Holly Sinclair was stunned and cried out involuntarily.
Tristan Sterling held her, his face devoid of expression, and said nothing.
"How did you get in?!"
Her brows furrowed tightly as she interrogated him.
The moment the words left her mouth, she realized what a stupid question it was.
With Mr. Sterling's power and methods, getting into her small apartment was no trouble at all.
"Let me go!"
Furious, she struggled to get out of his arms.
But he didn't let go.
Holly didn't dare struggle too violently, afraid that if she accidentally fell, she might end up paralyzed.
She was the pillar of the Sinclair family now.
Her brother needed her.
She couldn't let anything happen to her.
"Tristan Sterling, this is breaking and entering!" Holly yelled angrily. In her panic, she shoved hard against his shoulder with both hands. "Ah—"
Her injured hand was squeezed in the process, and the pain instantly drained the color from her face.
"Do you want to lose that hand?"
Tristan's eyes darkened, and he immediately carried her toward the sofa.
He placed her on the sofa, then took her hand to examine it.
She tried to pull her hand back.
"You move again, I dare you." He yanked it back, gripping her wrist tightly, his gaze as sharp and cold as a sword.
Every word was a warning.
Holly fell silent.
'Forget it.'
'Discretion is the better part of valor.'
Tristan unwrapped the gauze and inspected the wound on her hand.
Thankfully, it hadn't reopened.
He rebandaged it for her.
His movements were gentler and more careful than ever before.
Holly watched in silence, a wave of resentment rising in her heart.
'What is this supposed to be?'
'Slap me and then offer me candy?'
'If he despises me so much, why won't he sign the divorce papers?'
'Why won't he just let me go?!'
Soon, Holly's hand was rebandaged.
She pulled her hand back, her expression cold. Just as she was about to order him to leave, his hand moved to rest on her lower abdomen.
"Tristan Sterling, what are you do—"
"I'll be gentler next time."
He cut her off in a soft voice before she could finish.
Holly froze.
Then she realized what he was talking about.
She scoffed inwardly and pushed his hand off her stomach.
"You can go now," she said coldly.
Tristan's handsome face darkened. "How long are you going to keep this up? I said I'll be gentler next time. I won't hurt you again."
'He'd only hurt her by accident. Did she really have to make such an endless fuss over it?'
Hearing the impatience in his voice, Holly's mind flashed back to that night, to the way he had deliberately tormented her.
Her heart felt as if it had been viciously stabbed.
'He built his and Vivian Linton's happiness on her suffering, and now he was blaming her for being cold to him?'
"There is no 'next time,'" she murmured, her gaze lowered, a bitter smile touching her lips.
"Holly, know when to quit while you're ahead," the man said, clearly displeased.
'He'd already given her plenty of ways to back down gracefully.'
"Heh." Holly laughed.
But the smile didn't reach her eyes in the slightest.
Taking a deep breath, she stepped back and once again ordered him out. "Mr. Sterling, this humble temple cannot accommodate a great Buddha like you. Please, leave!"
Seeing her try to kick him out again and again, her every word dripping with sarcasm, the last of Tristan's good temper evaporated.
He reached for her.
She instinctively swatted his hand away. "Don't touch me— HISS..."
She had accidentally used her injured right hand.
The pain made her suck in a sharp breath, and her eyes welled with tears.
"Are you trying to ruin that hand?"
He grabbed her wrist to stop her from moving and causing a secondary injury.
"It's none of your business!" she retorted sullenly.
"Then who do you want to take care of it? Justin Schofield?" Tristan blurted out.
The man's dark eyes narrowed dangerously, his expression terrifyingly grim.
"...What?" Holly was taken aback.
'Why bring up my old senior out of nowhere?'
'What does he have to do with anything?'
'And what's with that tone?'
'Is he being passive-aggressive?'
'So the magistrate can burn down houses, but the common folk can't even light their lamps?'
