In that moment, Dolores could sense his racing heartbeat. Just as she was about to inquire about his presence, she found herself unable to utter a single word, her lips parting soundlessly.
In the corridor, Matthew glanced back at Boyce. “Go back to your room,” he said.
Boyce grasped his intention immediately. Without a word, he promptly returned to his room.
The passage was dimly lit, and Dolores could distinctly hear the thumping of heartbeats, but she couldn’t discern whether they were hers or his.
“Why are you here?” she finally regained her composure and found her voice as Matthew carried her up two flights of stairs.
Matthew remained silent.
Dolores gazed at his face, illuminated by alternating light and shadow, and asked, “Are you here to find me?”
She couldn’t help but grip the back of his collar, hoping for an affirmative response.
However, she feared that her hopes would be in vain. “Do you have business here?” she inquired once more.
Matthew continued his silence, unsettling Dolores. She hesitated, her apprehension growing. Finally, she cautiously asked, “What’s wrong with you?”
They had now reached the floor reserved entirely by Matthew. Boyce had already sent the other men back to their rooms, hiding in Samuel and Simona’s room. Matthew pushed open a door, entered, and locked it from the inside. With Dolores in his arms, he carried her into the bedroom and gently placed her on the bed.
Dolores dared not speak any further. His silence only heightened her anxiety.
Matthew silently regarded her. She didn’t typically wear makeup, always maintaining a neat and pure appearance. If she wore jeans and a T-shirt, people might mistake her for a college student. No one would suspect she was already a mother of two.
However, she was adorned now. In addition to her inherent purity, she exuded a newfound enchantment. As she glanced around, she emanated a captivating aura.
And there she sat on the bed. When he lowered his gaze, he caught a glimpse of her bosom in the plunging neckline. Her fair, tender, and ample bosom captivated him.
This woman had adorned herself in front of another man, while he and his children had lost their appetite and sleep due to her disappearance. He wondered what she wanted.
Had she fallen in love with that cripple?
“What were you doing with that cripple earlier?” The thought of Charles and Dolores whispering to each other so intimately provoked Matthew’s rage.
Was she blind?
How could she fall in love with a cripple?
Dolores was taken aback, realizing that the “cripple” he referred to was Charles. She had never seen Matthew so jealous before, and for some reason, she felt an urge to burst into laughter.
“It’s complicated. I can’t explain it simply,” she said, her lips parting and closing repeatedly.
Captivated by her red lips, Matthew leaned in and sealed them tightly with his own. He pressed the back of her head dominantly, making her submit to him. He silenced her unfinished words.
He didn’t want to hear anything about that man.
Feeling the intimacy she had shared with Charles, his actions became even more forceful. His overbearing nature overwhelmed her.
Dolores widened her eyes, her face flushed deeply. She yearned to push him away, struggling to catch her breath.
Yet, he showed no intention of letting her go. It seemed he wouldn’t cease until he had consumed her entirely.
“Hmm,” Dolores helplessly bit his bottom lip. Matthew felt a sharp pain and released her momentarily, only to kiss her again shortly after.
Their lips and teeth tasted blood.
“You resist my kiss, don’t you?” Matthew mumbled against her lips.
Dolores wanted to deny it. His kiss had been overwhelming, almost suffocating her. However, as she parted her lips, an uncontrolled sound escaped her throat. “Ehn…”
It was a seductive moan.
Yet, Matthew misinterpreted it as confirmation.
As a form of punishment, he bit her tongue, and both of them tasted more blood in their mouths, a mixture of his and hers.
He sucked on her tongue, savoring her sweet saliva and blood, his Adam’s apple bobbing.
The scene was intensely passionate.
Dolores felt both pain and a sense of grievance. She had endured so much hardship, so why was he treating her this way as soon as he saw her?
The question echoed in her mind.
Did he truly believe she was heartless?
“Matthew Nelson, do you think I’m invulnerable, like an iron fortress, and that I won’t feel any pain no matter how you attack me?”
As she spoke, her sobs filled the air, and gradually, he released his grip on her lips.
In just a few minutes, her once-red lips had become reddish and swollen from the torment.
Tears welled up in his eyes. Pinching her chin, he asked, “Do you feel any pain? How can you not feel any pain? Do you know how much I worried and missed you during these past few days when you were gone?”
“Whenever Simona asked about you, do you know what I told her? I said you were playing hide and seek with us, and we should go find you. But what were you really doing during that time?” As he spoke, his gaze swept over her, scrutinizing her every detail. A scornful sneer escaped from his throat. “You were having fun with another man. How can you not feel any pain?”
“No, I wasn’t!” Dolores immediately denied it. She refused to admit to anything she had done.
“I was coerced into it!” She had managed to escape from Sampson. If it weren’t for Charles, she doubted she would have survived.
“I nearly died. What right do you have to question and suspect me? Who do you think you are?” Even without blinking, tears streamed down her face.
“Simona and Samuel…” She clutched her heart. “They were exchanged for my own life. How could I not miss them and worry about them? Since they were born, I have never been separated from them for such a long time. I tried my best to take care of them because they are my children, flesh of my flesh. When I couldn’t see them, I missed them constantly. I worried if they were hungry, if they had enough clothes, if they were being taken care of. I worried that I might die and never see them again.”
Matthew observed her suffering and pulled her into his arms. Kissing her forehead and running his fingers through her hair, he silently expressed his remorse.
“I’m sorry…” He fervently kissed away the tears at the corners of her eyes.
It took Dolores a while to regain her composure. Matthew continued to rub her temples and hair, pressing gentle kisses on her cheeks and the corners of her eyes. “You’re a married woman. You can’t get close to other men. I don’t like it.”
Dolores lowered her gaze slightly. She could feel his love and concern for her, but their love was burdened with so many complexities. She still didn’t have the courage to fully open her heart to him.
“Matthew, can you accept me?” She implied his family background and his identity.
“Can you accept Samuel and Simona?” Once again, tears welled up in her eyes.
Matthew’s arms around her trembled slightly. “Six years ago, in Room 1908 of Kong-Tsing Hotel, Country A…”
Dolores’s body tensed up. She wondered how he knew about those details.
Pushing him away, she snapped, “Did you investigate me?”
Only a few people knew about that incident. How did Matthew find out?
That matter was a painful memory she dared not speak of, an embarrassment and humiliation she never wanted to acknowledge.
It was a secret buried deep within her heart, never to be exposed.
Matthew had to take a step back from her push. Standing a couple of steps away, he observed her panic, loss, shame, and rejection.
“In those years, your mother and younger brother were in a car accident. You needed money, so someone introduced you…”
“Stop it!” Dolores interrupted him, pushing him away frantically. “Go! Just go away! I don’t want to listen to you!”
Matthew firmly grasped her restless hands. “You sold yourself to a man just to get the money to save your mother and brother.”
She felt ashamed, confused, and lost. She wanted to hide from him, as if she were stripped naked and standing before him. It felt as if he had discovered the erotic scenes and passionate encounters, and now he was watching and mocking her.
Trembling all over, she struggled to form a coherent sentence. “Are you happy now? Are you satisfied now? Do you feel a great sense of accomplishment from tearing open my scars and reveling in my suffering?”