Chapter 124 – The Truth Behind Her Smile

Charles stepped back and said arrogantly, “Bella, put your claws away, same with your terrible jealousy! I won’t allow Katherine to suffer any harm because of you

Bella felt breathless. “It turns out that you think I am such a terrible person.”

“Jealousy itself is a terrible thing, which has made some people lose their senses.”

Bella clenched her fists as her fingernails dug into her palms. It hurt. But compared to her heartache, the pain was nothing.

“Katherine is protected by you. You think that highly of me? You think that I would harm her?”

There was no need to ask who he would have chosen. His attitude was crystal clear.

“My Lord, may I use your restroom?” Bella smiled at him. The fingerprints on her face clearly showed. “If you don’t want others to think that you have abused me?”

Charles said coldly, “Get out after.”

“Okay,” Bella replied.

The tears in her eyes blew out the moment she closed the door of the restroom. She held her chest and leaned against the door, sliding down slowly.

Charles walked to the sofa and sat down.

His empty heart was somehow partly filled. He was happy as long as Bella stayed there by his side.

Charles’s eyes closed, he was tired and planned to nap, but in his mind, he saw that Bella cried in the restroom.

She curled herself up and trembled sadly. Charles could see this, but he was unable to hear her voice.

Bella raised her head to hold back her tears. Her mouth opened and closed as if she said something.

She patted her face and hated herself for being so useless. She was unable to stop crying, and her eyes were still wet with tears.

After a while, she struggled to get up from the floor. Her feet numb after squatting for a long time. She buried her hands and her face into the water that poured from the tap. After a bit, her tears finally stopped.

Bella took out the handkerchief from her pocket and dried the water off her face.

As she looked at the slight red marks on her face, she sighed. She did not wear make-up so there was nothing she could use to cover them. People would see her if she went out to borrow some.

She looked at herself in the mirror and forced a smile, she repeated it a few times to make it look more natural.

Then she slapped her face again with great strength. Her whole face was red now. Though it seemed unnatural, it was better than the fingerprints.

Charles looked at her when she opened the door and walked out. She forced the smile that she had practiced and nodded to him, “My Lord, I’m leaving.”

Charles saw her turn around silently, and she walked toward the door.

He covered his chest with his hand, it felt tight.

He had never seen Bella look so sad and so desperate. If it weren’t for his ability to sense her, he would have never known how desperate she was behind her smile.

Bella, what should I do with you?

Bella returned to her desk, and all her colleagues fixed their attention on her. The first thing she did after she sat down was to check her designer profile to see if anyone left a message for her.

There was one!

One to make a product catalogue for a small household articles company.

It was a big job for her.

There were two hundred products in total. Not only did Bella need to retouch the photos of those products but also write detailed descriptions for each product.

The payment was high.

Four thousand dollars!

Bella estimated that she would need no less than ten days to finish.

This client liked the posters she made for Edwin’s restaurant and hoped that she could design the same style for him. The client also proposed to meet her and talk about the requirements that needed to be considered.

Bella made the appointment for tomorrow noon. She was not going to meet Edwin so Charles could not say that she had disobeyed him.

She waited until all the others left after work, then packed up and walked toward the elevator.

Gossip is a fearful thing. Bella was not like what she portrayed to others and did actually care about the rumours they spread about her.

She cared about that desperately. She cared about the other’s scrutiny on her; she cared about the ridicule and the sarcasm; she cared about the gossip she heard when they were at the bus station.

Charles was right. No one dared to judge him and Katherine. But had he ever thought that Bella would have become the attention of others.

For him, she was nothing.

He warned her not to harm Katherine, but what he did not think about was that everything that they did was harmful to her. He just regarded her as an incubator, a machine that had no thoughts or feelings.

She was weak today. Afraid that she was unable to stand her colleagues eyes on her at the bus station. So, she waited, waited to go when she was sure they all had left.

A man appeared by her side the moment she reached the elevator.

She knew his unique qualities without even looking at him. She nodded, “My Lord!”

Charles grunted and did not utter a word. The public elevator reached their floor, and the doors opened. As she moved forward, he grabbed her hand, and she staggered.

When she collected herself, she was in Charles’s private elevator.

Bella straightened herself, and Charles’s hand was still around her wrist.

“My Lord, don’t tell me that you are planning to give me lift back home.” Bella smiled and asked him.

Charles looked at her, and the thought of her practicing her fake smiles in the mirror came to him. He suddenly said, “Don’t smile if you don’t actually want to.”

Her smile faded, and she asked the question again.

Ziv felt the atmosphere between them was not quite right, he decided to be a peacemaker, “Milady, it is not convenient to take the bus now.”

Bella shook her head, “It would be inconvenient if I go back with the Lord as well. Miss Spencer would be unhappy to see us together.”

Charles suddenly stopped the elevator at a random floor and pushed Bella out.

Go take the bus then if you’d like.

“My Lord.” Ziv said to him softly, “Roy had told me that the Lady had always been upset since she came to be with us. My Lord, Elsa said that a woman’s mood does have an influence on pregnancy.”

Charles said coldly, “So, do you mean that I need to make her happy?”

Ziv lowered his head.

How was it possible for someone like the Lord to coax a woman into happiness? He did not even do that for Miss Spencer, let alone the Lady.