Even when Marcus was being gentle, Carter was still pale and sweating from the pain.

“What happened? Who beat you up?” Cordelia cried, “Who did you offend?”

Carter kept his lips pursed without a word. It only distressed Cordelia even more, and she kept asking, but Carter said nothing, no matter how she interrogated him.

Marcus patted her shoulder with a look that asked her to relax before he helped Carter to the balcony. Cordelia watched the two of them close the door, and before long, Carter seemed to be talking to Marcus while wiping his tears.

When Marcus stepped out, Cordelia hurried to him and asked, “What’s wrong?”

“He’s being bullied at school.” Marcus’ expression was cold, with a hint of rage between his brows.

Cordelia felt her heart clench in pain, and the impulse to cry rushed up again.

“It’s a few seniors who think your cousin’s an easy target and encircle him before and after school to ask for money from him. If he doesn’t have any, he’ll get beaten up.” Marcus bit his lips. “They didn’t get any money from him just now, so they slammed his head against the wall, yanking his hair. That’s why the wound on his forehead is quite bad.”

Cordelia sucked in a cold breath. She wanted to check her brother out on the balcony but was stopped by Marcus.

“Don’t go yet,” he whispered in her ear. “Boys this age are prideful. He won’t want you to see him like this. Wait for him to calm down first.”

“Mm.” Cordelia nodded but was suddenly puzzled. Her own brother refused to tell her that he was bullied but was willing to tell his brother-in-law, whom he had only met?

Marcus seemed to read her mind and smiled. “There are things that only men would tell men.”

Cordelia shook her head. “He’s only 16. What kind of a man is that!?”

“Don’t underestimate him.” Marcus chuckled. “When I was 16, I had already—”

He swallowed his words back halfway through his sentence.

Cordelia looked up at him. “Already what?”

Marcus choked and pulled Cordelia into his arms. Her waist easily fitted in his hand, so he tilted her chin up with another hand.

pools of spring.

felt a ball of flame churning

chest, powerful heartbeats, and the oozing

smiled embarrassedly. “I still have

glint flashing

soft and weak. It was a challenge for her to

on the couch tonight. It’s uncomfortable. Sleep in

the bravest thing she could say. He held back

bathroom right after dinner. He usually took only ten minutes to take a shower, but he had spent nearly an hour this

had already cut up some fruits and watched television but still did not

pajamas. As she sat by the bed anxiously, she had no idea where to place her

He was tall

shame when she felt that her

then the running water in the bathroom stopped. She jolted

footsteps could be

feet as she

used to look forward to these pleasant scenes when she was younger and to fantasize about marrying the person she loved and

this was no longer her wedding night, it would

blissful smile stretched the corners of her lips. She hoped that everything would be like what the novels said and she could reminisce

it, an urgent knock rang at the

Carter stood outside with a busted face and looked horrible, crying

the house.

at her with reddened eyes and kept sobbing, unable to speak a

coughed that she snapped back to reality

was currently Yelena, and the latter had no

cousin.” She forced a

front of them was the man his sister married in place of Yelena, so the man

Cordelia said softly, “Greet your

right away. He looked at the man timidly, getting an inexplicable commanding presence from the latter. Did his sister not feel pressured while living with someone like

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