Half an hour later, Brucille walked out of the emergency room with a bandage around his head.
Seeing Monique bare-footed and her bloody footprints all over the ground, he walked over and told her, “Let’s go home, it’s already midnight.”
As Monique’s head had been hanging low, she didn’t realize that he came out. Hearing his voice, she rose to her feet and pounced into his embrace, much to Brucille’s surprise and delight.
He gently patted her on the back. “Your feet are hurt badly, let me carry you home.”
“It’s okay, but how are we going to go home like this? Let’s stay in a hotel for the night, or my parents might be worried if they see this.”
The attending nurse was kind; she gave Monique a pair of disposable slippers.
Then, the two of them hobbled out of the hospital. They booked a standard room with two beds in the hotel opposite the hospital.
Pointing to the bathroom, Brucille suggested, “Your feet are bleeding. How about you go and take a bath first? Do you need my help?”
Monique’s feet were hurt badly, and all the skin of her soles was broken and peeled, sending immense jolts of pain through with every step she took. Yet, she refused to let Brucille help her wash her feet.
She turned on the tap herself, and the warm water flowed out and rushed towards her feet.
Ah…
She held back her cries and watched as the warm water mixed with her own blood before flowing down the drain.
Like crystals, clear drops of tears fell from the corners of her eyes. Suddenly, Brucille came in and carried her up. He sat her down on the toilet bowl and proceeded to help her clean her feet.
“By the looks of it, you’ll have to take a leave from the hospital and rest at home for a few days. Okay, everything’s done now. Let me carry you to the bed.”
She didn’t know if his touch had distracted her from the pain, but Monique actually felt less pain when Brucille washed her feet for her.
When Brucille picked her up, she didn’t resist at all. Obedient as a little lamb, she allowed him to carry her back to bed.
Brucille’s clothes were all stained with blood. He took off his jacket and took a quick shower. Then, he walked out of the bathroom wearing only a pair of boxers.
Monique unintentionally caught sight of his muscular body, and her face turned red.
She commanded shyly, “Hurry and get to bed. Don’t stand there like a pervert!”
“I can’t wear my clothes at all, so this is all I can wear, you’ll just have to make do with it. Besides, we are legally married, it’s not that big of a deal.”
Monique was speechless.
Finally, he laid down on his bed. Although the two of them were about a meter apart, they had never slept so close to each other before.
After turning off the lights, Monique thought for a long time, and then asked calmly, “Were you investigating Culver behind my back?”
“You can’t say that,” deflected Brucille. “He is a public figure, a famous representative of a high performing business. Besides, his wife is very outstanding and well-known as well. She is the precious daughter of the Hsu family, who are the owners of the Hsu group.”
“More than three years ago, they got married abroad. Since then, his career skyrocketed, and he has been working as a representative of a well-known local company. He has been able to achieve all of these thanks to his father-in-law.”
Monique laughed coldly and said, “Turns out it was all a lie. I’m tired, let’s go to sleep.”
Brucille knew that the incident had dealt a great blow to her. After all, the man she had longed for did not appear in her world in the way she wanted.
Lying on the bed, Brucille thought of Morgan and Maxwell. Who would’ve known that Maxwell would bear a grudge against him, and take revenge in such a way.
He felt that he should fight back and let him know that he was not a man to be trifled with.
The next day, after their parents went to work, they rushed back home. Brucille bought a cap at a stall outside the hospital so that no one would notice his injury.
Monique, on the other hand, took a leave from the hospital to rest at home. She couldn’t walk around with her feet like that.
Tommy, bringing Francis along, drove his Porsche to their house and parked it in the yard. When they entered the house, they saw Brucille peeling an apple for his wife.
“Brucille, I’ve heard that you were beaten up by someone last night, is that true?”
“How did you know?” Brucille asked in response.
Francis explained, “Hey, don’t forget that I have a private detective. It’s impossible for me to not know anything that I want to know about. Who did it?”
“Apparently, I offended Maxwell Wu, the chairman of the Sky Tech Group, because of a trivial matter. Last night, he paid a gang of hooligans to beat me up, I can’t believe it.”
“The chairman of a company that is going to be listed soon, paying hooligans to beat me up as revenge over a small conflict? Do I look like I’m that easy to deal with?” Brucille angrily spat.
Tommy looked at Brucille sadly and admitted, “Hey, to tell you the truth, you used to be quite weak in the past, Brucille.”
Brucille almost threw the fruit knife he was holding at them. “If the two of you are here to laugh at me, then you can leave now.”
“Don’t say that,” chided Francis. “It’s just a little setback, it won’t be enough to knock you down. How about I call up a few hooligans tonight to beat Maxwell up too, to do you some justice? What do you think?”
Monique looked at the two brothers, slightly annoyed. Francis chuckled and teased, “Monique, why the angry face? You work at the hospital, right? So if we beat someone up, then you’ll get business!”
“Hey, can’t you guys think of something proper to do? You guys are a bad influence to him, encouraging him to do these illegal things.”
Brucille gave his wife an admiring look. With deep affection, he responded, “My dear wife, what else would I need with a wife like you? You are absolutely right. One of them is a villain, and the other is a hooligan.”
However, he was just joking. After Brucille peeled the apple, he placed it carefully in his wife’s hand.
Then, he told his friends, “I spent the whole night yesterday investigating the public information of the Sky Tech Group. I suspect that they’re faking some of their financial reports. Help me retrieve some of their insider materials, so that I can put a pause to their plan of being listed…”
Francis’s mouth slowly arched into a smile, and then squinted at Tommy.
“D*mn it, when you said that this guy had changed, I didn’t believe it. I didn’t expect him to be so cunning now. If the company is suspended, it’s very likely that Maxwell will lose his control over the company.”
That was undoubtedly good news for Brucille. Therefore, he questioned further, “Please enlighten me about that.”
“It’s very simple. Maxwell received a huge investment three years ago. However, there was an agreement that the company must be listed on the market within four years. If not, the company will have to give away 75% of its shares.”
Brucille muttered, “This means that he still has one more year to be listed. If this news doesn’t go viral enough, it will not obstruct his plan.”
However, Francis smiled cunningly. “I don’t think so. All you got was a scar on your head. He’ll definitely lose more than you did, don’t you think?”