Chapter 318 His Concern
At once, the man howled in agony. When I saw that bloody scene, my heart lurched, and I grew unsteady on my feet. I had never witnessed such a violent fight or seen Michael acting so ruthlessly. With some lingering fear within me, I peeked at the man who was wailing incessantly on the ground.
All color drained from my face. An ordinary woman would definitely be stricken at such a bloody scene, and I was no different.
Behind me, Ronan hastily went over to me and shielded my eyes when he noticed my pale face and trembling body.
“Don’t look.”
His voice was incredibly gentle. I knew that he was afraid that I would be scared, but I had already seen everything earlier. Therefore, it was too late for him to utter such a remark then.
I merely stood there without saying a single word. I didn’t know what to say at that moment, and I was already shell-shocked since I had never experienced such a thing.
Only after dropping his hold on the man did Michael head toward me. By then, I had long since removed Ronan’s hand from my eyes.
When he glimpsed the blood on my neck after having gotten to me, anguish brimmed in his ebony eyes. The chilliness in his gaze previously had long since vanished without a trace.
“Does it hurt?”
His voice was a tad hoarse, yet it inexplicably filled me with a sense of warmth. Although his actions just now were extremely cruel, I knew that he only acted thus to save me. Considering the situation back then, we wouldn’t have been able to get out of here alive if he hadn’t wounded those men.
“I’m fine. How are you doing? Your arm was injured earlier.”
Recalling the knife grazing across Michael’s arm, I started growing worried. I hurriedly lifted his arm to check the injury.
A cut of more than ten centimeters marred his arm. It was still bleeding right then and appeared rather horrifying.
“I’m fine. It’s just a paltry wound that will be healed in a few days.”
Despite his verbal claims of being fine, I could tell that the wound must be exceedingly painful from the slight crease of his brows. It’s such a long gash that bled a lot, so it surely hurts!
As he only got injured while saving me, the guilt within me ballooned. Throwing myself into his arms, I started sobbing. I really thought that I was going to be ruined today! If he hadn’t shown up, I probably wouldn’t even have the courage to continue living!
Michael stiffened for a moment before he hugged me tightly in return. Beside me, Ronan lowered his eyes in dejection at the sight of us locked in an embrace and turned his face away.
After crying my heart out, I wiggled out of Michael’s arms.
Since Michael’s hands were covered in blood, he didn’t wipe my tears for me. Nonetheless, I could sense his distress from the look in his eyes. He must be feeling exceedingly guilty as well that such an incident befell me today.
Sniffling, I perfunctorily wiped my tears with the back of my hand and flashed him a smile to reassure him that I was well.
Only then did Michael’s heart that had been lodged in his throat finally settle back into his chest. Subsequently, his gaze fixated on Emma a near distance away.
Hiding in the corner, she trembled violently, probably also traumatized by the bloody scene earlier.
Michael dropped his hold on me and walked toward her. The moment he caught sight of her, his gaze had turned glacial once more.
He was an incredibly astute person, so he naturally understood the significance of Emma’s presence there. At the thought of everything she did, his eyes radiated a dangerous aura as he stalked toward her step by step.
Emma, on the other hand, trembled even more violently when she noticed the look in his eyes. Besides, his hands were currently coated in blood. Any woman would be terrified to behold that.
Right then, Ronan returned to my side. Something seemed to have occurred to him when he saw my tattered gown, upon which his gaze darkened.
Slipping off his jacket, he draped it over me. He usually wasn’t too fond of dressing formally, so I reckoned that he was probably wearing a suit jacket that day to attend my wedding with Michael.
Truth be told, I didn’t really want to accept his jacket. However, I had no choice but to relent since my gown was currently all torn, exposing much of me.
“Thank you.”
I flashed him a faint smile and thanked him.
“There’s no need to stand on ceremony with me. I was truly scared witless when I heard that you’d been abducted. I’m glad you’re fine. Otherwise, I’d surely grieve for the rest of my life.”
When Ronan spoke of my kidnapping, his gaze remained haunted with lingering fear. I could distinctly feel his concern for me, yet it had already gone beyond the boundaries of friendship.
I knew that his feelings for me hadn’t changed though he didn’t verbalize it. Alas, I had no way of reciprocating his feelings as Michael was the only person who occupied the space in my heart.
Dipping my head, I placidly murmured, “I’m fine.”
Ronan could probably tell that I didn’t want to hear such words, for he didn’t say anything further despite looking a touch disappointed.
By then, Michael had already reached Emma. He bore his cold eyes into hers, chilliness emanating from his ebony eyes.
“Why are you here?”
He looked down at her as he spoke in an interrogative tone.
He had already surmised the truth, yet he was still questioning her. Emma’s fear multiplied the more he acted in such a manner.
“I… I…”
She gazed into his eyes in a panic and wanted to absolve herself of all responsibility, but she couldn’t even utter a single word. Her supercilious and pompous demeanor toward me earlier was gone without a trace. At that instance, guilt was all that was left within her.
“Emma, you’ve been challenging my patience time and again! And you’re now so ballsy that you even dared to kidnap my woman!”
Michael’s chest heaved with rage when he received no response from her after an eternity. It was glaringly obvious that he was forcefully suppressing his wrath at that moment.
“Let me explain, Michael. It’s not what you think. I really didn’t want to do this at first. I just wanted to…”
Emma rushed forward and grabbed Michael’s hand, no longer having the presence of mind to bother about the fact that his hand was covered in blood. All she wanted was to quickly justify herself to him.
“It’s not what I think? Are you trying to play me for a fool?”
Michael was an inordinately shrewd person. As such, he could tell at a single glance that those men were working for her. Furthermore, they weren’t local. Otherwise, they would have known about my relationship with him with a few well-placed inquiries. And in the whole of Avenport, no one would dare make a move against his woman.
“I’m sorry, Michael. Please don’t be angry with me, okay? I just wanted to teach her a lesson. I really didn’t expect things to get so bad.” Emma clutched at Michael’s hand tightly. Even then, she harbored no remorse and hadn’t yet given up on him.
Hearing her words, I couldn’t help sneering. Hah! Things have already gotten to this, yet she’s still denying her role in this!
