Taken By My Fiancé's Uncle - Chapter 138: Chapter 138

Norah was stunned. Then her entire body began to tremble violently, the shaking plain to see.
It was anger. It was a disappointment. And above all, it was utter helplessness.
For everyone else, she could be gentle or ruthless. But with Eugene, there was only ever one feeling—utter helplessness.
Norah couldn't find a way into his heart, nor did she know how to keep him by her side for a lifetime. She loved him so deeply, yet felt completely powerless.
"If you splash one more cup of water on her, I'll drench myself with a barrel of oil.
"If you stab her once, I'll stab myself ten times, a hundred times." Eugene paused, casting a glance at the bodyguards behind Norah. "And if any of them lay a hand on her, I'll do the exact same thing to myself."
He hesitated for a moment, then raised a long, slender finger and pressed it against his temple. With his lips barely parting, he mimicked the motion of pulling a trigger. "Boom."
No more words were needed, and Norah understood everything now. Her face turned pale, her throat burned as if filled with molten lead, scalding, agonizing. Tears welled up and streamed down her face.
But Eugene didn't even spare her a single glance. With unshakable composure, he turned and walked back.
"Ms. Pedler," Briana sobbed, hugging Norah. "Ms. Pedler, should we tell your parents? If they knew what you've suffered, they would surely—"
"Silence," Norah said coldly, shooting a warning glare at the bodyguards. "No one is to breathe a word about what happened today. Is that clear?"
Norah thought, 'I love Eugene so much that I'd never let him be put in a bad light before the Pedler family elders. Even that fierce look he had just now—I adored every bit of it.'
"Got it." They bowed and nodded in perfect unison.
As the Pedler family's bodyguards, they were like machines—executing orders without question, never asking why.
Upstairs in the room, Sheila helped Lorraine change her clothes, then shot a wary glance at Lorenzo standing guard outside the door and whispered, "Lorraine, do you want to leave? We can go right now."
Lorraine thought for a moment. "I'll go with you."
Sheila let out a sigh of relief. "Quick, put on your shoes."
"But not right now," Lorraine added.
Sheila was at a loss for words. "His fiancée is already here. You can either fight for him or walk away. But fighting is probably impossible.
"The Pedler family is so powerful, and their engagement happened even before Eugene met you."
Sheila tried to put it gently, but Lorraine caught the underlying message.
'Maybe I do like Eugene, and maybe I could try to fight for him, but right now, I don't have the right to,' Lorraine thought.
"I want to wait until I've recovered before leaving," Lorraine smiled, masking her true feelings.
Sheila paused, surprised. "Recover? You could do that back home, too. Huh? Do you just want more time with him?"
Lorraine blushed and nodded, tacitly admitting it.
Sheila fell silent for a moment, at a loss for words. She wanted to say something bad about Eugene, but all she could picture was the cold sweat drenching his back when Henry took Lorraine hostage.
That image was glued in her mind. Sheila simply couldn't shake it off.
There was something else Lorraine didn't know. Earlier, when they were at the foot of the mountain, everyone had suggested staying in town for the night and ascending the next day.
But Eugene insisted on going up in the dead of night. Had he not persisted, no one dared imagine what might have become of Lorraine.
So now, Sheila couldn't bring herself to say a single bad word about Eugene.
"So what could you possibly gain by staying with him longer?" Sheila asked, perplexed. "Eugene will—"
'He'll never belong to you,' wondered Sheila.
Lorraine was at a loss for words. She never really thought about what she could get from him. It was just instinct.
She just wanted to stay by his side a little longer, and then a little longer still. As for what might happen far in the future, she didn't dare to hope for any of that.
After a moment of thought, Lorraine said softly, "At least there will be memories, Sheila."
Even if nothing else remained, those memories alone would be enough to bring her comfort.
Sheila finally conceded, "Alright then."
Looking at Lorraine now, Sheila realized she could hardly recall the fearless spirit state Lorraine had once had when she'd asked, "Take me away. Let's wander together."
'Could it be that she fell for him?' Sheila wondered.
Sheila let out a sigh. "Get some more rest, Lorraine. Lorenzo and I will go get dinner ready. If you get bored, just come downstairs and walk around a bit. Don't keep everything bottled up by yourself."
"Okay." Lorraine nodded.
Lorenzo had been waiting outside the second-floor bedroom. When Sheila came out, he asked, "Sheila, how is she?"
"She's fine. Your remedy worked wonders. She's in much better spirits now," Sheila replied, shaking her head as she glanced out the window.
Norah and the others were up to something in the yard, and Eugene must have already come inside.
"Is the Pedler family truly that untouchable?" Sheila asked, unable to hold back her question.
"Deep-rooted and powerful," Lorenzo replied honestly. "And they're based in Jonalesburg. There's no way to challenge them. Besides—"
He let out a heavy sigh. "Queenie's condition can't wait any longer."
