At the house of the Ball family.
Hudson slammed what he had in his hand onto the desk. His heart was aching, and his usually calm face couldn’t even conceal the pain and despair written on his face. “You’ve ruined my entire life, do you know that?”
“What are you saying, Hudson?” Christ was taken aback; his hand shuddered a bit. He didn’t know what Hudson was referring to.
The second he saw some of the photos in the bag on the table, his face turned pale. The photos were of him from that night at the hotel.
“You were the one who dosed the drug as well, right?” Hudson calmed down a bit, but the look in his eyes still had a lingering sense of despair and grief. Everything was far too late now. “Is the marriage all that important? To the point that you have to ruin me?”
“Hudson, Winnie isn’t that bad!”
“You had someone record the video too, right? And uploaded it online?”
“Hudson-”
“Just tell me the truth! Yes or no?” Hudson bellowed.
After a slight pause, Christ replied, “Yes!”
In truth, from the second he got the results of the investigation, Hudson already knew the truth that it was his father’s doing. But he still clutched on to some vague hope and refused to believe his father could have done such a thing. But now, he was left utterly disappointed.
He stared at Christ long and hard in the eyes but said nothing. Then he turned around slowly and headed out. The darkness made his figure seem elongated and incredibly lonely.
Hudson doesn’t even recall how he made it back home.
When Winnie woke up, some of the servants informed her that Hudson asked her to stay and that he would return shortly.
She had cried; her eyes were red, and her face looked pale. After releasing all her pent-up emotions, she felt much calmer now.
She sat and awaited him in the living room. When the doors opened, she stared in surprise as his tall figure came stumbling in. Unable to contain herself, she ran up to ask concernedly, “Are you alright?”
Hudson slowly moved his gaze to look at her fatigued face. At this moment, he saw the resemblance between the two, how they were both on the downtrodden end of their relationships.
“You don’t look so well!” Winnie softly said.
He continued to stare at her, as though he was looking at himself.
Winnie continued, “Hudson, I’m going home first! Take care of yourself!”
She made the motion to leave.
Just as she brushed past his shoulder, he grabbed her wrist, “Don’t go, ok?”
He was soft-spoken, and there was a hint of begging in his voice, “At least just for tonight, stay with me, OK?”
She was caught by surprise. Her red eyes started to tear up again, “Do you need me, or do you want to be responsible?”
“Does it matter? Do we have to be so clear about it?”
“If you need me, I’ll stay! If you want to take responsibility, I won’t stay!” She said softly.
“I need you!” He was feeling incredibly lonely tonight.
She began to cry as tears fell down her cheeks. Could their relationship still heal? Did she want to do this?
“Fine, I’ll stay!” She shut her eyes and let the tears continue to fall.
He tugged her slightly into his arms. He couldn’t tell if he was doing this to comfort her or comfort himself. He just felt incredibly tired. Never had he felt this tired beyond words!
Neither did he know that this was the embrace Winnie had longed for! And never would he understand how bitter she felt in her heart at this moment!
Then, he swooped her up and headed upstairs.
Their new home!
Since their marriage, only she had lived here; he always stayed in the study!
She didn’t expect that they’d go to the bedroom together at this moment!
Winnie was dazed and felt confused. She didn’t know why he was bringing her upstairs, so she let out a yelp, “Hudson-”
Her lips were suddenly sealed by his kiss…
He knew that he didn’t love her!
But he couldn’t be together with Esther, so he didn’t care about anything anymore! At this moment, he knew that he only wanted to keep her and be responsible for her! Because the one who had sex with her was him! The current situation was incredibly different from when they just got married and never went to bed together! He felt a flurry of mixed emotions in his heart; never had he felt this flustered before! It was this feeling, this familiar, longing feeling that made his body continue to reminisce that night. This was it!
Winnie was left stunned by the sudden kiss; the more she tried to resist, the stronger his grip became. Against his burning hot chest, her large round eyes were fixated on his handsome face, and the tall bridge of his nose continued to scrape across her cheeks lightly.
Her body slightly trembled; his male dominance and kiss were like electric currents that went through her entire body…
She fell deeply into his snare again!
Suddenly, she began to give in to his passionate kisses. Even if she knew that he only wanted her body right now, she wanted to give him her love, if even for one second…
Were love and sex inseparable?
Hudson began to realize the truth at this moment!
Or, perhaps it was the animal instinct inside him that was ignited and taking over him!
