"Ayla, don't you think I'm too lenient to you?"
Brian walked up to her, firmly gripping her neck with his large hands.
Ayla neither resisted nor showed any signs of struggling.She just stared daggers at him and said, "He
got hurt because of me."
She gave him a simple explanation.
"Did I give you permission to see him? Huh?" Her words only served to infuriate Brian further.
"I wanted to see him," she said indifferently.
She wanted to see Lucas so that she could tell him that they couldn't see each other anymore.
However, the accident with the boiling pot of tea interrupted their conversation.
Unfortunately, explaining to Brian was a lost cause.
Whatever she said, he wouldn't listen to it.
Anna's presence served as a reminder that Mr.Clark had no shortage of women in his life.
She was expendable and he owned her life.
"Do you want to kill me?"
Slowly, a smile appeared on Ayla's lips.
To him, she was always challenging his authority.
"Do you have a death wish?" Brian asked.
Looking at her, he thought, 'If you want to die, then I won't give you that satisfaction.'
Gradually, his grip on her neck became tighter.
Ayla looked him in the eye, and saw the anger behind his dark eyes.
Soon, it was getting harder and harder for her to breathe, and his face was becoming more and more
blurry by the second.
Was she about to die? It was the most painful thing she had ever experienced.
The feeling of having her life squeezed out of her neck little by little was overwhelming.
And just when she was about to lose consciousness, Brian loosened his grip on her neck.
"So you do want to die! It's not gonna be that easy!"
As he watched Ayla catch her breath on her knees, he said, "You're not allowed to die until I'm
satisfied!"
She supported herself up using her hands, unable to say a word.
After that heated argument, Brian had someone lock her up and left.
Meanwhile, as Lucas rested in his ward, he received a call, saying that Brian had locked Ayla up.
That didn't come as a Surprise to him at all.
It only made him want to take her away from Brian even more.
Seconds later, Molly walked in and asked, "Lucas, how did you suffer those injuries?"
She noticed that he could only lie prone on the bed.
"How did you get scalded?"
Lucas just smiled at her.
"It doesn't matter.It's not a big deal anyway."
"You're seriously injured and you're saying it's not a big deal?"
In all honesty, Lucas had no plans on telling Molly if she hadn't called because he wanted to protect
Ayla.
"Uncle Hayden doesn't have any idea that I'm here in the hospital, does he? Don't tell him."
"Dad already knows.And you're injured because of Ayla, aren't you?"
Molly couldn't understand why he had to protect that woman.
If it weren't for her, he wouldn't have gotten hurt.
"This isn't her fault."
At that time, Lucas willingly used himself to shield her from the boiling water.
"It's definitely because of her, Lucas! Why do you have to be so kind to her? That woman doesn't
deserve you.You got seriously injured because of her, and she didn't even visit you to look after
you.She's probably with another man right now.Don't be a fool."
Molly grew up with Lucas, and she thought of him like a real brother.
Although they had been separated for several years, their relationship never wavered.
Enduring the pain, Lucas propped himself up.
"I'm fine.You don't have to blame her," he said.
On Toby and Molly's wedding, Lucas saw Brian's cruelty and the way Ayla avoided him.
He believed it was only a matter of time until they got divorced.
The more Brian imprisoned her, the sooner they'd get divorced.
Ayla was isolated in the warehouse, shivering from the cold.
Brian had been keeping her there for several days, leaving her with nothing but a thin blanket.
Every day, Maria brought her food, but she didn't dare to turn on the heater, nor could she give Ayla a
better blanket because there were always two bodyguards watching over her at the door.
"Lala, why won't you eat anything? Your body will collapse if you don't eat."
Maria walked in, only to find that Ayla still hadn't eaten anything.Her face was as pale as a ghost.
Shaking her head, she replied, "I don't want to eat.Take those away from me."
All she wanted to do was to leave this place.
She refused to die in a place like this.
Lucas was still in the hospital, and she wanted to know how he was doing.
Maria held her cold, trembling hands.
"Ayla, you're getting colder.You might get sick."
'Unfortunately, Ayla is a stubborn lady.She would've been fine if she just gave into Mr.Clark's demands,
'' Maria thought, sighing.Brian had been staying in the villa for the past two days, seemingly ignoring
Ayla's existence.
However, Maria knew that he still cared about her.
Otherwise, he wouldn't stand outside the warehouse in the middle of the night.
"Leave me alone! I'm fine.Just take a break!"
In truth, Ayla was starving, but she didn't have any appetite.
When she saw the food, she felt nothing but nausea.
Noticing that Maria came out with the food, Brian approached her, and asked, "Does she still not want
to eat?"
"Yes! Mr.Clark, please just let Mrs.Clark out! She can't stand this any longer!" Maria replied.
Without saying a word, Brian entered the warehouse.
In the cold, gloomy warehouse, Ayla was huddled in a corner.
Her face was deathly pale, as if she no longer had any blood.
"How long are you going to be this stubborn?"
He was capable of cruelty against anyone except her.
Ayla stared daggers at him.
"And how long are you going to keep me locked up in here? Do you want me to die?"
"You just want to go out so you could visit that man, am I right?"
That was the whole reason he wouldn't let her go.
He was willing to free her if she forgot all about Lucas.
All he wanted was for her to promise that, but she would rather abstain from eating for three days than
say a word.
Ayla didn't deny the fact that she wanted to know how Lucas was doing.
She didn't care about anything else, but it seemed as though she had underestimated this man's
possessiveness.
"Then you can stay locked up in here forever!"
After saying that, he stormed out.Both of them were stubborn to their very core.
If they carried on like this, they would be driven further and further away from each other, and lose each
other in the end.
The next day, when Maria brought food into the warehouse, she found that Ayla had lost
consciousness.
With the help of the bodyguards, she was brought into the servants' house.
The family doctor came in to give her an IV drip and she was allowed to rest for a few days.
When Ayla opened her eyes, she realized that she was in her room.
There was a slightly painful feeling on the back of her hand.
She raised her hand and saw the needle.
Immediately, the blood flowed back, and the infusion tube turned red.
"Lala, don't move."
Maria came in, asking her to stay in bed.
The doctor mentioned that if she had been found any later, her life might've been endangered.
"Why...why am I here? Did he allow me to come back?" asked Ayla.
Reluctantly, Maria answered, "Lala, just rest! We'll talk about that later."
Brian had kept silent about this matter, but he hadn't agreed to let Ayla go.
And so, this was all Maria could tell her.
This matter should be resolved between the two of them after all.
Bitterness and resentment were written all over Ayla's face.
She shouldn't be asking about his feelings.
He never understood how she felt for him, and she didn't really want to tell him.
Their separation was inevitable, wasn't it? What if she just told him? Would it change anything? Upon
seeing the look on Ayla's face, Maria sighed helplessly and felt sorry for her.Ayla didn't look better until
she ate some porridge.
At night, Brian appeared before her, wearing a grim expression.Silently, the two of them stared at each
other for a long time.
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