Chapter 16: 16. WHOM HE LOVED THE MOST
Chapter 16: 16. WHOM HE LOVED THE MOST
Ray Li immediately replied with respect, "Yes, Mr. Jackson , sir."
Bella did not say anything, neither did she dared to raise her head. She simply pressed her body towards the car window as much as possible. Her feet legs were trembling continously. She felt nothing but fear and panic with Henry sitting next to her. She looked nothing less then a frightened stray cat.
Henry was still engrossed in his thoughts. His back was straight. His long and slender legs were crossed, with left leg on top of the right one. His right hand was resting on the divider where as his left was on the window supporting his chin. He sat like a king , looking outside as the scene passed by. But Henry was no where near as calm as be on the surface.
Two people sat on the back seat. Two world's apart. One was a king and other was like a pet animal.
The drive was soon over and Bella saw that they have stopped at the entrance of LAS DEUX.
"This .... t- this is ... LAS DEUX. W-Why did you bring me here, M-Mr. Jackson Sir?"
Henry had not looked at Bella at all through out the drive, but now, on hearing the panic and stammering hoarse voice of Bella, something seemed to click behind his narrow eyes.
"What do you think?"
He said while raising his eyebrows, a taunting smile appeared on his handsome face.
Bella lips trembled as she pleaded, " I am begging you, sir, please p-please spare me. "
She gulped a bit and continued,
" I will apologize to you, Mr. Jackson sir, for anything wrong that I have done. "
After a pause, "I'll kneel, grovel and beg...... "
"Shut up!"
She turned paler on hearing Henry's scream. "I.... I..." before she could say anything else, she was mercilessly pushed out of the car.
Bella feel hard on the snowy surface.
It was the month of December, and City A was beautifully covered with sheet of pure white snow.
Bella was not wearing much of her winter covers. She actually didn't have much either. She always wore her same overcoat that was handed over to her by the security guard at the gate of Evan villa 4 and half years ago. Under that was her cleaner's cotton uniform with beautiful logo of LAS DEUX printed on it.
She feel hard on the snow. Her leg was already in a bad shape and now it was hurting even more. Her hands bruished due to sudden fall.
Bella did not utter a single word. She just cleaned the snow from her dress and slowly tried to get up from the floor.
A normal humanbeing will take not more then 3 minutes to get up from the floor but Bella took almost 10 minutes for such a simple action.
Henry's eyes were deep and filled with furry as he stared at her. Isn't she hurt? Why is she not defending herself??
His anger was overwhelming. He opened his car door and charged towards her in furry, as if he might kill someone now.
Bella was scared seeing him approaching her. She involuntarily took a step back but because of her leg's condition, she feel hip first on the snowy ground again.
"Do you really want to kneel?
Are your knees really that weak??
Do you like kneeling so much???"
Veins were throbbing on Henry's perfect face. He held Bella's wrist and dragged her towards the entrance of the club. All through out this scene, Bella couldn't get up once and she was literally on the ground by Henry. Bella's legs were in extreme pain.
"Since, you like kneeling so much Miss. Bella Evans! THEN KNEEL right now."
He really did not know why was he so angry!! She was a prideful and arrogant girl in his memory but now she not only abamdoned her pride but was pathetic!
Was she really Bella Evans?
The Bella Evans who confessed to him like a bright flame??
Is she the same Bella Evans WHOM HE LOVED THE MOST???
Bella's face was pale. Without looking up even for a second, she said,
" I'm sorry , Mr. Jackson sir, please spare me. I 'm begging you, I already did four years in jail, I......"
What she wanted to say was once she repayed her debt, which she has promised someone, then she can offer her life in exchange of Cindy's.
"You like kneeling, don't you? ON YOUR KNEES... NOW"
There was a layer of frost on the man's cold features.
"Since, you like kneeling so much, show everyone just how embarrassing the Evans heiress can be!!"
The Evans heiress.... was it?
Yes it's a joke! Henry , you were the one who gave the order and took away everything she had once.
He asked her to kneel...
Did she want to?
Of course not!
But she was no more heiress of Evans family. She was just a convict no. 2409! She had nothing left with her.
Her pride?
Her dignity??
Her family???
Her friends????
Her qualifications?????
Her beauty??????
And most importantly Her name???????
