Chapter 220: Did That Bastard Bully You Again?
Annabelle Linton didn’t look back at him once. Wiping away her tears, she ran to the seaside.
The seawater reflected her face. It was disheveled and dirty.
She straightened her clothes and, paying no mind to the seawater, cupped some in her hands to wash her face.
Annabelle Linton looked at her reflection in the water and felt utterly wretched.
She picked up a seashell and squeezed it hard in her palm.
She squeezed so hard that the shell dug into her flesh, breaking the skin and drawing bright red blood.
The salty seawater stung her wound, but it was as if Annabelle Linton couldn’t feel the pain.
She furiously slapped the water, venting her frustration. At that moment, she wanted nothing more than to break down and sob.
She hated the hand fate had dealt her. She hated her own powerlessness.
"Annabelle!" Aaron Wyatt spotted her by the sea and strode toward her.
Seeing her red-rimmed eyes, he asked with concern, "What’s wrong?"
"I’m fine." Annabelle Linton didn’t dare to look at him. She scrambled to her feet and started walking back. "I just got some sand in my eye. I couldn’t get it out, so I rinsed it with seawater. Let’s head back."
Aaron Wyatt stood frozen in place, watching her with his lips pressed into a thin line.
Annabelle Linton took a couple of steps, but when she realized Aaron Wyatt wasn’t following, she turned back to look at him.
But as soon as she turned, a conspicuous hickey on her neck came into Aaron Wyatt’s view.
Aaron Wyatt walked up to Annabelle Linton and brushed her hair aside, revealing even more marks.
By the time Annabelle realized what was happening and tried to shy away, Aaron Wyatt had already seen everything.
She turned her back to him, head bowed, refusing to look at him.
Annabelle Linton felt so pathetic, so utterly humiliated. She felt dirty.
Neither of them spoke.
After a long moment, Aaron Wyatt asked in a heavy voice, "Was it him?"
Annabelle Linton pressed her lips together and said nothing.
Another moment of silence passed before Aaron Wyatt kicked a nearby rock. His voice was a mixture of fury and pain as he said, "That Mr. Grant from earlier, he’s your fiancé, isn’t he? Did that bastard bully you again?!"
Annabelle Linton didn’t know what to say. She stepped forward, grabbed his sleeve, and said in a low voice, "Let’s go. It’s over now. Let’s just go back."
Her words were as good as a confession.
But Aaron Wyatt felt something inside him screaming in protest, an unbearable anguish.
’If I were just a little stronger, would Annabelle have to suffer like this?’
Aaron Wyatt shook Annabelle Linton’s hand off and stormed forward. "No! I’m going to teach that bastard a lesson for you. Who the hell gives him the right to treat you like that!"
Annabelle Linton panicked and grabbed hold of him. "Aaron Wyatt, don’t go!"
"And what? Just stand by and watch you get hurt again and again? Watch you get bullied? Annabelle, I won’t allow anyone to hurt you, for any reason whatsoever!"
Annabelle Linton clutched his arm, her lips pressed tight as she stared at him intently.
For Aaron Wyatt to go after Leona Grant with his current resources was like throwing an egg against a stone. She couldn’t let him get hurt.
Looking at him, she came to a decision.
She was going to tell Aaron Wyatt that she was already married.
She didn’t know for sure if Aaron Wyatt had feelings for her, but she knew she could never reciprocate them.
Today, she had sensed something from Aaron Wyatt—especially the way he looked at Leona Grant, with the animosity one holds for a romantic rival.
And besides, he hadn’t denied it when Tiana Taylor and the others were joking around earlier.
If she couldn’t give him a future, she wouldn’t give him false hope.
Besides, with Leona Grant’s tyrannical nature, Aaron Wyatt would truly end up getting hurt.
Annabelle Linton looked at him, a flicker of sadness in her eyes.
She didn’t want to hurt him if she could help it.
Annabelle Linton took a deep breath, her voice catching as she began, "Aaron Wyatt, I..."
Aaron Wyatt pulled Annabelle Linton into a hug, his eyes shimmering with sadness. "I get it, Annabelle. I won’t be so impulsive next time. I just don’t want to see you get hurt. Please don’t hate me."