'Besides, her relationship with Justin Schofield was purely that of a boss and an employee, not like the ambiguous mess between him and Vivian Linton.'
"Tristan Sterling, don't you dare play the victim! You're the one who's cheating!"
Holly couldn't take it anymore, her eyes red as she shouted indignantly.
She was furious and felt deeply wronged.
"Quit your job!" he ordered directly, too lazy to waste any more words on her.
"On what grounds?" she retorted, unconvinced.
"Holly, don't forget your place!" he rebuked coldly.
'There it is again!!'
Holly snapped.
"What's wrong with my place? If you think my working is some public disgrace that brings shame to you and the Sterling family, then just sign the divorce papers! Once we're divorced, we'll have nothing to do with each other. Then no matter what I do, or what negative comments people make, it won't hurt you or the precious dignity of your esteemed Sterling family!"
All the pent-up grievances in her heart suddenly erupted as she shouted, her emotions running high.
The air froze.
The two of them glared at each other, neither willing to back down.
A moment later—
"Are you done?" A cold light glinted in his eyes.
"Not even close— Ah..."
Before the words could even leave her mouth, the world spun around her.
He had pressed her down into the sofa.
He gripped both her wrists, pinning them above her head, his large frame completely covering her.
His actions were forceful and rough.
"Well, I've heard enough," he said, his voice ice-cold, but his breath was exceptionally hot.
It sent a tingling numbness spreading across her ear.
"Tristan Sterling, you—"
The tingling sensation made Holly shudder. Her cheeks flushed slightly, and she was both flustered and furious.
"Who gave you permission to let him wipe your tears?!"
The man's voice was cold and seething, his domineering words dripping with intense possessiveness.
Holly froze.
'Wipe my tears?'
'Is he talking about Justin Schofield wiping my tears?'
'When did that happen?'
'How come I don't know anything about it!'
"I didn't," she said, looking utterly wronged.
"Holly, do you take me for a blind man?!"
He pinched her jaw, his thin lips moving close to hers as he forced the words through his teeth.
'She really wanted to say, 'You *are* blind!''
'If you weren't blind, how could you not see through Vivian Linton's clumsy acting?'
'But what was the use in saying any of that?'
'He was deeply in love with Vivian Linton, showing her endless favoritism.'
'Even if Vivian Linton claimed the sun would rise in the west tomorrow, he would believe her without a doubt.'
'So, it was better not to say anything at all!'
Still, unable to resign herself to it, she looked at him with red-rimmed eyes and said stubbornly, "Tristan Sterling, we're about to get a divorce—"
"Have I agreed to that? Holly, as long as we aren't divorced, you will fulfill your duties as a wife!" His chilling gaze was like poisoned steel, as if he wanted to swallow her whole.
The word "divorce" was like gasoline poured on the flames of his anger.
The pressure from his hand unconsciously tightened.
"Ngh..." Holly felt like her jaw was about to be crushed, and she let out a pained whimper.
He snorted coldly. "Holly, you were the one who came onto me back then. What kind of person do you take me, Tristan Sterling, for? Someone you can summon and dismiss at will?"
Holly's face paled.
'That's right.'
'It wasn't that he was unwilling to divorce; he was unwilling to be the one who got 'dumped'.'
'Between them, only he had the right to call it quits.'
'Only he could be the one to discard her!'
She was tired of explaining. "I didn't come onto you—"
Tristan didn't want to hear it.
He lowered his head and sealed her lips with a kiss.
His kiss was domineering and fierce, utterly aggressive.
Holly was furious.
'He was going too far!'
'He clearly loved Vivian Linton in his heart, yet he always bullied her like this...'
She clenched her jaw shut, glaring at him angrily with reddened eyes.
Tristan was displeased.
His sharp brows knitted together, and he suddenly bit down hard on her lip.
"Mmph..."
Holly cried out in pain.
The man seized the opportunity to invade.
Overcome with shame and fury, Holly's mind went blank, and she bit him back just as hard.
"Hiss~"