CHAPTER 43: CARE FOR ME

Care For Me

Lucien exited the dining room and came face to face with Reiner. Was he waiting out here this whole

time?

“Clean up the mess,” Lucien ordered as he walked passed Reiner without glancing back.

“Yes, Sir” Reiner replied while bowing.

Lucien marched directly to his bedroom. He needed to sort out his emotion and figure out his next

move. He instructed all his maids to leave him

alone before he entered his bedroom. Alone and in peace, at last, he could think.

Reflecting back on what just happened, it is clear that | caused a lot of harm to my relationship with

Natalia. What the hell did | do! | lost control

completely. Damn Edward! Although her body reacted to the pleasure that | gave her, she was crying

most of the time. Her spirit must have been badly

hurt by my actions and words. What | did was foolish. | acted out of jealousy between her and my

brother. | still didn’t have proof if they were lovers or

not but seeing the look on Edward's face as he challenged me made me anxious.

| need to find a way to mend our relationship as soon as possible. Natalia must choose to marry me

when the time comes...

**Earlier that day**

Lucien came to see Edward at his office in the lab with the intention to terminate Natalia’s internship

early.

“Hi Lucien. It's rare for you to make an appearance here. How can | help you?” Edward greeted his

brother warmly.

“I'll get straight to it. Natalia wants to end her internship early. She will no longer work here with you,”

Lucien stated as he glared into another pair of

green eyes that were very similar to his own.

“I see. Well, that’s a shame. She could have called to let me know that herself. There was no need for

you to come all the way here in person, although,

| do appreciate the effort,” Edward replied with a smile.

“Natalia hasn't been feeling well. She’s always been frail so | don’t want her to overwork. | hope you

understand,” Lucien started his vague explanation.

“Natalia will be graduating soon. | wonder what kind of jobs would interest her. She doesn't need to

work for our company, right? I’m sure life would be

more fun for her if she worked outside of the family’s circle,” Edward suggested.

“She doesn't have to work at all,” Lucien retorted.

“| know Natalia is still young and that you want what is best for her. However, you should also consider

what she wants for her own life,” Edward said

as he flipped through some research papers casually.

“And you're saying that you know what she wants?” Lucien countered.

Someone’s getting pretty mad, Edward thought to himself. No matter how this conversation ends,

Natalia will bear the brunt of

it.

Edward refused to answer or comment.

“Look at me. Did you sleep with her?” Lucien asked as he leaned closer to look straight into Edward’s

eyes.

“What sort of question is that?” Edward replied without showing any emotions.

“I told you this before. Don’t answer my questions with another question. Did you have sex with

Natalia?” Lucien repeated his

question.

“I’m a gentleman here. I don’t make claims and I don’t refute claims on a woman’s body without her

consent. If you want to

know if I ever laid hands on your daughter, you just need to ask her. Speaking hypothetically, let’s say

that I did, what would

you have me do? Should I take responsibility by marrying her?” Edward challenged Lucien back with a

gentle smile. copyrighted © content.

“A gentleman? You’re nothing more than a playboy fooling around outside the family’s business! As if

you could ever be

successful without the family’s backing,” Lucien yelled at his brother and grabbed him by the collar.

“Just because I’m less discreet about my affairs than you are, doesn’t make me more of a playboy.

Whether I’m successful due

to the family’s backing or not is up for debate. What is not up for debate, is the fact that Natalia has a

life of her own that

neither you nor the elders should be trying to control. Oh, and enough with the violence,” Edward said

calmly as he shrugged

Lucien’s grip off.

“Stay away from Natalia,” Lucien ordered threateningly as he turned to leave.

“That’s up to Natalia,” Edward replied.

Lucien did not look back as he strode impatiently out of Edward’s office.

“Stay out of this room. You all can come back to clean it later tonight,” Reiner instructed the maids to

stay away from the

dining room.

Judging from the sounds earlier, Natalia is probably not in a state that the maids could see without

starting some twisted

gossip.

She should not be physically hurt to the extent that I needed to intervene but the same couldn’t be said

about her emotions. I

have to take her back to her room and keep her away from Lucien for a while until she recovers.

I was prepared for the mess that I would see inside the room but I have to say it looks worst than I had

pictured. There were

food, water, broken glass, and broken dishes everywhere on the floor. I found Natalia lying on her

stomach unconscious on the

carpeted floor. Her dress was messy and torn in some places. Her face and eyes were puffy and red

from crying. Her legs and

ass were bared. Not allowing the maids in here right now was definitely the right call. Lucien definitely

lost it this time.

I bent down and adjusted her dress to cover her legs before slowly scooping her into my arms.

I don’t know how long I was unconscious. Probably not for too long. The first sensation I felt was the

carpet against my face. I

must be lying on the carpeted floor after I lost my strength. I can no longer sense Lucien in the room;

he must have left

already. Thank god. This is probably the first time I felt relieved that Lucien was gone.

I felt so tired and my whole body feels heavy. I can’t move or get up. The floor is a mess and I feel

sticky all over. I closed my

eyes again trying to stay still in order to regain my strength. I need to get out of this room before the

maids see me like this.

I felt my dress being adjusted and then my body was tenderly lifted up in the air. Then I felt warm arms

circling me and

warmth against my cheek making me realized that someone was carrying me in his arms. This smell,

warmth and gentleness

as he handles me; this must be Reiner.

“Hmmm...” I stirred a bit before opening my eyes slightly. My body felt a little heavy with sleep and I felt

like stretching. Sitting

up a bit in the dark room, I could tell that it was pretty late into the night now. I must have been asleep

for a while after

Reiner carried me here. I should check my mobile. I reached over to find the switch to the lamp on my

bedside table. Fumbling

around a little before I found the switched and turned the lamp on.

The moment that the orange-tinted warm light illuminated the room, I realized that I was not alone.

Reiner was asleep in a

chair by my bedside with his head resting next to my leg on the bed and one arm draped over my legs

as if to make sure that I

wouldn’t leave the bed. He looks like such an innocent boy when he’s fast asleep which is a big

contrast to his usual personality

and his big body size.

I guess he was here with me all the time after he carried me here. I noticed too that I was no longer

dirty and in my old

dress. I was clean and comfortably dressed in my nightgown which was probably his doing as well. I

blushed a little while I

thought of him undressing and then redressing me. As always, he’s probably just doing his job as my

bodyguard and butler.

--To be continued...