than her husband's. Paula didn't feel the pain until the nurse mentioned it.
Her back was on fire.
She lay down on the bed, and the nurse carefully removed her clothes. Then she carefully sterilized the broken skin and exposed flesh. It was so painful that Paula broke out in a cold sweat, and in the end, she could not bear the pain and fainted.
Sitting on the hospital bed next to her, Mark looked at Paula. A tinge of sadness flashed through his heart.
"How long will it take for my wife's wounds to heal?"
"At least a week. Your wife looks very beautiful, but it's amazing that she can put up with this. An ordinary woman would have fainted from the pain a long time ago, but she endured it."
Mark sighed slightly. "That's just how it is. She is a very strange but special woman."
His grandfather's attitude was very clear. If she had admitted her guilt and begged for mercy, the incident would have simply ended.
However, he was willing to suffer such physical pain rather than admit to something that was not his fault and beg for mercy.
As a person who pretended to be sick for more than ten years, Mark could not understand Paula's perseverance.
such perseverance.
Yet the woman amazed him.
After applying the medicine and making sure there was nothing left, Mark ordered Wolter to handle the hospitalization procedure.
Paula's back was injured to such an extent. He didn't want to make her suffer more and force her to go home.
"I wasn't wrong."
She was still sleeping in the hospital ward at night, but in her dreams, she continued to shout loudly as she had before, proclaiming her innocence.
Mark's heart ached to see her like this.
Mark thought for a moment before getting up from the bed and crawling to her bed. Then he hugged her carefully. "You are not wrong."
And he continued after a while, kissing his wife's forehead. "It's just that your husband still can't reveal his true self."
Holding her in his arms, he closed his eyes.
After her older sister died in that fire when she was thirteen years old, she told herself that she should pretend to be very weak. Only then could she increase her strength to avenge her parents when she grew up.
As such, he had always played the role of indifference and weakness in a very good way.
He had lived in seclusion for a long time. That day, it was the first time he didn't want to continue doing so. When he saw Paula being hit, he had the urge to stop accepting it and pretend more.
"I won't admit it." The woman in his arms trembled slightly.
"You don't have to admit it." Taking a deep breath, Mark lowered his head and inhaled the pleasant scent of Paula's hair.
"I won't let you wait long. In the future, I want all the people who oppressed you today to kneel in front of you one by one and apologize to you."