He Ordered My Torture, Then Said I Love You Chapter 04

He Ordered My Torture, Then Said I Love You Chapter 04

A figure cut through the backlight, tall and rigid, violence held on a short leash.

Arthur’s head jerked around. “Who the hell do you think you are, storming in here?”

The man didn’t answer. He stepped through the wreckage toward me.

When he saw me, twisted up on the floor, blood pooling beneath me, something caught in his throat.

“Claire!”

The room went silent. Every face turned toward him.

I forced my eyes open through crusted blood. A face I hadn’t seen in five years swam into view.

“Julian…”

His name broke something open inside me. The tears came before I could stop them.

Julian Montgomery’s hands hovered over me, trembling. He looked afraid to touch me.

His eyes tracked over my useless limbs, the blackened rot eating through my right hand. His eyes glossed over.

“What did they do to you… what did they do…”

I tried to smile through the agony. “Julian… I’m still here… just get me out of here…”

“I’ve got you. I’m taking you home. You’re safe.”

He pulled off his coat and wrapped it around me with painstaking care.

Arthur recovered and stepped into Julian’s path.

“Julian! Put her down!”

“I don’t care who you are, you’re not taking her!”

“She’s my wife. If she dies, she dies here. In my house.”

“Wife?”

“You don’t get to call her that. Not after what you’ve done.”

Julian stopped. His eyes were bloodshot, murderous.

“If I’m not worthy, what gives you the right to interfere? This is between me and my wife.”

Julian passed me carefully to the medics. Then he straightened and drove his fist into Arthur’s face.

Arthur staggered backward. Blood beaded at the corner of his mouth.

“I’m her brother!”

Julian grabbed Arthur by the collar and drove another fist into his gut.

“What did you promise her, Arthur? What did you swear?”

“You said you’d protect her. You said you’d never let anyone hurt her!”

“This is how you keep your word?!”

Julian didn’t let up. Arthur couldn’t even raise his hands to cover up.

The bodyguards moved to intervene, but Julian’s men were faster. They had them down in seconds.

Jade screamed, shrill. She scrambled into the corner, shaking.

Blood covered Arthur’s face, but his expression stayed defiant.

“Brother? Claire Zhou’s an orphan. She doesn’t have a brother.”

“Besides, she started it. She caused Jade to…”

“Shut up!”

Julian kicked Arthur in the knee, dropping him to one knee before me.

“Orphan? She walked away from everything, from me, to marry you!”

“She believed in you. She believed you loved her. That’s the only reason I let her go!”

“She’s Claire Montgomery, the Montgomery family heiress. My sister, the one I’ve protected for twenty years.”

“You did this to her for some side piece?”

Julian’s finger swung toward Jade. His eyes went dead.

“Arthur, you better pray that Claire survives.”

He leaned down and tapped Arthur’s bloodied cheek.

“Otherwise, the whole Sterling family goes down with her. And that bitch, too.”

My vision began to fade as the medics prepared to move me. Julian turned and walked out without another word.

He stopped beside Jade. His eyes locked on her.

“And you. Enjoy what’s left. You’ll suffer for every second she did.”

Arthur’s voice broke behind us as we left the chapel.

“The Montgomery family… Heiress…”

“That’s impossible… it can’t be…”