Murmuring through her lips, “Don’t hit me… I promise I’ll be good…”
My heart bled.
I slowly crouched down and called softly, “Emily, it’s your brother.”
“I’m here to take you home.”
She lifted her head; a faint ripple crossed the vacant look in her eyes, but fear quickly swallowed it again.
She shook her head violently, a sob escaping her throat.
I reached out and gently pushed aside her tangled hair, revealing that haggard face.
Her skin was paper pale; dried blood still stained the corner of her mouth.
I forced down the rage inside me and spoke in the gentlest voice I could muster.
“Emily Reed, Alexander is back.”
“Alexander swears—no one will ever hurt you again.”
She stared at me blankly; the fear in her eyes slowly gave way to confusion.
I carefully unfastened the iron chain at her neck.
When my fingers brushed those savage wounds, her body shivered violently.
“Don’t be afraid,” I soothed quietly. “Alexander is taking you away from here.”
I scooped her up horizontally; normally she had a perfectly normal figure, but now she felt as light as a feather.
Daniel Foster charged forward at the sight, screaming hysterically, “You can’t take her! She’s my wife!”
One look from me and two bodyguards leapt forward to hold him down.
He could only watch, eyes wide, as I carried my sister toward the door, then collapse into a sobbing roar: “Alexander! Don’t get smug!”
“I won’t let you off!”
I didn’t look back. I only said one thing: “Kick them out. Do not let any of them set foot on the estate again.”
Once in the car, I gently laid my sister across the back seat and covered her with a blanket.
Her gaze remained empty, but her fingers clutched the hem of my coat as if afraid I might vanish.
I took her cold hand and said softly, “Sleep for a while. When you wake up, everything will be better.”
Under my soothing, she finally closed her exhausted eyes.
Even asleep, she murmured “brother” under her breath, and it stabbed my heart.
The driver asked in a low voice, “Young master, where to?”
My eyes grew cold. “Back to Reed Corporation.”
“I want to see who’s bold enough to kick my sister out of the company.”
When I arrived at Reed Corporation headquarters and pushed through the revolving doors, the blast of air conditioning made the sister in my arms flinch.
I patted her back to comfort her and strode to the reception.
“Do you have an appointment?”
Two unfamiliar young women sat behind the desk. Their makeup was immaculate, but their tone carried an air of haughtiness. They appraised me from head to toe; when their eyes landed on the tattered figure in my arms, disgust flashed across their faces.
“No appointment.”
“I’m Alexander Reed, son of the founder of Reed Corporation.”
“I want to see your chairwoman.”
The two receptionists exchanged a glance and suddenly laughed. One picked up the internal phone with a careless tone. “Security? There’s someone causing a scene in the lobby—please send someone to handle it.”
I narrowed my eyes. The other woman, leisurely, warned, “Sir, please leave immediately. This is Reed Corporation, not a place for you to cause trouble.”
Before I could lose my temper, a strong perfume reached us and the sharp click of high heels followed.
The woman who stepped through the door made my pupils contract.
She was the same woman from that video—the one entwined with Daniel Foster. She wore a sharply tailored white suit, and around her neck hung the Reed family’s heirloom Family Ruby Necklace.
