Chapter 651
Wendy pulled her hand free from his grip. “Go wash up first. I’ll take care of it after. Where’s the first–aid kit?”
“On that cabinet.”
Benjamin pointed, then rushed toward the bathroom, still anxious. “Don’t you dare sneak off. Don’t leave!”
Wendy gave a small nod, and only then did he disappear inside to clean the blood from his face and shirt.
By the time he came back out, Wendy was waiting on the sofa. He sat down beside her, trying to steady the storm inside him. “I’m here.”
She lifted her gaze. His handsome face was marred with cuts and swelling, the cleaned skin making every bruise stand out.
Wendy disinfected the wounds with alcohol, then rubbed ointment into the bruises and covered the obvious scrapes with bandages. Once she finished and began to put the kit away. Benjamin caught her hand and held her eyes with his own.
“Wendy, please… let’s not separate. These past days, I’ve been losing my mind. Without you, I don’t know how to keep breathing. I can’t live without you.”
He pulled her hard against him, wrapping her in his arms.
She hit his chest, warmth spreading from his hold, her nose burning, tears spilling despite her will. For one fleeting second she wanted nothing more than to stay. But Mrs. Jones’s words echoed in her head, along with her own future.
Wendy pushed him back, eyes wet. “Benjamin, don’t wait for me. Don’t waste your time on me. You deserve better.”
Her words detonated something inside him. His voice rose, ragged. “Don’t say that! Wendy, to me you are the best. No one else could ever compare. I like you, I love you, I only want you.”
His eyes reddened, anger mixing with despair, as if furious at his own helpless heart.
“There’s no future for us,” she whispered. “You like me, but… I don’t like you the way you think.”
He clamped his hands on her shoulders, his tone turning sharp. “So it’s because of him, isn’t it? You like that guy. When did it start? Was it before me?”
“No! He has nothing to do with this.”
“How could he not? If it weren’t for him, why else would you leave me? Don’t tell me we’re not right for each other. You accepted me before. I felt it–your heart was with me. Now you’ve hidden it, or you’ve given it to someone else.”
Benjamin let her go, raking his hands through his hair, then hammering his fists against his skull. “You still won’t take me back… still won’t come back to me. Why? Why?”
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“Actually…” Wendy hesitated, then sighed. “Your mother doesn’t want us together.”
He froze. “That’s impossible. At the Jones gala, I chose you. She didn’t object.”
“She did.”
Her head dropped.
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Realization hit him like a strike. “You’re saying she came to you behind my back, told you to leave me?”
Wendy stayed silent. That silence was answer enough.
Fury lit his face. He shot to his feet. “I’ll go confront her right now.”
“Benjamin, no!” Wendy grabbed his arm. “This isn’t about your mother. It’s me.”
He knew she was lying to protect him. His mother must have cut her down with cruel words, feeding the insecurity Wendy already carried about her background. He crushed her to his chest.
“Don’t listen to her. None of it matters. Love is ours alone. If my family feels like a burden to you, I’ll walk away from it all. The only thing I want is to be with you.”
“I know you mean it,” she said softly. “But I don’t want a relationship right now.”
She tore free, standing. “I should go. Please, Benjamin take care of yourself.”
She turned for the door, telling herself over and over that short–term pain was better than dragging it out. He’d suffer for a while, then forget her.
She underestimated him.
The moment she tried to leave, he snapped. He lunged, seizing her wrist.
“Wendy, don’t go! I’m begging you, don’t leave me.”
He looked wrecked, desperation hollowing his voice. This was Benjamin, the arrogant heir who had never bowed to anyone, reduced to pleading at her feet.
“Please. You’re the first woman I’ve ever let in, the first I’ve loved. Before you, I never thought I could. You know who I am, what I have. Women line up around me. I could have anyone, but it’s you–only you–who
shattered all of that.
“I never knew love could hurt this much. It feels like someone is carving out my heart.”
He crushed her from behind, chin buried against her neck, his voice raw with grief. She felt droplets, hot and wet, fall against her skin. He was crying. And her own tears fell to match his.
The pain wasn’t his alone. She felt it too.
Madness broke loose inside him. In a blind rush, he swept her up in his arms.
“Benjamin! Put me down!” she gasped, kicking against his hold.
He didn’t listen, carrying her upstairs to his master bedroom.
He laid her down on the wide bed. She barely had time to rise before his shadow loomed, his mouth crashing against hers in a storm of desperate kisses.
Terror shot through her. She struck at him, sobbing. “Benjamin, no, don’t…..”
But restraint had shattered. Respect, patience–gone. He had wanted her so long he was unraveling.
His movements turned rough, frightening.
Wendy’s mind spiraled. The violence of his body above hers dragged her back to memories of her father beating her mother. Fear consumed her; she shook all over, crying harder.
The sound of her sobs broke through his frenzy. He stopped.
Her tear–streaked face, her trembling body curling in on itself–one look at her, and he felt as if struck by lightning.
What was he doing?
How could he treat the woman he loved like an animal?
He recoiled, scrambling back, horror twisting his features. “I’m sorry, I’m sorry, Wendy. I love you. I never meant to hurt you. Forgive me. Please, don’t be afraid.”
Her sobs only grew. She hugged her arms to herself, small and broken. “I want to go home.”
“Okay. I’ll take you home.”
Benjamin didn’t dare touch her again. Gently, carefully, he helped her back into her clothes and lifted her to her feet.
He drove her to LL Villa in silence, neither speaking a word.
At the curb outside her house, Wendy reached for the door handle. He stopped her with a whisper.
“Wendy. Thursday night, I’ll be waiting at our place. Promise me you’ll come. No matter what–don’t let me
wait in vain.”