His Coy Lover

“I am already seated.”

Charles’s voice was icy, and Peck, frightened, hurriedly explained, “Charles, that wasn’t my intention.”

Seeing the cane still in Elle’s hand, Charles asked, “What is that?”

Peck chuckled, “Charles, that’s a cane, a part of our family’s disciplinary measures.”

Glancing at the swollen side of Elle’s face, Charles looked back at Peck, and the older man, avoiding eye contact, hung his head nervously.

“I arrived at an inopportune time. Is Peck planning to discipline your eldest daughter?” Charles inquired.

“Charles, Zelda angered you, we…”

“What about Zelda?”

Charles interrupted Elle. His face darkened to a frightening extent. He reached for the cane in Elle’s hand, the one with thorns that, if applied to someone, would cause pain.

“Zelda, where is she?”

“Go and bring her down. I want to see her.”

Peck was taken aback and quickly said, “Charles, my apologies. My youngest daughter grew up in the countryside, she doesn’t understand the rules. If she offended you, I hope you can overlook it. Tomorrow, I’ll make sure she brings a generous gift to apologize in person.”Content from NôvelDr(a)ma.Org.

Charles stared at him coldly, then asked again, “Where is she?”

“Upstairs.”

“Go, bring her down. I want to see her!”

Peck shivered and said, “Alright, alright, I’ll go bring Zelda down immediately.”

He quickly went upstairs and arrived at Zelda’s room. Frantically knocking on the door, he pleaded, “Zelda, open the door. Charles wants to see you. Quickly, don’t keep Charles waiting too long.”

There was no response from inside the room.

Panicking, Peck began banging on the door, shouting, “Zelda, please don’t do anything foolish. I’m disciplining you for your own good.”

Zelda, no matter how unreasonable, no matter how many times she offended Charles, was still his own biological daughter.

“The door has been locked from the outside by Elle.”

Zelda’s cold voice came from behind the door. Peck, who was petrified with fear, suddenly felt his legs go weak. He started banging on the door again while saying, “Zelda, please don’t do anything foolish. I’m disciplining you for your own good.”

Elle quickly went upstairs. While unlocking the door, she asked her father, “Dad, what do you think Charles meant?”

Overwhelmed by his earlier unfounded fears, Peck instinctively replied, “Who cares what he means? If he wants to see Zelda, let him. Let Zelda apologize to him in person.”

Elle opened her mouth to say something, then felt it was inappropriate, and in the end, she said nothing.

Several minutes later, after much coaxing from her father, Zelda reluctantly came downstairs to meet the man of the house.

Zelda, with mixed emotions, approached Charles. She asked with a lack of enthusiasm, “May I ask what brings Charles here?”

As soon as she appeared on the stairs, Charles, with his sharp eyes, noticed her swollen face. When she got closer, his face turned as dark as coal.

“Kneel.”

Charles ordered.

Zelda didn’t know what he was going to do, but seeing his face looking so bad, she knelt down. However, she dared not turn her back to him, fearing he might knock her out again like last time.

Unexpectedly, when she knelt down, two thick palms fell on her face. She could feel the roughness of his fingertips and was surprised to find that the great Winston heir, the business god of River Town, had such rough fingers and calloused hands.

However, his actions were gentle.

He gently touched her face, as if afraid that using too much force would worsen the condition. Zelda was taken aback by Charles’s unexpected gesture and stared directly into his eyes.

When the husband and wife locked eyes, Charles suddenly withdrew his hand. The movement was so swift that it seemed as if Zelda’s face was contaminated with poison.

Charles’s previous actions were witnessed by Peck and Elle, leaving them dumbfounded.

Peck’s eyes widened in disbelief, unable to comprehend what he had just seen. Charles, gently touching Zelda’s face with an expression that seemed to carry a hint of pity. Yet, on closer inspection, nothing could be discerned from his eyes.