Over the past two months, Queenie's illness had been deteriorating rapidly, and she herself was resisting treatment—
'After all, how could a woman who hasn't even had a child yet, with her husband in trouble, possibly consent to a hysterectomy?' he wondered.
"Alright, got it," Sheila said impatiently. "What's for dinner tonight?"
"Fishing for dinner. Want to come?" Lorenzo asked.
"You go ahead. I'll just watch," said Sheila.
Lorenzo said, "But I don't know how, Sheila."
Sheila rolled her eyes at him, her delicate features glowing vividly in the sunset.
Lorenzo immediately surrendered. "I can learn."
"That's more like it," Sheila replied.
Sheila gave her bob a quick toss and headed downstairs.
Dinnertime arrived. The bodyguards Norah brought somehow managed to talk Leonard into letting them commandeer all the spare rooms in the house.
Sheila rolled her eyes. Meanwhile, Briana planted herself right in the kitchen, blocking her way. "Ms. Stuard, just leave this to me," Briana insisted.
"Who knows if you'll poison us? Even if you don't, we've got no interest in your cooking," Sheila shot back, her face smeared with black soot as she carefully lifted the lid off the pot, tending to the fish soup.
'Surprisingly, Lorenzo is shameless enough to stick around, but he can actually cook. Lorraine will definitely love this fish soup,' Sheila wondered.
Briana didn't argue further. Instead, she showed off her cooking skills, quickly whipping up a tableful of dishes, and had the bodyguards carry the dining table out into the yard.
The table was soon covered with plates and bowls, mouthwatering aromas wafting through the air.
Sheila stood by, holding the fish soup and fuming. "Hey. You're hogging the table. Where are we supposed to eat?" she demanded.
Briana, fork in hand, shoved Sheila aside and snapped, "Of course, Mr. Moore eats with Ms. Pedler. As for the rest of you, I couldn't care less where you eat."
With a loud clatter, Sheila slammed the bowl of fish soup down on the table and stormed upstairs in a huff.
Eugene and Lorenzo had gone down to the town at the foot of the mountain to buy some essentials, so it would be a while before they got back.
Left alone upstairs, Lorraine was dragged down by Sheila, who planted her firmly in a chair at the dining table. Sheila declared, "Lorraine, we're eating right here tonight."
Norah stood at a distance. Hearing the noise, she glanced over, her gaze briefly landing on Lorraine as she offered her a faint, perfunctory smile.
Lorraine was stunned for a moment. Unsure how to respond, she chose to remain silent.
Sheila plopped down beside Lorraine, thrust a fork into her hand, and said, "Dig in, Lorraine."
The bodyguards stood outside the courtyard, unsure whether to step in. All of them turned to Norah for instructions.
But Norah just gazed off into the distance, saying nothing. None of them dared make a move.
Briana came out of the kitchen, startled. "What are you doing?"
"Eating," Sheila replied coolly.
"Mr. Moore isn't back yet. Why are you eating? And none of this is for you." Briana was furious.
Sheila retorted sharply, "Stop mentioning Mr. Moore anymore, okay? Has he even married Ms. Pedler yet? Since you've over our table and cooked all this food for us, we'd be rude to refuse your hospitality."
Sheila took the fork back from Lorraine and heaped her plate with food. "Lorraine, don't hold back. She splashed water on you today, so you should eat what she cooked."
Lorraine smiled faintly, watching as her plate piled up like a small mountain.
She couldn't undermine Sheila's stance. Even though she didn't really want to eat anything made by Briana, she still picked up her fork and forced herself to take a bite.
With a sharp clatter, before Lorraine could even chew, Briana rushed over and knocked the fork right out of Lorraine's hand.
Staring at Lorraine furiously, Briana barked at the bodyguards, "You there. Get over here. Take all this food and feed it to the stray dogs at the village entrance. Don't let her touch a single bite."
Sheila flew into a rage. "Old hag, don't push your luck."
"How am I pushing my luck?" Briana retorted, her finger trembling as she pointed at Lorraine. "I cooked the food, my people set up the table, and we paid for everything. You just eat as you please. And s-she's filthy."
"Filthy? Are you out of your damn mind?" Sheila snapped.
Norah heard the argument but deliberately ignored it, pretending not to hear a thing.
Seeing Norah's indifference, Briana grew bolder by the minute. With Eugene nowhere around, there was nothing to be afraid of.
Briana decided to go all out and, with a sudden burst of anger, violently flipped the entire table over. Dishes and food crashed to the floor, scattering everywhere.
Sheila quickly pulled Lorraine to her feet, shielding her from the spilled soup. "What the hell is wrong with you?"
Briana let out a cold, mocking laugh. "Since you've already been raped, why bother pretending to be so pure?
"And you still have the nerve to sit at the same table with us? Who knows what kind of diseases you might be carrying, so filthy? Or maybe, just like your sister, you have HIV. Isn't that right, Ms. Shaw?"