Bloody Love

The restaurant on the south side of the city was very far from the hospital. It would take a one-hour drive to be there.

By the time Vivian returned to the ward, Archie and Cassie were just preparing to leave.

Archie had changed into a well-tailored casual outfit, while Cassie wore a beautiful dress, her face unable to conceal her excitement.

"Archie is taking me to the observatory in the suburbs! I heard there's a meteor shower tonight!" Cassie happily told Vivian.

Vivian remembered she had once mentioned to Archie that she wanted to watch a meteor shower with him.

But what had he said to her then?

He had called it a stupid idea.

Now, he was going to fulfill that very wish with another woman.

"Miss Fuller hasn't fully recovered from her gastroenteritis. It is not good for her if she gets in a draught," Vivian reminded him out of professional habit as a nurse.

The smile on Cassie's face stiffened.

Archie's expression instantly turned cold. He walked up to Vivian, exuding an intimidating presence with his tall frame. "Are you trying to tell me what to do?"

"I was just..." Vivian tried to explain.

"Stay out of her business." Archie cut Vivian off coldly, with an evident note of warning in his tone.

He took Cassie's hand and said softly, "Don't listen to her. There are blankets in the car. You won't catch a cold."

With that, he put his arm around Cassie and walked straight past her, not sparing her another glance.

When they had walked far away, Vivian could still hear Cassie's coquettish voice. "Archie, can't you be a little nicer to Vivian from now on?"

Archie instantly softened and readily said, "Okay."

Standing alone in the empty hospital room, Vivian felt that she really was pathetic.

After she returned home, she shut herself in the room, keeping telling herself that it was time to let go.

Late at night, Archie came home.

He carried the chill from the suburb and a faint trace of women's perfume—the one that Cassie always wore.

Without a word, he walked into the bathroom. When he came out, he tossed a first-aid kit in front of Vivian.

"Cassie sprained her ankle," he said coldly, "Go over there now and take care of it. You're responsible for looking after her until she is fully recovered."

Vivian looked at him, feeling it utterly absurd. "I am a nurse, not an on-call private nanny available 24/7."

Archie narrowed his eyes and approached her step by step. "Say that again?"

"I mean..." Vivian tried to say something.

But Archie stopped her violently.

He threw her onto the bed, pressing down his tall, strong body over her, his hands clamped tightly around her wrists. "Know your place, Vivian. I can make you my wife, but I can also take everything away from you."

His gaze was venomous and fierce, sending a chill down Vivian's spine.

"You tampered with the steps of the observatory to make Cassie fall, didn't you?" He leaned down, enunciating each word.

Vivian's eyes widened in shock.

She hadn't been to the observatory the whole day!

"It wasn't me!" she protested vehemently. "I was home all night!"

"Is that so?" Archie let out a cold laugh, the mockery in his eyes stronger. "Do you think I can't tell that you're jealous of Cassie?"

He gave her no chance to explain and just roughly tore her clothes open. "Since you like playing dirty, I'll show you what a real dirty trick is."

The cold touch and humiliating pain washed over her in an instant.

She didn't know what he took her for.

A vicious woman who would resort to any means out of jealousy to hurt others? Or merely a tool for him to vent his anger on at will?

Tears streamed down her face, soaking into the pillow.

She closed her eyes desperately.

It turned out that, in this marriage, in the name of repaying a favor, there was always no trust.

All he ever gave her was hurt and humiliation.