You Humiliated Me, I Left No Trace

Chapter 5

Adrian's head snapped sideways from the force of the slap, a bright red handprint instantly blooming across his pale cheek.

His ears rang, numb with pain, but every cold, razor-sharp word Lila spat seared into his mind like a hot iron. "If Dorian hadn't warned me, I never would have known you had the audacity to sneak another woman into my private wing!"

Her eyes were glacial, her words slicing through whatever was left of his composure.

Grace's face drained of color. She stepped forward urgently. "Miss Sterling, you've completely misunderstood! I came tonight purely as his physician for a medical follow-up. There is nothing improper between Mr. Sheldon and me!"

"A follow-up?" Lila sneered, her dismissive glance cold enough to freeze blood. "What kind of medical exam requires a house call in the dead of night?"

Grace tried to argue, but Adrian raised a trembling hand to stop her.

Swallowing the humiliating burning on his face, his voice came out raspy and hollow. "Dr. Granville, this is a private matter between my wife and me. It doesn't concern you. Please, just go."

Grace bit her lip, looking at his broken state with agonizing helplessness. Knowing she was powerless, she picked up her medical case to leave.

Lila let out a dark, bitter laugh. "Protecting her to the very end? Too bad she isn't leaving tonight."

At her word, an icy voice barked from the doorway. "Restrain her."

Two massive bodyguards rushed in, seizing Grace and forcing her to her knees on the cold floor.

Adrian jolted, a wave of sheer terror crashing over him. He saw the cold ruthlessness in Lila's eyes, and his blood turned to ice. "Let her go! I swear on my life—I have never betrayed you!"

Lila took a step closer, towering over him. "Your life isn't worth bargaining with."

The words drove a stake through his heart. Every limb went rigid and numb. He sat pale, utterly gutted.

Robin threw himself to the ground with a heavy thud, tears streaming down his face. "Miss Sterling, please! Have mercy on Mr. Sheldon and Dr. Granville! He's innocent!"

Her anger only burned hotter. Seizing Adrian's wrist with a bruising grip, her voice turned dangerously low. "I only believe what I see with my own eyes."

She dragged him by force toward the bedroom.

Feeling the terrifying violence radiating off her, a cold dread seized Adrian. He struggled instinctively. "What are you doing? Let me go!"

Lila shot a icy glance back at Grace, who was still pinned to the floor outside. "I'm going to find out, once and for all, whether you're as pure as you claim."

The horrific implication hit him instantly. Adrian's pupils dilated in absolute terror. He fought back with everything he had, twisting and clawing against her hold.

But weakened by illness and exhausted to his bones, his resistance was useless against her strength.

He was thrown onto the mattress. Before he could scramble back, Lila pinned him down, her hands tearing through his clothes with brutal, terrifying efficiency.

An overwhelming wave of humiliation swallowed him whole, suffocating his very soul.

In the dark, his last boundaries were violently torn away. He was an anchorless vessel swallowed by a merciless storm, forced to endure the total obliteration of his body and dignity, piece by agonizing piece, until nothing remained.

After that night, Adrian collapsed into a terrifyingly high fever that lasted for five straight days. He lay trapped in a dark haze, his body so broken he couldn't lift a finger or utter a sound.

Because of the ordeal, he missed his grandfather's milestone seventieth birthday entirely.

Back at the old Sheldon estate, the grand dining table was set with cold, untouched delicacies, waiting for the one person who mattered most.

Harold watched the sky turn pitch black outside, his eyes dull with a profound, quiet sorrow. His voice was heavy with age. "It's late. Don't wait any longer. Let us eat."

Celia, sitting beside him, tried frantically to soothe him. "Grandpa, don't worry. Adrian must have been delayed by urgent business at the Sterling estate. He would never miss this on purpose."

The old man forced a faint, melancholy smile, but his eyes were filled with self-reproach. "Don't try to comfort me, child. I know the truth. I see how agonizing life has become for both of you. I'm old and powerless... I can no longer shield my own blood."

He stared at the untouched plates, his voice cracking with guilt. "If your late parents are looking down from heaven, they must despise me for failing you both so terribly."

Celia looked at her grandfather's snow-white hair, a sharp sting burning her eyes. Unable to hold back her grief, she turned her head away as silent tears streamed down her cheeks.

The old man said no more. He simply gazed toward the distant lights of the Sterling estate, a tear brimming in his clouded, tired eyes.

Five days later, the fever finally broke, and Adrian opened his eyes.

Robin quickly wiped away his tears the moment he saw his master awake, carefully propping him up. "Mr. Sheldon! You're awake! How do you feel? Are you in pain?"

Adrian's throat felt as if it were filled with glass. "How long... was I asleep?" he rasped.

"Five days, sir."

Adrian's eyes widened in absolute horror. Panic flooded his face as he threw off the blankets, struggling to swing his legs over the edge of the bed. "Grandpa's birthday! I missed it! He must be frantic! Robin, get my coat—I need to go back to the old house right now!"

A slow, mocking voice echoed from the doorway, thick with malicious delight.

"You really should hurry back. Otherwise, you might miss your chance to see Harold alive one last time."

"What did you say?" Adrian's breath caught, every muscle freezing in terror. He snapped his head up to see Dorian strolling into the room.

Dorian smiled gently, his eyes dancing with sick amusement. "I said... your poor old grandfather has been kneeling in the freezing rain outside the Sterling gates for days now, begging Lila to grant a divorce and set you free. He hasn't stood up once."