Chapter 74 Shall I Tend To You?
“Mm.”
Taking her by surprise, Marcus firmly pressed his lips against Celeste’s.
The kiss caused the towel in Celeste’s hands to slip from her body once again.
A flush spread across her ears and face.
Marcus slowly lowered her, his warm hand resting on her waist as he positioned himself beneath her.
Celeste trembled at his touch, her voice shaky, whispering, “Mmm… please, no.”
She had already been with him more than ten times the night before, and now felt a deep soreness. Another round would be excruciating.
Celeste raised her hand and pressed it against Marcus’s chest. “Mr. Hale, it hurts down there. Please don’t touch me anymore, it feels like I can’t take it.”
Marcus looked at Celeste, who seemed so fearful of him touching her again. With a sense of dominance, he gently bit her earlobe and spoke, “Last night, you were the one who came after me.
Now that you’ve stirred things up, you have to take responsibility. From now on, you’re mine, and you can’t refuse. If you do, I’ll keep kissing you until you agree.”
Marcus thought, ‘As the heir of the Hale family, I could have any woman I wanted. So why am I fixated on her?”
Celeste realized she couldn’t change Marcus’s mind, so she reluctantly agreed for the time being. “Alright, I understand. Can you please move off me for now?”
“Let me check how badly you’re hurt first,” Marcus insisted.
Celeste blushed profoundly and quickly shook her head. “There’s no need. I’ll take care of it when I get home.”
Marcus noticed how tightly her legs were pressed together, sensing her discomfort. He softened his approach. “How about I help you with the medicine when you get home?”
Celeste fell silent, unsure how to respond. She thought, ‘This doesn’t feel right.’
“I can handle it myself,” she finally said.
“I made it, so it’s only fair I apply it,” he replied calmly.
Celeste glanced at Marcus, then quickly pulled her legs back from his sight. She neither agreed nor disagreed.
Celeste thought, ‘Anyway, once I get home, I’ll go straight to my place. He won’t be able to get in, and he won’t be able to help with the medicine either.‘
“Knock, knock, knock.”
Just then, there was a knock at the door. Celeste wrapped the towel around herself and asked Marcus to answer it. She grabbed her clothes, went to the bathroom to change, and once she was dressed, she returned to the table to sit down and eat her pasta.
After a long, exhausting night, Celeste was starving. When she saw the pasta, she eagerly dug in, devouring it in large mouthfuls.
Marcus placed a plate of minestrone in front of her and asked, “By the way, how did you end up locked in the hospital’s warehouse last night?”
Celeste paused, her fork halfway to her mouth as her mind drifted to what Isolde had done to her. The thought alone made her wish Isolde could experience everything she had endured the night before.
Celeste thought, ‘She nearly froze me to death last night, and almost burned me alive with desire. I won’t forget this–she’s going to pay for what she did to me.‘
Celeste answered flatly, “My task on the first day of my internship was to organize the herbs.”
“So, you were locked in by accident?”
Celeste didn’t want Marcus to get involved in her matters, so she didn’t mention anything about Isolde. She just nodded in
response.
“The warehouse is usually locked after the administrator fin es his shift, but yesterday I got so caught up in organizing the herbs that I didn’t hear him calling me. That
Successfully unlocked! ked in.”
“How careless can you be? If I hadn’t shown up last night, do you know what would have happened to you?”
Celeste thought, ‘I knew it–if Marcus hadn’t come, I would have frozen to death in there.’
She sipped the soup before her and replied, “I think I would’ve died.”
1/2
Chapter 74 Shall I Tend To You?
Marcus’s expression turned serious. “From now on, I’ll make sure the hospital doesn’t assign you to organize the warehouse anymore.”
Celeste was silent.
“Do you want everyone to know about our relationship?”
Marcus raised an eyebrow. “You don’t want that?”
Celeste thought, ‘If everyone knows I’m with him, my internship will be much easier.”
Celeste replied honestly, “Yes, I don’t want that. I prefer to keep things low–key, I don’t want people to think I got my internship because of you, not because of my own abilities. So, please, don’t tell anyone about our relationship.”
Marcus was silent for a moment.
“Alright.”
Marcus thought, ‘I just remembered that Isolde works at the hospital where Celeste is interning. If she finds out we’re together, Celeste won’t be able to continue her internship in peace.”
So, as she requested, he decided to keep their relationship private to protect her peace of mind.
Celeste was surprised by how accommodating Marcus was. She set her plate down and continued eating the pasta. After dinner, Celeste was so exhausted that her eyes could barely stay open. She had someone change the sheets before settling in to sleep.
She still had to deal with Isolde at the hospital tomorrow, so she needed to rest and recharge.
Marcus lay beside her as Celeste drifted to sleep, trying to rest.
Watching her breathe steadily just a short time later, he couldn’t help but smile. She was sleeping soundly.
At the hospital, Isolde stood before Sean, asking, “Where’s Celeste? Why isn’t she here with you?”
It was already 9 AM. By now, the staff should have released Celeste from the warehouse.
Isolde thought, ‘Why hasn’t she shown up in my office yet? Could it be that she was so frightened after being locked in the warehouse all night that she’s too scared to continue her internship?‘
A satisfied smile spread across her face.
Isolde thought, ‘That’s what she deserves. She brought this on herself with how she spoke to me yesterday, acting so arrogant. Now, this is the consequence she deserves.‘
Sean looked at Isolde, smiling before him, and said, “Sorry, Dr. Huxley. Celeste called me this morning saying she wasn’t feeling well and asked me to take the day off for her.”
Not accustomed to lying, Sean couldn’t help but feel guilty and uneasy.
Sean thought, ‘I hope Isolde doesn’t catch me lying. If she finds out, she’ll probably give me a zero on my internship evaluation because Celeste’s absence, and then she’ll leave the class for good.‘
But fortunately, Isolde didn’t seem to pay much attention to him. She nodded and, with a feigned politeness, said, “If Celeste isn’t feeling well, let her rest.”
“Alright!” Sean replied quickly.
Without a pause, Isolde handed him a stack of patient files. “Copy these by hand, all of them, before the end of the day.” It was supposed to be her task, but with an intern available, there was no reason not to put him to work. Sean didn’t notice that he was being asked to do her job. He obediently took the files from her and began copying them with care.
**
Celeste had slept deeply, not fully waking up until around five in the afternoon. Her long nap had left her feeling groggy and disoriented. Reaching for her phone to check the time, she suddenly realized it was missing.
Celeste thought, ‘Looks like I’ll need to go to the hospital to pick up my phone and mask.‘
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