And so, without any drug effects or alcohol, he wanted to have sex with Winnie!
All night long, they had sex seven times!
Maybe it was because he was sex-starved, or he needed a way to vent out his mixed feelings, but he lost all control!
The next morning, Winnie was still deeply asleep. She was completely tired out!
Uneasily looking at her, Hudson got up, showered, and got dressed.
Hudson was on the rooftop doing his morning exercises when Lance rushed over with a letter and the morning newspaper, “Sir, the morning letter!”
Hudson took the letter and quickly opened it. At that moment, his calm and collected face suddenly twisted into a terrifying expression, and the veins on his hand were visible.
“Sir?” Lance was startled; this was the first time he had ever seen Hudson like this. He looked on as Hudson’s eyes were cold and deadly.
***
A rage began to surge up from inside him, and Hudson tightly clenched the letter in his hand, “Get the car ready, I’m off to see Esther! Now!”
“Yes!” The two began to rush downstairs.
Over at the D University campus.
Hudson rushed into Esther’s French class. Just as everyone was still confused by the situation, he spoke to the teacher fluently in French, then took Esther out of the class.
“What’s the matter, Hudson? You told the professor it was urgent? Where are you taking me?” Hudson tightly gripped her hand until it hurt her, as though he was afraid to lose her.
Since classes were still in session, the halls were very quiet. He took her to a corner and said, “Esther!”
Before she could reply, he held her tightly in his arms.
“What’s wrong?” Esther looked up at him.
“Go with me to the hospital!” There was a quiver in his voice. Even now, he couldn’t believe the results, so he had to make sure.
“To do what?”
“A blood sample test, it’ll be quick!” He let her go and they headed into an elevator.
Still confused, Esther complied and they both got a blood sample. Hudson rushed the doctor to speed things up, but the doctor informed him that it’d take at least 48 hours for samples to come out.
“Hudson, what are we doing this for?”
“You’ll know in two days, Esther, so don’t ask for now, alright? In two days, I’ll tell you everything!”
Esther looked deeply into Hudson’s eyes and nodded, “Fine!”
She believed in him no matter what he does. This was the kind of bond they had from the past decade.
When Winnie woke up, it was already noon. Hudson was not around. Her face turned red as she looked at the various scars and bruises he left on her from the night before. Her face turned redder and redder.
For the next two days, she didn’t hear from Hudson at all. She didn’t know what happened, but it was as though he had disappeared.
What Hudson took Esther to do was a DNA comparison test.
An anonymous letter informed him that he and Esther were not blood-related siblings and that it was all part of Christ’s plan.
The day when Christ told Hudson about the DNA report he had, Hudson had no doubts at all. To this day, he could still feel a chill as to why he had accepted that truth without any substantiated evidence other than his father’s word. Right now, all he wanted was the truth.
The results were out!
Esther was not his sister, and they are not blood-related at all.
On the day the results came out, there was a slight drizzle accompanied by a chilling wind. Masses of dark clouds gathered over the sky. Amidst the wind and rain, a lone figure appeared especially lonely as it strolled down the streets. There was no telling whether water on his face was the rain or his tears.
From the second he saw the results, Hudson’s face was cold, but his eyes were filled with anguish and sadness that threatened to engulf him.
There was no turning back!
There was no turning back!
Hudson clenched his fists tightly and let out a bellow in the empty streets. His voice was covered by the sound of the heavy rain.
Hudson didn’t recall how long he had been out in the rain. By the time Lance came to get him, Lance only saw Hudson drenched wet with a pale face; even his lips were pale as white. Only those eyes seemed still full of life, flickering with a sense of rage.
“Master, get in the car! You’ll catch a cold like this.”
“Lance, he tricked me! He lied to me! He made me lose Esther and turn everything into an irreversible situation as it is now. She’s not my blood sister! Everything was a part of his plan, and he played me for a fool!” Hudson’s voice was hoarse. His large, bulky body seemed fixed in place, as he looked on at Lance.
“Master, we’ll talk when we get back, you’re soaking wet right now!” Lance said concernedly as he watched rain drip down Hudson’s black suit. “I know all of your pain!”
Hudson’s eyes narrowed, and he said in a hoarse voice, “Leave me, I need to think!”
Lance was well aware of Hudson’s temper. He knew how important Esther was to Hudson since they could only count on each other for these past ten years. No one could have known that things would turn out like this.
As Hudson continued to walk down the street, Lance followed right behind him.