Back then when she was the only heiress of the Evans family, he could send her to prison at a whim, and there was nothing she could say about that!
Now, she was nothing, nothing at all. All she could do was kneel and sell out her pride. There was nothing else left that she could use to bargain with him.
'Henry, I don't like to kneel.. my legs and back hurts. It's just that I don't have anything left to give.
You took away my past and killed the heiress of the Evans, wiping my existence and my history from the world. I am worst then the homeless refugees as atleast they have a family and a past. What do I have??'
'Herny Jackson, pride, arrogance and dignity is something only the Evans heiress, Bella Evans can possess and not an ex-convict like me.'
Everyone passing by were staring and pointing on them But that man ignored everyone. His lips were tightly pursed as he approached her.
A pair of long legs appeared before Bella's eyes.
"KNEEL.... NOW"
She took a deep breath and lowered her head. Then, she knelt slowly.
Thud....
Henry was shocked, his eyes were extremely icy.
"Mr. Jackson sir, I hope you will forgive me... "
Before she could finish her sentence, she saw the long legs curve into a slow crouch.
"Are you really Bella Evans?"
The man's pitch black eyes werr deep in contemplation and confusion. Bella felt as though she was struck by a heavy metal armour. A long time passed , and she never replied.
Henry finally got up and left. He really wanted to see the true colours of this Bella Evans.
The winters in City A this year was extremely cold.
Bella was wearing her cotton cleaner's uniform and a worn out rain over coat. Her face was white as snow. Ice formed at tip of her hair.
The cold and pain in her legs almost caused her to pass out.
It was almost midnight. The numbers of guests in the club was getting fewer and fewer. Those people would sneer at her when they passed her. However, she didn't mind. She only lowered her head and looked at her hands that were turning red from the cold, in order to ignore the outside world. This was a habit that she cultivated during those four years.
When she was in prison, she was always getting beat up and raped every day. In the beginning, she would fight back, but eventually, she would only get even worse beatings and torture if she did that. Hence, she stopped fighting back.
She only hoped that Henry would let her go. She did not know how long had passed.
Sophia , one of her dorm mate, brought a coat out in a secret and put it on her. She said while frowning, "Wear this. It has been five hours. If you stay like this, you will die."
Bella was shocked. She wanted to refuse but she can't die. Atleast not yet. Not before she paid her debt.
She opened her lips that have lost their colour from the cold. Her voice was hoarse.
"Leave me here. I don't want to implicate you."
" You're still worried about me?" Sophia did not know how such an ugly humble girl can offend the richies. She signed.
"You are a mad woman. Wait I will get some hot water."
Bella did not want to cause any trouble for her. She lifted her hand to stop her. In the end, amid her panic, she felt dizzy and fell on the ground with a thud.
At this moment, inside the club, Henry was sitting in Claire Jones's office , with a serious expressions on his face. A woman with an amazing figure, was steeping a pot of tea and poured him a cup.
The hot vapor was dense, and the room smelled nice.
Her instinct was to be an observant. She knew Henry was in a bad mood, so she did not mention that at all. She only reminded him absent- mindedly.
'I heard the lowest temperature tonite is -12 degree celsius. I 'm afraid flowers I bought ,may not be able to survive."
"They're just flowers. Just get new ones."
"What about a human?"
Henry Jackson lifted his head to look at the woman. He faked a smile.
"When did the manager of LAS DEUX, Claire Jones, become so kind-hearted to stand for irrelevant people?"
Claire lifted her eyebrows. When she was about to open her mouth...
There was a knock on the door. She was shocked. She put down her teapot.
"I'm not kind-hearted. However, that girl is hardworking, and she's able to endure hardships. It'll be such a pity if she died infront of the club.", she said while fisting her hand.
After she said that, she sashayed over to open the door. Atleast she was able to send Sophia over to help Bella, when Henry didn't notice. Content © NôvelDrama.Org.
Henry watched her back while squinting his eyes. His brain was occupied by Bella's empty and despair eyes. That woman has changed indeed.
He lifted his teacup and took a sip. It was slightly bitter.
Claire stood at the door and talked to the person there. After that, she returned to the office.
Henry was drinking his tea. His movements were elgant and graceful. He was a born aristocrat. Suppressing her anger , she said softly, "The person fainted. "