Chapter 29 You Detest Me Just As Much, Donât You?
Malice poured out of Brendanâs eyes. He looked less like a man and more like a monster braying for blood. âI let you off the hook, Sterling! How dare you spit on my goodwill! How f*cking dare you take my woman?!â
Pain burned Sterlingâs cheek, but it did nothing to hold him back. He snickered. âYour woman? Oh, I see! Being forced to do someone elseâs time for a crime she didnât commit is a perk of being your woman, huh? Being dehumanized as your means of entertainment is also the sort of thing your womanâ
should do, right? God, is it just me, or is being âyour womanâ the cruelest torment anyone could ever suffer?â
Brendanâs eyes turned bloodshot. He then attacked again.
Sterling was no match for him in a fight, but he did not let that stop him from putting up a fight.
Everyone else in the room, including Deirdre, was too aghast to react. She had to stop Sterling from angering Brendan even further. After all, it would be all too easy for someone as obscenely powerful as Brendan to ruin Sterlingâs career as a doctor forever!
âStop! Please, stop fighting!â she yelled powerlessly. She could not see anything-she could only hear the sounds of fists connecting with flesh. She seized one of them and lurched, then She felt pain. Right on her face.
Her ears rang, and she felt gravity calling to her from behind and fell.
Her face swole up, and even the simple act of breathing hurt.
Sterlingâs eyes turned red. âDee!â
, Brendan shoved the man away and pulled her into his arms. He shot everyone in the family an icy glare and said angrily, âAll of you sicken me. I get that heâs just a bastard son, but god, does this savage even have any manners?! Jesus, train your son like a dog if you have to! Give him some lessons!â
After saying that, he stormed off. Before she was forcefully dragged out of the house, Deirdreâs recovering ears vaguely heard Richard lambasting Sterling. She curled into herself and muttered, âNo, Sterlingâs injuries ⦠He needs to⦠get them treatedâ¦â
Brendan brusquely shoved her to the passengerâs seat. He loomed over her, fury burning in his chest, and grabbed her by her shoulders in a tight hold. âAre you suicidal, Deirdre? Your face is swollen, for f*ckâs sake! Why do you still care about him?! Why is he so important to you?!â
He was hysterical. The only reason he had not rushed back inside the Fullersâ residence to beat the living crap out of Sterling was because Deirdreâs injury seemed so critical.
The young woman shivered. His voice was really loud, and her ears were beginning to ring again. She took a deep breath and slumped against the back of the seat.
A while later, her ears stopped ringing and she cast her eyes down. âHe saved me, Brendan. I was left with nothing. I was abandoned. Alone. At that moment of need, he saved me. He is my hero.â
âWhat a f*cking hero he is! If it wasnât for him, how the hell would you have ended up in this state!â
Deirdre turned her face away from him and said nothing.
Brendan pressed his lips together and stomped on the accelerator . The car whirred into life, and she panicked.
âWhere are you taking me?â she cried.
He frowned. âTo the goddamned hospital! You look like a goddamned bulldog right now, okay? What if you have a concussion?â
âNo! Iâm not going to the hospital!â She remembered how those people had demanded answers from her. The trauma was still eating away at her. âIâm fine. I donât need to see a doctor.â
The car screeched to a stop.
âWhy the hell not? Why the f*cking hell not?! What the hell are you going to do, huh? Go back there and nurse Sterling back to f*cking health? Let him put himself inside you again?!â Brendan erupted.
âAre you blind? Didnât you see just how repulsed the Fullers were by you? They hate you. You disgust them! You really think you could make them warm up to you by acting like a saint and being on their beck and call?â
Deirdreâs lips paled. She had not seen it, yes, but she had felt the familyâs contempt just fine. Even so⦠why did Brendan have to put it so bluntly? Why could he not mince his words? He acted like she was not a fellow human being who could feel pain.
âYouâre right. Damn right! I couldnât see anything because Iâm just a blind woman!â she retorted in a shaky voice. She took a deep breath and raised her head in defiance. âBesides, whatâs the difference between serving them and serving you? They detest me-and so do you!â