Taken By My Fiancé's Uncle - Chapter 146: Chapter 146

Lorraine set all the groceries down on the kitchen counter.
She hadn't picked up much else over the past two months, but at least her cooking had really improved.
Lorraine took all the groceries out of the bags, washed them all, and was about to chop the vegetables when her phone suddenly rang.
It was a picture message, and it was the same number from this morning. She remembered—the sender was called Ian.
Ian: [This is to replace your shoes.]
The photo showed Ian in what appeared to be a luxury shoe boutique, casually snapping the shot just for her.
They were still white sneakers, but this pair looked astronomically more expensive, with a good-sized ring of sparkling diamonds set just above the heel.
Lorraine immediately forwarded the picture message to Sheila, along with a comment: [How do I deal with this creep who keeps sending me shoes?]
Sheila was lying at home with a face mask on when she saw the message. She bolted upright, letting the mask fall off without a care, and immediately fired back a reply to Lorraine: [Curse him out and block his ass!]
'Classic Sheila,' thought Lorraine.
She paused and then selected one of Sheila's signature insults to fire back at Ian: [If you're that bored, find a cliff to jump off. But seriously, stop bugging me!]
Then she immediately blocked him. 'Damn, that felt good!' she said to herself.
Ian was lounging in a luxury custom boutique, enjoying an attentive massage from the salesgirl when a text message came through. He froze for a split second and then threw his head back with an amused chuckle.
He beckoned his assistant over. "What's this about 'find a cliff to jump off'?" he asked, curiosity in his tone.
The assistant was at a loss, not daring to answer.
'What else could "jump off" mean? It's exactly what it says! But I can't say that out loud, or that'd be like putting a curse on Mr. Pedler. Everyone knows he's temperamental and a nightmare to deal with, after all,' the assistant thought nervously.
With an amused smirk, Ian ordered, "Get me several heavy-duty excavators and round up a hundred workers. Then notify Auretian University we're coming in now."
The assistant was utterly baffled.
Every woman in Jonalesburg knew that Ian was a wild card who played by his own rules. His assistant knew this all too well.
'What's with the excavators? Is he planning to start a technical college or is he seriously going to dig up something? Mr. Pedler just keeps pushing boundaries with his antics...' the assistant sighed inwardly.
"Go." Ian stood up, straightening his suit with deliberate care. "Since she doesn't like the new shoes, track down her original pair and return them to her."
The assistant just stared at him, speechless. His mouth twitched slightly, but he still nodded obediently. "Understood, Mr. Pedler. I'll go right away."
"Mr. Pedler, you've already paid for the shoes. Aren't you going to take them?" The hourglass-figured salesgirl hurried after him, batting her eyelashes coquettishly.
"They're yours." Ian's lips curled into a wicked smirk.
The salesgirl, clearly swooning from his flirtatious charm, beamed as she accepted the unexpected gift.
After making a few calls, the assistant turned to Ian and reported, "Mr. Pedler, all the excavators are in position."
"Let's go fish out those shoes," Ian said, shrugging off his suit jacket and tossing it carelessly to his assistant before rolling up his sleeves.
The assistant just stared at him, lost for words.
After simmering the soup, Lorraine portioned it into two containers and asked Eugene to deliver them to the hospital.
He was back in no time.
Lorraine was still slumped over the dining table, watching over a few simple home-cooked dishes as she waited for him.
The warm orange light overhead cast a soft, fuzzy glow on Lorraine's head, while the aroma of home-cooked meals wafted through the air.
The aroma alone told him it was going to be delicious.
His feet rooted to the spot at the doorway. For a moment, an uncharacteristic nervousness gripped him, making him hesitate to step inside.
He couldn't believe Lorraine had really come back. Likewise, Eugene couldn't bear to imagine what she would do if one day, she waited for him like this, but he never came home.
Eugene, known for his ruthless decisiveness, found himself hesitating in front of Lorraine.
It was Lorraine who first caught the faint rustling sounds. She turned, saw it was Eugene, and sprang to her feet, rubbing her bleary eyes. "You're back," she murmured. She dozed off while waiting.
Eugene said, "Yeah, let's eat."
Eugene took a deep breath to compose himself, then walked in, reached for Lorraine's hand, and led her to the dining table. "Let's eat," he said softly.
"Okay," Lorraine replied.
Lorraine really had gotten better at cooking. The dishes tasted great.
Eugene sipped his soup, studying her. Eugene noticed that the baby fat which had softened her face when they first met a few months ago was now gone.
Her face had grown even fairer and more ethereal, as if she were gradually shedding all traces of girlish innocence and quietly blossoming into womanhood.
'She's changing so fast. What if she suddenly grows up so much that she won't need me anymore?' Eugene wondered.
While Eugene was lost in these thoughts, his fingers involuntarily paused mid-air and then dipped into the steaming soup.
Lorraine quickly put down her fork and anxiously grabbed his hand. "Does it hurt badly?"
His fingertips were reddened from the burn, but seeing Lorraine so worried, Eugene felt a quiet satisfaction. His worries were momentarily eased.
"No, it's nothing. Just eat your meal," he said gently, ladling out a bowl of soup for her.
Lorraine felt pleasantly surprised and touched. 'He's been so much more considerate since our mountain trip,' she mused.
Cradling the soup bowl, Lorraine didn't dare ask anything further and quietly sipped the soup.
Coastal Auretian saw sharp temperature swings between day and night as autumn set in.
Before bed, Eugene steeled himself and scooped Lorraine into the bathtub.
