Victoria Sutton shook her head frantically, too shocked to speak.
Just as Silas Blackwood was about to strike a second time, her voice finally broke through.
“Stop!
Don’t hit him again!
Don’t, please!
I was wrong, I was wrong!
I don’t like him!”
“I don’t like him anymore!
I’ll never sneak out to meet him again, I swear!
Silas Blackwood, please stop hitting him!”
But Silas Blackwood had no intention of letting Kian Blackwood off so easily.
Seeing his intent, Victoria Sutton could do nothing to stop him and collapsed to her knees.
Her eyes were wide with fury.
“I’m begging you, Silas Blackwood!
You’re a monster!
I hate you!!”
Butler Ford risked taking the blow with his hand.
His palm turned bright red and quickly began to swell.
If Silas Blackwood hadn’t pulled back his strength at the last second, the old man’s bones would have surely been shattered.
“Young Master, please spare him this once.
He’ll learn his lesson after this.” If Kian Blackwood’s legs were truly crippled, the relationship between Silas and Mr.
Blackwood would only worsen, becoming even more difficult to repair.
Silas Blackwood gave the pleading Butler Ford a deep look, then uttered a single word, “Doctor.” This time, the family doctor arrived quickly and immediately took Butler Ford away to examine the injury on his hand.
Butler Ford walked away slowly, his attention still fixed on the situation.
He didn’t relax until he saw Silas Blackwood toss the iron rod aside.
“Throw him out.”
“Yes, sir.” Finn Lynch single-handedly dragged Kian Blackwood out like he was hauling a dead dog.
Kian Blackwood was too weak to struggle.
His expression was twisted into a ferocious snarl, his head hung low, eyes filled with humiliation and a vicious glare.
His hatred was poisonous and absolute.
Silas Blackwood strode over to Victoria Sutton and squatted down, his large hand gripping her chin.
He looked at Victoria’s messy, unkempt face, with its rebellious makeup that looked like scribbles, showing not a hint of disgust.
“You hate me?”
Victoria Sutton raised her head, stubborn and defiant.
She glared at him, her eyes red, the intense hatred in them plain to see.
Silas Blackwood narrowed his long, cold, arrogant eyes, his grip on Victoria’s chin tightening.
“Don’t forget, you’re the one who came after me first.”
Victoria cried, “So what if I regret it now?”
Silas Blackwood’s gaze darkened, becoming deep and oppressive.
I gave you a chance.”
As a child, Silas Blackwood had been extremely withdrawn and isolated.
He didn’t speak, rejected the outside world, and had no friends.
At first, it was Silas who had detested Victoria, who constantly teased him and tried every possible way to get close.
He’d told her to get lost and stay away from him time and time again, but the young Victoria had been surprisingly persistent and determined.
Faced with his dislike and rejection, she only became more courageous, always curious about him, her face constantly lit with a smile as bright as the sun.
Later, perhaps out of loneliness or something else, Silas Blackwood’s heart finally softened.
When Victoria Sutton said she would only ever like him, he had opened a crack in his heart and let her rush in.
“You were the one who said you’d like me forever.
You can only like me.
For the rest of your life, you can only stay by my side.” Silas Blackwood leaned close to Victoria’s ear, enunciating each word with an extreme, gloomy paranoia, like a spell binding her tightly.
Tears streamed endlessly down Victoria Sutton’s face.
She couldn’t stop her entire body from trembling, a deep-seated fear of Silas Blackwood’s madness and paranoia etched into her very bones.
‘If I had known that provoking Silas Blackwood as a child would lead to this kind of trouble, I never would have gone near him.
I would have stayed as far away as possible.
Anywhere he was, I wouldn’t have been.’
“I was so young back then.
What did I know about liking someone forever, or staying with them forever?
Everything I said was just childish nonsense.” ‘The one I truly love is Kian Blackwood.
Kian is my true love!’
As for Silas Blackwood, who constantly stood between her and her true love, she felt nothing but profound hatred and cursed her past actions.
“But I took it seriously.
So it has to be real.” Silas Blackwood was like a cold-blooded demon, determined to entangle her for a lifetime.
Victoria Sutton clenched her teeth so hard her gums ached.
“Silas Blackwood, I hate you!”
Silas Blackwood faltered for a moment, then quickly returned to normal.
“Then hate me.
Many people do.
You’re just one more.”
‘People have hated me since the moment I was born into this world.’
‘One was my own father, the other, my own mother.’
Silas Blackwood’s fingers came to rest on Victoria Sutton’s neck, the pads of his fingers rubbing the purple bruises there.
Silas Blackwood’s hand was cold, like it was made of ice.
Victoria flinched from the chill, but soon she felt a sense of relief.
The injury on her neck needed to be iced anyway.
But she couldn’t bring herself to look like she was enjoying it in front of Silas Blackwood.
“Take the Miss back to her room. This chapter was copied from g.com without permission.
She is not to go anywhere for the next few days.” Silas Blackwood stood up.
This completely eliminated any possibility of her going to see Kian Blackwood.
‘How could I possibly rest easy when Kian was so badly injured right in front of me?’
Victoria Sutton’s eyes widened, and the next second she was screaming in protest.
“Silas Blackwood, you can’t lock me up!
I’m an adult, I have the freedom to go wherever I want!
Silas Blackwood!!”
But no matter how much she struggled, Victoria Sutton was ultimately taken back to her room by the servants.
At a signal from Silas Blackwood, the family doctor followed them.
Silas Blackwood took out his phone and called Winston Wyatt.
He knew everything that had happened today.
He had actually been away on business, but he had rushed back as soon as he heard about it.
Winston Wyatt was just about to fall asleep when Silas’s call interrupted him.
A large vein immediately bulged on his forehead.
He had indeed played up his weakness in front of Aurora Rivers, but he was genuinely weak and exhausted after one of his episodes.
The phone continued to ring incessantly.
Winston Wyatt opened his eyes, irritated and impatient, a storm of frustration in his gaze.
He swiped his finger across the screen, his tone dark and confrontational.
“What?”
Silas Blackwood got straight to the point.
“Did you lay a hand on Victoria Sutton today?”
“So what if I did?
She brought it on herself.
I already warned her, out of respect for you.” The few of them were sworn brothers, despite their different surnames, and were ranked by age.
Technically, Winston Wyatt had to defer to Silas Blackwood as his elder.
But when it came to Aurora Rivers, not even his elder’s authority mattered.
“Just because of a few candied hawthorns?” When Silas Blackwood first heard the news, he could hardly believe it.
People like them didn’t actually have a sweet tooth.
They only ate sweets because sugar held a certain special meaning for them.
“That’s right.
Because of the candied hawthorns.”
“Victoria Sutton might be a treasure to you, but to me, she’s nothing.
Her life isn’t worth as much as my candied hawthorns.”
Silas Blackwood frowned.
Although he knew Victoria Sutton had provoked Winston Wyatt and triggered one of his episodes, he still couldn’t tolerate Winston devaluing Victoria’s life like this.
His voice deepened.
“Winston Wyatt.”
Winston Wyatt replied, “Don’t like hearing it?
It’s the truth.”