Chapter 5 She’s Something
As Ophelia reached the door to Winford’s bedroom, she happened to bump into Graham, who had just been kicked out by Winford, and a servant with a medical kit in hand.
The servant’s face was pale, and he didn’t dare to go inside at all.
Sighing, she reached for the medical kit and said, “Give me that.”
Stunned, Graham reminded her tactfully, “Mrs. Pruitt, Mr. Pruitt … isn’t in a good mood now.”
She nodded. “I know.”
She knew exactly, which was why she was anxious and wanted to go inside. She was genuinely worried about Winford.
Graham pondered for a while. Thinking that Winford treated her differently, he said to the servant, “Give Mrs. Pruitt the medical kit.”
Ophelia pushed the door open and walked inside.
The lights in the room weren’t turned on. In the darkness, a male voice, full of ferociousness and anger, rang out in front of her. “Get out!”
By the faint light from outside the window, she saw a tall figure in a wheelchair. Though he had his back facing her, she could sense his deep exhaustion and an air of decay; if she hadn’t known, she might have thought he was an old, dying man.
Her heart ached violently.
Winford was only twenty-seven!
Had he been like this in her past life, too, spending every day in despair?
Back then, all she had had in mind was to get away from him. It had never crossed her mind to care about him, not even once…
She slowly walked over to him.
Hearing footsteps, Winford reached out at once.
“I said, get out!”
He exerted so much force that Ophelia felt her bones cracking and she couldn’t help but cry out in pain.
Recognizing her, Winford loosened his grip.
“Out!” he demanded.
By the faint light from the window, she saw his tensed jawline and charming side profile. Though his expression was hidden in the dark, his aggressive aura was more than obvious.
“Graham said you weren’t in a good mood…” she said softly. “I’m worried about you.”
“Worried about me?” He didn’t seem that aggressive anymore, and she could tell he was looking at her.
“Yes.” She crouched down next to his wheelchair, gripping the wheelchair armrest with one hand while reaching for his hand in the dark.
Then she accidentally touched his thigh and felt his muscles tense right away. In the next second, he gripped her wrist again.
But he didn’t exert that much force this time. She couldn’t break free, but she wasn’t hurt either.
“What are you doing?” His voice was strained as if he was suppressing something.
Ophelia felt a bit awkward for touching his thigh—though she didn’t mean to. She said innocently, “I wanted to touch your hand, but I couldn’t see.”
“My hand? Why?”
She gripped his wrist and secretly counted his pulse while saying, “You’re in a bad mood, right? I’m just trying to help you feel better.”
Winford fell silent.
To her surprise, he didn’t pull his hand away.
A moment later, she had a conclusion, and she was both happy and frustrated.
She was happy because she could treat his condition. Now that she was here, those famous doctors’ predictions would never come true; he wouldn’t die before thirty.
But the tricky part was she didn’t have the crucial ingredient for his medication. The ingredient could only be developed after a few months at Sapphire Botanical Institute, her mother’s legacy for her.
Besides, it was her grandfather who owned Sapphire Botanical Institute, not her.
Her expression grew complicated as she thought of her grandfather and his family.
“Mr. Pruitt? Mrs. Pruitt?”
Graham’s tentative voice rang out outside, snapping her back to reality.
“Yeah?” she said, raising her voice.
Graham was ready to break in. Hearing her loud voice, he was stunned as he loosened his grip on the door handle.
It seemed nothing had happened.
After such a long silence, he even doubted whether Winford had already strangled Ophelia.
It was a miracle that Winford didn’t get mad.
In the room, Ophelia let go of Winford’s hand.
She then cautiously offered, “How about I turn on the lights and change your gauze?”
After a moment of silence, Winford said, “No need.”
She was a bit anxious. “But your injury…”
“Tell Graham to come in here.”
She beamed. “OK!”
She didn’t care who changed the gauze. Her only concern was he wouldn’t let anyone near him, which would do no good to his injury.
Immediately, she ran to open the door. “Graham, come in here and change Winford’s gauze!”
“Huh?” Graham failed to react.
“What are you waiting for?” Winford said coldly.
Graham came back to his senses. Walking past Ophelia, he glanced at her in shock.
He thought, “She managed to appease Mr. Pruitt in such a short time?
“She’s something.”
Ophelia sensed Graham’s complicated gaze.
She was puzzled for a second.
But instead of dwelling on it, she went back to her room, feeling good.
Remembering that her phone had been off for a day, she turned it on.
In the next second, she received Cullen’s call.
Her gaze turned cold as she rejected it and blocked it without any hesitation.
Then Samuel called her.
“How come your phone was off all day?”
As soon as she answered, he questioned her coldly.
She lowered her head and said flatly, “The battery died.”
“You’re at Sunset Vista, right?” Samuel asked.
“Yeah. What’s up?”
“You better behave. Now that you’re married to Mr. Pruitt, don’t do anything over the line. Make a clean break with certain people,” Samuel warned her sternly.
She squinted. “Certain people?”
“Stop pretending you don’t know what I’m talking about. Bessie had aslipofthetongue, or I wouldn’t have known you wanted to elope with another man! Thankfully, Bessie knew better and talked you out of it, or our whole family would have been doomed.
“You know how influential Mr. Pruitt is, right? No one could afford to mess with him.”
Bessie?
Ophelia’s gaze turned icy.
Bessie had aslipofthetongue? Bessie talked her out of it? How laughable.
Samuel had two reasons to call Ophelia today. “Now that you’re Mr. Pruitt’s wife, find a chance to discuss funding for our family company with him.”
Ophelia rolled her eyes and said, brushing him off, “He’s not that easy to talk to. Later, perhaps.”
Then she hung up, not bothering to say anything else.
Meanwhile, Samuel flew into a rage. “What a damned girl! This is her first day getting married! And she dared to disobey me already?”
Erin was sitting next to him. She comforted him, “I’ll ask Ophelia to come back tomorrow and talk to her. She’s always listened to me.”
Samuel’s expression softened slightly.
He patted her hand and said gently, “Thanks for treating her so nicely over the years. You think of her as your own daughter, and of course, she listens to you.”
That was what he valued most about Erin. Ophelia was the daughter of him and Harriet Whitaker, his late wife, but Erin never mistreated Ophelia. Instead, she had always doted on Ophelia. Those who didn’t know would think Erin was Ophelia’s real mother.
“It’s what I should do,” Erin smiled gently. “Harriet was like a sister to me. Of course, I’d treat Ophelia well.”
At Sunset Vista.
After the call with Samuel, Ophelia suddenly remembered that she hadn’t reminded Winford.
She went to his bedroom again.
Graham had already left, and the door was slightly ajar. She pushed it open and glanced inside, seeing no one in the room. Since the bathroom light was on, she figured Winford was in the shower.
After a moment of hesitation, she was about to leave when she heard a loud bang from the bathroom.
Her expression changed as she rushed inside and slammed the door open without thinking. “Are you…”
A second passed.
Another loud bang rang out.
She yanked the door shut without the slightest hesitation.
