Chapter 761 - 749: I Want You to Marry Me (36)
He watched her struggle stubbornly, trying and failing to get up. His handsome features hardened, his expression growing colder, but a pang of heartache pricked at him.
’I’m the one who wanted to see her make a fool of herself. I’m the one who told her to get up. But now that she can’t, I’m the one who feels awful.’
The feeling thoroughly annoyed Archie Lockwood.
He squatted down, about to reach out and lift her from the floor.
But just as his hand touched her, she summoned a sudden burst of strength and slapped his arm away. "I can get up by myself!" she snapped. "Leave me alone!"
Archie Lockwood’s lips curled into a sneer. "Heh. I tell you to get up on your own, and you just obey? Eleanor Bishop, since when have you been so compliant?"
Hearing Archie Lockwood’s taunt, Eleanor Bishop pressed her hands against the floor, fighting back tears.
"It’s not like we just met. Why act so tough in front of me?" Archie watched her for a while longer. Seeing her stubborn attempts to get up, he had no choice but to swallow his anger. He walked over and forcefully scooped her up from the floor.
He repeatedly warned himself in his head: ’Don’t get into it with a woman! Don’t get into it with someone who can barely walk!’
Once Archie Lockwood set Eleanor Bishop down on the sofa, she turned her head away. "Get away from me. I don’t need your help!"
"Oh? You don’t need my help? Then tell me, whose help do you want?" Archie Lockwood leaned down, gripping Eleanor Bishop’s chin and forcing her to meet his gaze.
’This woman is just so ungrateful!’
’I really have to wonder, does this woman even have a heart?!’
’She doesn’t need my help? Could she even get up without my help?’
"I’d ask anyone for help before I’d ask you!"
"Eleanor Bishop, you’re getting awfully bold! Do you think I’m in a good mood today? Is that why you dare to provoke me so recklessly?" Archie Lockwood looked down at the woman beneath him. Her pretty face was tilted up defiantly, and the sight of her feisty expression put him in a surprisingly good mood. His words, however, offered no compromise and were laced with a stern threat.
At Archie Lockwood’s warning, Eleanor Bishop immediately lost her nerve. With an anxious look on her face, she stammered, trying to cover her fear, "I-I wasn’t..."
"Oh, I think you were," Archie’s eyes narrowed mischievously, a faint smile gracing his lips. He leaned down and pecked her on her red lips.
Eleanor Bishop’s heart gave a sudden lurch. Her eyes widened in astonishment as she stared at Archie Lockwood in utter disbelief.
As she stared at him with such a startled expression, an unreadable emotion flickered in Archie Lockwood’s eyes. He straightened up and cleared his throat twice.
Eleanor watched as Archie coughed twice, sat down beside her, and lifted her legs to rest them flat on his own lap. A heavy, stifling feeling settled in her chest...
"Does it still hurt?" Archie asked, his brow furrowed with concern as he gently massaged her calf.
A warmth spread through Eleanor’s chest. With her eyes red-rimmed, she was about to shake her head and say it didn’t hurt,
when Archie shot her a sharp glare. "Thinking of lying to me again? You know I hate being lied to more than anything!"
"I... it doesn’t really hurt that much..." ’I already got through the worst of it. This little ache is nothing, really.’
Hearing Eleanor’s words, Archie’s expression grew serious. After a moment of thought, he spoke again, his voice cold. "You’ll live here from now on. I’ll arrange for the best doctor to treat your leg."