Chapter 84

Chapter 84

“Enough.” Miss Charles interrupted their conversation sharply, her eyes filled with anger toward the Duchess and heartache for York. “Mother, you’ve gone too far. How could you disparage York like that?”

“Disparage?” The Duchess let out a snort. “Emily, I am merely stating the truth, and you already find it unbearable. When he has you dancing in the palm of his hand, that is when things will truly become unbearable.”

“That day will never come,” Emily said, her face pale and her tone resolute.

“Even though you are Emily’s mother, I cannot tolerate you slandering my character like this.”

York forced a weak smile as he looked at Miss Charles. “Emily, I don’t think I should have come tonight. I’m just glad to see that you’re alright. I must leave now.”

Though he was smiling, his eyes had grown red without anyone noticing. His body swayed slightly, making him look like a lily battered by a storm-fragile, trembling, and utterly broken.

“No, York-” Emily tried desperately to stop him. Seeing that York was actually turning to leave, she immediately threw back the covers and tried to get out of bed.

“Emily, what are you doing?!” The Duchess rushed forward to stop her. “Have you lost your mind? Do you really not want your legs anymore?”

“What you are doing is no different from killing me.” Miss Charles forcefully shook off her hand and turned her face away, refusing to look at her.

Tu Nan was baffled. Miss Charles and York had only met that afternoon; had her feelings truly grown so deep already?

The Duchess sighed, finally compromising with her daughter.

“Stop.” She called out to York, who had already reached the door, her voice cold. “My daughter needs you to stay. You will remain here with her; you aren’t going anywhere.”

York stopped in his tracks, but he didn’t move back.

“Mother, please leave.” Hope flared in Emily’s eyes again as she looked at her mother earnestly. “I want to speak with him alone for a while.”

“I’m sorry,” Tu Nan spoke up at the right moment. “For your safety, you cannot be left alone with Mr. York. I must remain here.”

Miss Charles had a decent impression of her. After some hesitation, she reluctantly agreed, but she insisted that the Duchess must leave.

The Duchess and the Duke did not have a good relationship; their union was a purely political marriage. Over the years, they only had one daughter, Emily, but for various reasons, they had neglected her.

They felt a sense of guilt toward Emily, so they would fulfill any of her requests as long as it was within their power.

Seeing her daughter so obsessed and stubborn, the Duchess let out a long, low sigh and stood up.

“Keep a close eye on them.” As she passed Tu Nan, she whispered in a voice only the two of them could hear, “If anything else goes wrong, even Pristley will have to think twice about whether he can withstand the wrath of the Charles Family.”

As a worker who was well-accustomed to being threatened, Tu Nan bowed her head and complied.

As the Duchess passed by York, she saw a victorious smile flash across the man’s face. His gaze swept over her bit by bit with a strangely provocative air.

Yet, when he turned his face back toward Emily, his expression became affectionate and gentle once more.

The Duchess paused, looking back to see her daughter wearing a happy smile-a smile she never showed when she was with her mother.

Her heart ached. Suppressing her resentment toward York, she gave Tu Nan a warning look and turned to walk out.
York sat down by the hospital bed, and Emily eagerly grabbed his hand, offering a fawning smile. “York, my legs hurt so much.”

Tu Nan watched York intently, only to see a strange emotion flicker across his face-a mix of hidden excitement and pity.

He reached out, gently brushing a stray lock of hair away from Emily’s cheek, and praised her as if no one else were in the room. “Emily is such a brave, good girl.”

Emily’s breathing quickened with excitement.

“What if my legs never work again?” she asked urgently.

That urgency didn’t seem to stem from concern for her own legs, but rather a desperate need for York’s answer.

“Then I will, of course… stay with you forever.” York’s hand drifted down from her cheek, coming to rest on her legs beneath the blanket. He stroked them gently, feeling the ruined limbs.

He was immersed in a sense of blissful satisfaction.

Such a fragile, noble young lady could now only depend on him. With her legs crippled, she could only wait for his salvation, held completely within the palm of his hand.

Everything about her, body and soul, belonged to him from now on.

This was the kind of girl York liked-one who could fully satisfy his savior complex.

He wanted to redeem every woman who fell into the mire.

How kind he was, how selfless.

They didn’t need to have any thoughts of climbing upward on their own; they only needed to wait for him to lend a helping hand. He would surely reach out to those mired deep in the mud and bask in their gazes of reverence and dependence.

Of course, there were occasionally those who tried to escape the mire on their own. And he would help those who tried to climb out sink deeper and deeper.

Only when the sludge rose above their heads would he graciously reach out to pull them out, becoming their sole hope within the swamp.

He looked at Emily and smiled with infinite tenderness.

“Emily, from now on, I will stay by your side until your legs are better.”

Upon hearing his answer, Emily first smiled with contentment, but she paused when she heard his final sentence. A strange light flickered in her eyes.

“I’m afraid… they might never get better.” She lowered her head and covered her face, tears streaming through her fingers. Her voice was muffled. “You’ll stay with me forever, right?”

“Of course I will.” York pulled her into his arms, gently patting her thin back.

The corners of Emily’s mouth curled into a smile that was almost eerie.

“Then that’s enough.” She leaned against York’s shoulder. “With your promise, I finally have the confidence to keep living…”

Watching the entire scene from the side, Tu Nan felt an inexplicable chill.

Emily seemed to sense her gaze. She lifted her head from York’s shoulder and gave her a hollow look.

Her eyes were bottomless, as if they could suck Tu Nan right in.

An indescribable sense of the Weird bubbled up in Tu Nan’s heart.

These two… they seemed… like a perfect match.

Originally, she thought York had instigated Emily, but now it seemed that wasn’t the whole story.

Emily’s expression clearly showed she was enjoying this. She didn’t care about her legs at all; what she cared about was York’s promise to stay with her forever.

At first, Tu Nan had dismissed Emily as just a naive girl drowned in love, but she had overlooked one thing: how could someone born into a family like hers truly be naive?

Things were starting to look troublesome.