Chapter 14 I’ve Done Nothing Wrong

• Harper trailed off, leaving her sentence unfinished because she could feel an odd aura emanating from Wyatt, who was next to Summer.
• Biting her lip, she bid her farewell to Summer softly and left.
• On the way back home from the university, Wyatt was silent, and several times, Summer wanted to say something to him, but she didn’t know what she should say. So, she kept mum.
• After they reached home, the first thing Summer did was put together the tattered certificates. It was rather easy for her to put the pieces together, but the album which contained the postcards her grandmother sent her was already half-burnt and very difficult to restore.
• Sitting at her desk, she stared sadly at the burnt album and silently cursed Winston countless times. When she had enough of cursing him, she was about to keep the album away when a small card slipped out of it.
• She picked it up and wanted to put it back into the album when she realized that there was actually a sandwich layer in the card. There was an old picture of a boy hidden in there, but it was already half-destroyed by the fire.
• No matter how long she stared at the picture, she couldn’t remember the existence of such a boy in her memory. Hence, she carefully kept the picture back into the album and decided that when she had the chance, she would have to ask her grandmother why she sent her a picture of a stranger in her postcard.
• It was already getting dark by the time she was done with everything, and a knock came on her door. “Madam, Old Mr. Malcolm called and asked for you and Sir to make a trip to the Malcolm Villa. Please get ready,” Mrs. Lucy informed her through the door.
• Glancing at the time, Summer saw that it was already eight in the evening, and a small trace of unpleasant premonition crept into her heart as she thought, Grandpa wants us to go over now?
• After she got changed, Wyatt was already waiting in the car, and when she got in, she asked tentatively, “Grandpa is asking us to go over at this hour… Could it have something to do with what happened to Winston today?”
• “Of course,” he replied in a low voice with a hint of sorrow. “I told you that many will blame you because Winston was hurt.” Turning to look at her with his eyes hidden beneath the black cloth, he asked, “Are you afraid?”
• “No.” Summer shook her head. “I’ve done nothing wrong.”
• “There are many things which can’t be defined as right or wrong,” he said and shook his head wearily as though he couldn’t decide if he should be amused or amazed by her reply. “Summer, is there only right and wrong in your world?”
• With a nod, she answered, “If it’s not right, then it has to be wrong and vice versa. Isn’t it how this world is? My teacher mentioned that nobody cares about your mental process during an examination, and the marking teacher only looks at the final results. It’s either right or wrong.”
• She was as pure as a child who hadn’t been through anything in the world.
• No, maybe she is a child who hasn’t been through anything. He sighed silently and extended a hand to stroke her head. “It’s rare to find a person like you.”
• Unsure if he was praising or mocking her, Summer decided to keep her silence.
• Soon, they reached Malcolm Villa at a little past nine in the evening. Usually at this time, the lights would be out, but tonight, the rooms were brightly lit.
• When Summer wheeled Wyatt into the villa, she saw Winston on a couch, still clutching his bandaged chest as Hayley fed him cut fruits.
• “Grandpa, you have to call the shots for me…” he wailed the moment he saw Summer walking in.
• Joining him, Hayley chirped in, “Dad, that jinx is here. You have to do Winston justice…”
• The way these two wailed exaggeratedly was no less than the actors in a TV drama who were kneeling and crying at their grievances.
• Wayne was seated at the chess table and was playing with Christian. When the both of them wailed, his hand trembled and placed the piece wrongly, thus giving Christian an easy win over him.
• “I won again,” Christian said with a soft chuckle and gestured for Wayne to get up. “Wyatt and Summer are here, Dad. Looks like you’re about to get busy.”
• Lifting his gaze at Summer who was wheeling Wyatt into the room, Wayne frowned and stood up.
• “Follow me,” he said in a strong, clear voice and led all of them to a room at the end of the second floor.
• When the housekeeper opened the door, Summer saw that it was a huge ancestral hall decorated with pictures of past family members.
• “Summer Sutherland,” Wayne called out her name directly.
• “Yes,” she answered and released her grip on Wyatt’s wheelchair.
• “Come over here and kneel down!” he ordered coldly as he pointed to a cushion next to him.
• Although she didn’t know what he meant to do, she knelt down obediently due to her respect for the elderly. However, the second her knees touched the cushion, she could obviously feel Hayley smirking gleefully.
• Smack!
• The next second, the housekeeper next to her took out a whip and struck her back harshly.
• Summer almost couldn’t kneel anymore from the intense pain that broke her skin and revealed her flesh. Biting her lip, she said stubbornly, “I don’t know what I did wrong to deserve this punishment, Grandpa.”
• “You don’t know?” Hayley repeated in a high-pitched voice beside her. “First, you seduced Winston, and then you hurt him when he turned you down!” Gritting her teeth, she added, “You seduced Wyatt’s cousin after having just married him, and you still have the nerves to shamelessly say that you don’t know what you did wrong?”
• Suppressing her pain, Summer chuckled. “Aunt Hayley, do you have any proof that I seduced Winston?”
• “Is there a need for proof?” she snorted. “Everyone at the scene can be a witness for Winston!” Casting the housekeeper a look, she spat, “What are you waiting for? Hit her!”
• Upon her words, the housekeeper struck Summer on the back again, and a whip crack echoed in the air.
• After two whippings, Summer’s white T-shirt was already torn, showing her flayed skin and flesh. Obviously, the housekeeper had used more force than necessary. On the other hand, Summer, who was kneeling on the floor, didn’t dodge and took in the vicious whipping.
• She snorted and said, “I didn’t seduce Winston or hurt him intentionally.”
• “You’re still being stubborn!” Hayley gave her a fierce glare before turning to the housekeeper with the whip. “Go on!”
• “Wait a minute,” Wyatt, who was silent this whole time, interjected calmly when he saw that the third whipping was about to strike. “You’re lashing out once and again even before Grandpa has said anything. Are you taking orders from Grandpa or Aunt Hayley?”