The bath was filled with a herbal remedy Eugene had obtained from Lorenzo before coming back from the hospital. It dissolved instantly in the water, specially prepared to help soothe Lorraine's wounds.
He had even instructed Lorenzo to leave out some of the herbs on purpose.
Eugene remembered the strange, searching look Lorenzo gave him. "Are you really sure about this?"
Eugene nodded.
Lorenzo paused for another long moment before handing over the medicine. "Well... It's not entirely unheard of. In families like ours, it's common to marry for status, while the one you truly love—or have children with—is someone else. But Lorraine... would she really accept that?"
The white pills were individually wrapped in small packets. Eugene took them and clenched them tightly in his fist. Without another word, he turned and walked away.
Lorenzo stood alone in the same spot, lost in thought, sighing to himself once again.
The Pedler family had arrived. This time, not only Norah but even Ian himself had come.
The presence of the Pedler family's heir apparent here made their firm stance abundantly clear.
But no one had any idea what Eugene was planning.
Lorraine was dozing against the headboard, half-asleep, when Eugene suddenly scooped her up and carried her straight into the waiting bathtub before she could fully wake.
Her survival instincts kicking in, Lorraine instinctively wrapped her arms around Eugene's neck as her eyes fluttered open. "Eugene?" she murmured drowsily.
"Yes?" Eugene murmured softly as he stepped into the bathtub behind her. Wrapping his arms around Lorraine from behind, he gently tilted her head back against his chest. "This herbal soak will help your wounds heal."
"Didn't the doctor prescribe oral medicine?" Lorraine asked, confused about why she still had to soak every day.
"You can't take those meds anymore," insisted Eugene.
"Why not?" Lorraine asked.
"Let's take a bath," Eugene murmured, lowering his head. He reached for the bath pouf beside him and, bit by bit, gently glided it over Lorraine's body.
Lorraine squirmed as her whole body tingled, a soft gasp escaping her lips.
The desire within him flared up. He struggled to contain it as he washed her, but the moment he finished, his restraint finally crumbled. He pulled her into his arms, unable to hold back any longer.
Lorraine was thrust forward with such force that her forehead nearly slammed into the edge of the tub. But in one swift motion, Eugene reached out and scooped her up, leaving her suspended precariously in mid-air.
Water splashed violently from the tub as Eugene abruptly stood up. In one fluid motion, he flipped Lorraine over and hoisted her high into the air, suspending her weightlessly for a breathless moment before pulling her back.
He then pinned her against the vanity counter and took her with relentless intensity. Herbal bathwater sloshed everywhere, leaving the bathroom in complete disarray.
By the time Eugene finally relented, Lorraine was pleading breathlessly, tears streaming down her face. He gently scooped her up and carried her to bed to rest.
Exhausted, Lorraine forgot everything else and drifted off into a deep, dreamless sleep.
But meanwhile, Eugene opened his eyes, quietly took Lorraine's phone, and swiped to unlock the screen.
Because she was a med student, Lorraine had developed the habit of tracking her menstrual cycle in her phone's notes app.
With practiced ease, Eugene quickly pulled up her notes app and, using the dates she'd logged, carefully counted out the days.
Eugene realized these next few days were her fertile window.
Feeling quietly satisfied, Eugene was just about to put her phone back when the screen suddenly lit up again—a new message popped up.
Eugene frowned and wondered, 'It's already the middle of the night. Who would be texting her now?'
Eugene tapped it open suspiciously.
The message read: [Blocked me, huh? New number in Auretian. Take a look at your shoes. Still like them?]
A photo was attached.
The photo showed the drained bed of an artificial lake, its banks lined with thick, oozing mud. In the middle of the muck, a single lump stuck out. It was a pair of shoes caked in dried mud.
The shoes' original color was impossible to tell, but a tiny metal logo on the front was still visible—just enough to show they were from some generic, no-name brand.
'Is this some sick prank, or just a scam?' Eugene thought.
He gently slipped his arm out from beneath Lorraine's head and was about to delete the message for her.
Eugene's gaze drifted to the pair of slippers by the bed, and he froze, thinking, 'Lorraine came to the hospital barefoot earlier today.'
Eugene got up and walked to the shoe rack outside the manor, lowering his head to take a closer look.
There was an empty spot on the top row of the shoe rack. Lorraine's usual white sneakers were missing.
It was the brand from the photo. He remembered it clearly because he'd seen it so many times.
Her phone buzzed again. Another message popped up: [Wanna come and play that "jump off game" you mentioned with me? I'll pick you up.]
Eugene's brow furrowed as he stood in the courtyard, clutching his phone tightly.
After a moment's deliberation, Eugene dialed the number from the message.
The phone rang three times. Eugene thought, 'Looks like he's in no hurry to answer.'
After retrieving the shoes from the drained artificial lake, Ian stood alone by the lakeside, waiting.
He'd had the entire lake drained overnight, leaving the air thick with the pungent odor of exposed mud.
Seeing the caller ID, Ian arched an eyebrow, a sly smile curving across his lips before he leisurely answered, "Finally came around? Tell me where you are; I'll be there in ten."
All Ian got in response was a brief, loaded silence. Then, the line went dead.
Ian was baffled. When he redialed, the line was already dead.
Eugene stood alone in the courtyard, watching as the glow of his phone screen faded into darkness. With a decisive flick of his thumb, he ruthlessly blocked the number.
He didn't think Lorraine would ever do anything behind his back. She was so guileless, simply incapable of hiding anything.
But still, he would never have guessed it was Ian.