Joanna's beautiful face suddenly turned pale. She drugged Lilian with a huge dose last night. This cup of wine with a larger dose scared all her anger away.
She begged in fear, "Mr. Hawkins... It's all my fault. I don't know she's your woman. Please have some mercy. I won't do anything to her ever again."
"I said you shouldn't have touched my woman, and now you should pay for what you've done. An eye for an eye. Don't worry, I didn't invite that many men. I have moral consciousness, so I've got just one man for you."
Joanna looked at that man. He was wearing nothing but shorts and a mask. He had muscles as burly as a boxer.
All the expressions on her face disappeared. A vulgar and violent man like that could snap her waist any time, let alone that he would probably press himself on her.
"Archibald! You can't do this to me! Sebastion will get to you for me! You'll pay the price!" She yelled as her eyes turned red out of anger. Then she shook her eyes desperately to resist the drink.
Archibald sat back on the sofa again. He had no expression on his face. He sneered, "I dare you to tell him what had happened today and yesterday." He then gave a hint to the bodyguard with the cup in his hand.
The bodyguard nodded and stepped forward. Then he grabbed Joanna's chin and forced her to open her mouth. Joanna's hands and feet were tied, and had no power to resist.
A full cup of wine was poured into her throat. Some of it dropped off from her mouth because she was resisting.
"No... No!" Tear of fear dropped off her cheeks. As the bodyguard was sure she had drunk all of it, he let go of her. She fell down on the bed and couldn't stop coughing because she was choked.
She needed to catch a breath, but Archibald was whispering to her ear gently and ruthlessly, "Joanna, have you ever thought that you could've already been Mrs. Palmer if you have had his child?"
Joanna covered her chest with one hand and opened her mouth to gasp. She wanted to spit out all the wine. She was shocked when she heard what Archibald said. She raised her head, only to see that Archibald is walking out.
She was still in shock. Archibald stopped by the man with the mask. He said to her without looking back, "One more thing... he's one of the ten most welcomed gigolos here." He said as if he had done her a favor by hiring the most expensive man.
Joanna now thought she would feel better if this was just a random man hire on the street. A gigolo was such a huge humiliation. She would rather die than be raped by a gigolo who had slept with countless women.
Archibald had left, and so had those bodyguards. They walked out and closed the door, leaving drugged Joanna and the burly gigolo behind.
"No! Don't come over, stay away from me!"
The moment the door was closed, Archibald heard a horrifying scream coming out of the room behind. There was no fluctuation of emotions in his eyes. His pursed thin lips looked as cold as always. He wasn't a ruthless man, but he would never spare anyone who dared to touch his woman.
Now that Joanna had been cruel enough to drug Lilian and hire four street ruffians to ruin Lilian's reputation, he would let Joanna feel how would that be like on her own.
He had been as kind as he could, for at least this gigolo would be way better than some street ruffians.
"Sir, your brother is still in the hospital," Kieran said to Archibald in a low voice from behind.
Archibald was not like the gentle and polite man he appeared to be. He looked quite gloomy right now, with no expressions on his face. His clear eyes were squitting.
"Then we should go see him," he said lightly.
Sebastian ignored his cold and sarcastic looks. He commanded her decisively, "I'll pick you up." Then he stopped looking at her, giving her the hint to leave.
This reminded Lilian of what Douglas had told her. He told Lilian to be more patient at Sabastion. "You'll be through ups and downs, and in the end, you'll be the only one that was there for each other."
She sighed and agreed with those words. She still had to live the rest of her life with him, even they agreed not to intervene in each other's life. She had to be more patient.
He used to use her as a maid, and she could still smile at it. This time was different. He wanted her to get dressed and introduce her to the public. Maybe she should feel happy.
"OK." She replied indeffrently. Then she opened the door and got out.
Sebastian lit a cigarette and watched her walk into the radio station. He smoked half of the cigarette and then put it out. A while later, he drove away.
After Lilian finished recording the show, she was told that her director asked her to go to the reception room.
She frowned and wondered what was this for. After she put all her things in her office, she headed to the reception room alone.
She knocked on the door, and when the man inside answered, she opened the door. As soon as she walked in, she heard her director's bright laughter. "This tea tastes really good!"
Lilian raised her head and looked over, only to see Archibald sitting on the mahogany sofa in the room.
Comments
The readers' comments on the novel: Sweet Wife in Hidden Marriage