Chapter 10 Make The Rest Suffer And Pay

• "Is everyone in the Lloyd family blind, leaving you on your own when you've sustained an injury like this? You're crying your eyes out and they don't give a damn! What the hell is Harper playing at? Does he even know how to act like a father?"
• Zeke's anger boiled over. He seethed with volcanic fury, looking as if he might reduce everything in his surroundings to ashes on a mere impulse.
• Anne shivered slightly.
• It was rare to see Zeke in such a rage. When she realized that he was angry on her behalf, however, her heart warmed, and she felt rather moved.
• "Uncle Zeke, I'm fine, honest. I don't think I fared too badly either. After all, I slapped her twice and yanked her hair." Anne hastily caught hold of Zeke's wrist, trying to appease his anger.
• "Look at you now! Was that all you could manage?" When Zeke heard this, he could guess who had injured her. His eyes glittered like ice. "Did you draw blood when you hit her?" He stared at Anne coldly and critically.
• Anne suddenly deflated, all the bluster leaving her. "No."
• "And you still say you didn't fare too badly?"
• Anne looked rather upset. "What could I do? Dad was shielding her after all."
• "Next time, if she injures you again, use a knife and slash her hand. She won't dare to touch you after that."
• Zeke's vindictive words startled Anne.
• "Huh?"
• "What? You might not be fed up with all these petty squabbles, but I've had enough of just listening to them. Tackle the root of the problem. If she hurts you with her right hand, slash her right hand; same if she tries to do anything to you with her left hand."
• "What if she uses both her hands on me?"
• "Then slash them both!" Zeke pushed Anne into the car once he finished speaking.
• Anne's mouth trembled slightly.
• When had Uncle Zeke learned to be so violent? Did her Grandpa know about it?
• Once in the car, though, she sat quietly enough and did not ask Zeke where he was taking her. She was in no mood to do anything today anyway. Taking out her phone to check her messages, she discovered that she had 23 missed calls, all from Shayne.
• She felt a sudden stabbing ache in her heart. She had genuinely invested herself in her relationship with him, and it was painful to even think about.
• After looking through the call log on her phone, she decided to block Shayne's number. Nonetheless, she still hesitated for a moment right as she was about to do so. All the memories of his smiling face, his kindness to her, and the way he had stuck with her through her ups and downs drifted through her mind.
• In the end, she sighed and blocked his number anyway.
• Zeke glanced sidelong at Anne, observing her expression. He noticed that she had blocked Shayne's number and had caught her slight moment of hesitation.
• "Have you been bickering with Shayne again?"
• "We've broken up."
• Anne sounded as if it was no big deal, but Zeke knew that deep in her heart, she felt terrible.
• "Here, give me your hand. I'll see to that gash for you."
• "Okay." Anne tossed her phone onto the seat and obediently extended her hand.
• Zeke felt another surge of anger when he saw the gash. He could not even bring himself to lay a finger on this precious girl. Now, Jaiden had dared to lay hands on her! Somehow, that woman had found the audacity to do such a heinous thing.
• As if he were intentionally venting his anger, Zeke dabbed at Anne's wound rather forcefully.
• "Oww, that hurts!" Anne cried out, the pain causing her hand to tremble.
• "Stop moving!"
• "It hurts!"
• "If it didn't hurt, you wouldn't remember it, right? Make sure you remember the pain and burn it into your silly brain! If you can, make the culprits suffer and pay. If you can't, you'll just have to suffer in silence!" Zeke shot back coldly.
• Anne immediately fell silent. She knew Zeke was looking out for her, and that he was teaching her how to protect herself in a household like that. Nevertheless, she still felt something of a father-daughter bond between herself and Harper, however slight.
• Anyway, even if things worsened and escalated, her bark was worse than her bite, unfortunately. Jaiden's mischief-making this time had almost caused her to lose her virginity, and all Anne had done was to slap her hard twice.
• Perhaps Zeke was right after all. She was too kind and soft-hearted; people would take advantage of these characteristics. In the end, she would be the one who got hurt.
• "Uncle Zeke, I'm sorry. I was in the wrong." Anne looked down and truthfully acknowledged her mistake.
• Zeke paused for a moment in the middle of seeing her wound. He did not say anything, but his grip on her hand eased considerably.
• Anne looked up and watched him for a while. Rays of sunlight filtered through the car window, illuminating his face and creating the illusion of a halo around his head. To her, it seemed a little bit like something out of a fantasy.
• "You're an angel sent from heaven to rescue me, aren't you?" Anne smiled faintly, and the pain in her heart slowly eased.
• Zeke shot her a frosty glance and answered derisively, "Does that make you the performing monkey, then?"
• Anne's face abruptly fell.
• "Uncle Zeke, can't you just have a nice, pleasant conversation with me for once?"
• "Before we do that, young lady, what did you just call me?"
• Zeke suddenly looked up at her as he was putting away the iodine and cotton swabs. His cold gaze made Anne shiver all over again.
• Oh no! She had forgotten. What was she to do?
• Looking at Zeke's pitiless gaze, which was now totally devoid of warmth, she suddenly felt an overwhelming impulse to jump out of the car.