Milady's Fine Gentleman 266 SAFE HAVEN

'You're mine'
'Don't ever forget that.'
'Sorry. I'll take responsibility.'
Teng Man Rui was woken up by his voice, by his words. She gasped as she felt she got sucked up in a different space-time dimension as if gravity was pulling her body back from another world.
The lady in bed slowly opened her eyes.
'Where am I?'
'This doesn't look like the afterlife.'
She looked at the unfamiliar ceiling and turned towards her surroundings. It's someone else's room. This isn't the hospital.
Teng Man Rui woke up in a daze. Lips chapped, and voicebox stinging and raw as hell, she couldn't utter a word. 'It hurts. My whole body hurts, inside and out. Why am I still alive?'
Snippets of her drowning saga flashed before her eyes. She got worked up just by the memory of getting choked, getting not enough air.
Her body started trembling involuntarily.
Another voice, not her own, gasped by the door. She had not the time to check out who it was. She heard the same voice say, "Young master, she's awake! But she's having spasms!"
When she heard the word 'young master', she panicked even more. 'Where the hell am I?'
'He's here?' The spasms worsened. 'Shi Fan Hai is here?'
A man and a woman rushed towards her and stayed by her bedside. 'Call Doctor Fu.' The man ordered curtly, in which the woman replied with an 'En.'
The man's voice was familiar. 'I've heard it before. That voice. How soothing.' Teng Man Rui thought, relaxing a little.
She tried to say something, but not only no voice came, but she also choked and coughed hard as well. 'It really hurts.' She placed one hand on her neck in a choking manner, albeit without pressure. Her visions were still blurry. She couldn't make out the faces of the people around her.
The man grabbed her hand. Her panic shot up to the heavens and violently tried to retrieve her hand from his grip. He gave in.
"Hush. Hush, Man Rui. It's me. It's me, Zhu Li Qiang." His voice was gentle and kind, and albeit soft, it was full of hope and sweetness and promise of good tomorrow. The lady's perturbed senses calmed down a bit. She felt a mild hand stroking her head affectionately.
But then, another voice resurfaced in her mind. 'You're mine.'
Tears flowed uncontrollably from her eyes as she whimpered miserably. Her vision got all the more blurry. The corner of her lips turned down in a frown.
"Man Rui, everything's over. You're safe now. I'll protect you, hmm?" Zhu Li Qiang soothed her with words. However, it did not seem to be working. She got even more flustered.
In her mind, she thought, 'I'm cursed.'
'Maybe he will attack Zhu Li Qiang next.'
'I cannot run from him.'
She turned towards the other side of the bed and lied on her right side, her back turned against Zhu Li Qiang. More tears flowed irrepressibly.
Perhaps due to exhaustion and still poor health, Teng Man Rui passed out again. The doctor came and took a good look at her vitals. "She's mostly recovered. Just let her rest for a few more days."

"Why can't she speak? I saw her try but she only choked and coughed."
"Her voice box was damaged, but the damage is just temporary. Her larynx will heal on its own. She will be able to speak again."
"Thank you, doc."
"No problem. Just call me if anything happens." As doctor Fu walked towards the main entrance of the penthouse he decided to poke his nose for a little bit. "Why didn't you go to the hospital after saving her? Anything could have gone wrong, you know."
"I did. I went to the nearest local hospital. They did what's necessary, but when they told me she was safe already, I took her here and called you."
"I cannot afford to lose sight of her even for just a second. She's my life. Do you know what I mean? She drowned, but I felt that I drowned too when I saw her fight for her life. I felt like gasping for air and getting suffocated anyway during those few minutes when I thought she's gonna leave me for good."
"I cannot part with her. If I send her to a hospital and alerted her family, then, at some point they would have taken over and I would have been asked to leave. I simply cannot let that happen."
The doctor stopped in his tracks aghast. "Wait, are you telling me… The family did not know?"
"Yep. I had it covered. They thought she's back in Hangzhou as planned."
Zhu Li Qiang's visage contorted with helplessness. "I know I kidnapped her, but she's safer with me. I'm having a hunch that something terrible happened to her. Something bad. It's so selfish of me to decide for her, right? Well, I believe it's the right thing to do. I'll keep her safe here."
The doctor sighed. "Seems complicated. I suddenly regretted asking. Well, if you need medical advice, or advice of any sort, for that matter, just give me a call."
"Got to go." The doctor said as he exited the premises of the penthouse.
As Zhu Li Qiang closed his front door, the maid Chichi approached him. "Sir…" Her eyes reflected both agitation and relief.
"Chichi, make her company. Make her feel comfortable here. I'm sorry, Chichi, I brought the two of you here. Do you care for your young miss?"
"Most definitely, Sir. I care for our young miss."
"Good. Then stay with her. She's counting on you. And…" Zhu Li Qiang put both hands on the maid's shoulders and stared straight into her eyes. "…everything that has happened should stay between the two of us. You're my accomplice now. If you tell anyone, you'll get dragged down with me. My intentions with Teng Man Rui couldn't be any clearer and more innocent. Don't worry, I will never allow anything to happen to her, or you."
"I've seen how much you love her, Sir. I was there. You saved our young miss' life. I'm indebted to you." She retorted with heartfelt sentiments as she wiped unshed tears at the side of her eyes with her index finger.
"It's nothing. My life would be nothing if Teng Man Rui isn't in it." Zhu Li Qiang sighed ruefully. These past days had taken its toll on him. With big panda eyes, shaggy hair and overcast aura, anyone who would have bumped with him on the streets wouldn't be able to recognize his status as a young master. He was haggard to the maximum extent.
But not today. Today, his angel woke up albeit only for such a short while. It's enough to lift his spirits up and wipe away all his weariness.
'But she's scared. She's scared like a kitten who had been abandoned in the streets which could only snarl at any potential threat. She's goddamn scared!'
'I could only deduce what happened.' He squinted his eyes as he remembered the hickeys boisterously shouting against Teng Man Rui's fair jadeite skin. He stared longingly at the horizon under the moonlit room in his penthouse unit. 'If my instinct is right, then, I swear I will kill that bastard.'
But deep down inside, he had wished he was wrong.

Chapter end

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