Chapter 43 Aphrodisiac

Chapter 43 Aphrodisiac
Kingsley's POV:

When I saw that woman's figure in the distance through the floor-to-ceiling windows, the anxiety in my heart instantly faded by half.

But the woman who walked in was Talia.

"Kingsley."

She came up to me, smiling as she reached out to take my arm.

I quietly stepped aside to avoid her. Her hand froze in mid-air, a flash of displeasure crossing her eyes before she quickly covered it up.

"What are you doing here?"

My tone was somewhat impatient, my gaze looking past her toward the empty garden. The irritation in my heart surged up again.

Erin still hadn't returned, and her phone remained unanswered.

"We haven't seen each other in a long time. I missed you."

Talia stepped forward, softening her voice.

Her gaze swept across the living room, meeting Harrison who was walking out from the dining room. Her smile faded slightly.

Harrison clutched the corner of his napkin, shrinking back the moment he saw Talia, his small face full of wariness.

Talia ignored Harrison and spoke to me.

"My father asked me to come ask you when you plan to finalize the engagement."

Her eyes held expectation.

"He means after our families sign the new energy project contract, we could announce it at the celebration banquet. That way we could use the project's momentum to boost both families' collaborative influence."

My brow furrowed, anger instantly flaring up.

I had already made things very clear to her father and brother before.

I could compromise on the project cooperation, giving up five percentage points on profit sharing.

I even agreed to all their additional clauses, but the engagement was off the table.

The contract had long been revised. I'd even had the legal team approve it, just waiting for signatures.

They had clearly agreed not to bring up the engagement again. Now they were sending Talia to pressure me into marriage?

Seeing my silence, Talia's expression darkened, though she quickly put on a pitiful look.

"Kingsley, you wouldn't be unwilling to get engaged to me, would you? I was the one who saved you five years ago."

She didn't say it outright, but it instantly extinguished most of my anger. My heart filled with unavoidable frustration.

Of course I remembered what happened five years ago.

When I escaped from the hotel that day, I was shot by Thomas's men and hid in the Moore family's old mansion to recover.

During that time, Talia's father and brother wanted to turn me in several times.

Only Talia and her mother secretly brought me medicine and water.

Even after her brother leaked my hiding place to Thomas, it was Talia who risked everything to warn me in the middle of the night, allowing me to escape.

I'd always remembered this debt. It was precisely because of this that I'd tolerated the Moore family's unreasonable demands all these years.

Otherwise, with my methods, her father and brother wouldn't have lived peacefully until now.

I suppressed my annoyance, my tone softening slightly.

"When your father comes to Varedo to sign the contract, I'll discuss this matter with him personally."

This answer clearly didn't satisfy Talia. She frowned, her expression turning extremely ugly.

"Kingsley, you know I've liked you for so many years..."

"It's getting late. I'll have the driver take you back."

I interrupted her, standing up to adjust my suit jacket, my gaze turning toward the window again.

It was already very late, and there was still no news from Erin.

"I have things to handle."

"What are you going to do?"

Talia caught up, her tone carrying suspicion and wariness.

"Pick someone up."

I didn't hide it, grabbing my car keys and heading for the door.

Harrison had somehow appeared behind me. Seeing me about to leave, he immediately ran over and grabbed my hand.

I hesitated, then took him along.

Just as we reached the car, a scream suddenly came from behind us.

"Ah! My stomach... it hurts so much!"

I turned back to see Talia curled up on the ground, face pale, forehead covered in cold sweat. It didn't look fake.

Though my heart was concerned about Erin, thinking of the past debt, I couldn't ignore her.

I frowned and instructed the driver, "Take her to the hospital first."

Erin's POV:

The sharp pain on my back came in increasingly dense waves. Each strike of the whip made me feel like my skin was being peeled off alive.

I curled up my body, the pleas in my throat reduced to weak moans.

I knew begging was useless.

The man's laughter was full of perverted excitement.

He enjoyed watching me suffer and struggle.

In my blurred consciousness, I suddenly thought of Kingsley.

"Stop hitting me... I know the Baker family's don—Kingsley!"

I used all my strength to shout, my voice so hoarse it was barely recognizable.

"I'm his son's mother!"

The whip's motion indeed stopped.

"Let me go, and I'll have him give you money. Any amount!"

I thought this proposal might tempt him.

But the next second, more violent pain came from my back, heavier than any previous strike.

The man's voice was full of rage and mockery.

"Liar! A lowly woman like you doesn't deserve to know Kingsley!"

The whip struck me again and again. I convulsed in pain, nearly fainting.

"He's my cousin's fiancé!"

The man's roar exploded in my ears.

"Cousin Talia is about to get engaged to him! Look at yourself—how dare you pretend to be his woman!"

Talia?

My heart sank. So this man was from the Moore family.

No wonder he reacted this way to hearing Kingsley's name.

"I'm not lying..."

"Whether you're lying or not, a phone call will tell us."

The man sneered coldly. I heard the sound of dialing, followed by the connection tone.

My heart jumped to my throat.

"Hello, cousin-in-law."

The man's tone immediately became fawning.

"I have a woman here who says she knows you..."

Before the man could finish, Kingsley's familiar voice came through the phone, sounding impatient.

"I'm very busy. Talia isn't feeling well and is at the hospital. I need to stay with her."

As soon as he finished speaking, the phone was hastily hung up.

And I didn't even have time to speak...

"Did you hear that?"

The man brought the phone to my ear, the screen's light shining on my face through the black cloth.

"He's accompanying cousin Talia right now. He doesn't know you at all, you liar!"

Overwhelming disappointment and despair instantly drowned me.

Yes, compared to Talia, what was I?

He probably knew about this whole thing from the beginning.

The man roughly tore off the cloth from my mouth and forced a bottle of ice-cold liquid down my throat. The liquid had a pungent smell and tasted horrible.

"This is a powerful aphrodisiac."

The man's voice was full of lewd laughter.

"Soon, you'll be begging me like a dog. Whatever I say, you'll do."

The liquid slid down my throat. Soon, a burning heat surged up from deep within my body.

"Rip."

The clothes on my body were suddenly torn apart...