Chapter 200 Embarrassing Momen

Bella didn’t have enough power to struggle, so she let him hold her. There was no point in putting up a fight. This was a game where the final score was always fixed.

“Let me see where you’re hurt,” said Charles and tried to remove her blouse. She clenched her blouse tightly and despite his efforts, she didn’t let go.

However, this time Charles did not persist. He let go of her and gave her a look full of compassion.

“Shall we call Elsa?”

“There is no need for that,” she replied. “It’s just a light bruise.”

“You need to take a good, healthy rest. If you do that I will take you to the interrogation room tomorrow.”

“I don’t want to rest,” she said stubbornly. “I want to stay here.”

“Why don’t you sit on the sofa and let me check your body?”

“That won’t be necessary.”

“I want to make sure you’re okay,” he insisted. “If you do this I guarantee that you will have your little chat with our prisoners.”

She let a helpless sigh escape her lips. Charles surely knew which buttons to push. He would give her what she wanted on the condition that she give him what he wanted.

He enjoying hurting her but he enjoyed taking care of her. Beneath this paradox lied a carefully calculated sociopathic behavior. Bella could either surrender or run away, and for the moment, there was no way she was going to run away. First, she had to question the prisoners.

She watched him as he lifted her skirt and searched for the traces of their fight. He touched her skin at several points until he found the bruise. It was a small purplish mark just above the waist.

“My behavior is unforgivable,” he muttered.

To redeem his bad manners, he opened a drawer of his desk and took out a small tube with a white cream that he carefully applied over Bella’s bruise.

“I never expected we would reach this point. I was just trying to follow your friend’s advice,” he said.

“What are you talking about?”

“Dora asked me to hold on to you as tight as I can and never let you go. That’s exactly what I did.”

Bella rolled her eyes at Charles stupid comment.

“Dora was just kidding.”

“I thought she was talking seriously.”

“How could she be serious?”

“How could I not take her seriously? She also said that I was an incredibly handsome man.”

“I get it. How could she not have been serious? You are definitely such a handsome guy.”

“Don’t you think so?”

She didn’t know what to say. This was the first time in two hundred years that Charles was making a joke and he should be forgiven if his humor came out as somehow corny.

Yet, his pathetic effort managed to make her laugh. Charles laughed along with her and gently rubbed her fingers.

At the same time, a voice came from the corridor outside.

“I'm looking for Charles. Where is he?”

Charles and Bella stared at each other and gulped. It was Katherine and she was looking for a fight.

“Just a moment, please,” responded Roy who was standing outside the study door.

“Get out of my way!” she said with insolence and pushed him aside.

Katherine was now standing at the door from where she got a clear glimpse of Charles crouching between Bella’s legs with his hands on her waist.

This sort of spectacle was too much for her. She began sobbing like a little girl who had her lunchbox stolen.

“Charles, how can you do such a thing to me? You told me that you didn't like her.”

Suddenly she raised her arm in a dramatic gesture of despair and ran off. Bella was puzzled with the way Katherine had acted.

“Don’t you want to go after her?” she asked Charles.

“No use in doing that,” muttered Charles. “We’ve got much better things to do.”

“You mean you’re going to take me to the interrogation room?”

He stood up and helped her with her clothes.

“Let's go,” he said.

“I don’t mind if you see Katherine first,” said Bella.

“Katherine will do fine,” he said.

“But don’t blame me if she runs away from home tomorrow.”

“That will never happen, and even if it does, it will not be your fault.”

He touched her head and felt sorry for what he had done to her. Knowing that she had suffered a lot, he only wanted to personally guarantee that he would never again treat her badly.

Meanwhile, Katherine ran down the corridor as fast as she could. When she reached her bedroom, she slammed the door so hard it almost hit the maiden’s face.

She stood next to the window and pulled aside the curtain. There they were! Charles and Bella were walking hand in hand across the back yard.

She stopped crying, and her eyes sparkled with a deep, intense, hatred.