Chapter 97

Nina was startled. "Aren't you supposed to be at the office?"

Charlie noticed her nervousness and walked over, grabbing her wrist tightly. "What have you been doing at home all day? It turned out that you've been cheating on me behind my back. Nina Miller, do you think I'm dead?"

Nina blushed at Charlie's words. "You're talking nonsense!"

"I am not. Alright, explain to me, who is this man?" asked Charlie.

Nina opened her mouth, but for a moment, she didn't know where to begin explaining. After all, she and Richard were really not familiar.

"You bitch!" Charlie raised his hand as if to slap Nina.

Suddenly, a hand intervened, accurately grabbing Charlie's wrist and holding his hand high in the air.

Richard instinctively shielded Nina behind him, his cold eyes scanning Charlie's thin face with disdain and contempt.

It seemed as if for Richard, crushing Charlie would be as simple as squishing an ant.

Charlie was neither as tall nor as strong as Richard.

The two faced off, with Charlie exerting all his strength but unable to budge Richard .

Charlie couldn't even pull his hand back; it remained held high by Richard.

Desperate, Charlie dropped his briefcase and tried to sneak a blow with his other hand.

Richard's gaze sharpened and with a gentle twist of Charlie's wrist. There was a crisp sound.

Charlie hesitated for a moment, then burst into a painful howl.

Richard let go. Charlie collapsed on the ground like trash, writhing in pain.

Watching this scene, Nina's heart trembled.

Richard realized something, turned around, and took a step towards her.

"Don't come any closer!" Nina's face filled with fear, she stepped back abruptly, her waist hitting the sharp corner of the shoe cabinet, causing a sharp pain.

Richard, observing her fear, said, "Men who hit women don't deserve sympathy."

Nina bit her lip. "He's my husband, this is our family matter. Sir, please wash your hands and leave immediately."

Furrowing his brow, Richard's aura of menace was enough to intimidate.

"If you don't leave now, I will call the police!" Nina threatened.

After a moment's contemplation, Richard turned and walked away.

Nina took Charlie to the hospital, where they found out his wrist was dislocated.

After some medication, Nina and Charlie returned home.

Once inside, Charlie sat on the shoe-changing bench. "Change my shoes."

Nina hesitated, then walked over and crouched down to help him change his shoes.

Charlie swaggered into the room, leaned back on the sofa, and propped his feet up on the coffee table. "Pour me a glass of water. I'm thirsty."

Nina frowned in disgust. "I just cleaned the coffee table. Can you not put your feet on it?"

"This is my house. I can do whatever I want. It's none of your business!" said Charlie.

"I'm your wife." Nina's eyes turned red.

Charlie glanced at her, sneering, "You can't even bear a child. What kind of wife are you? At best, you're just my accessory. Look at yourself, looking like a ghost, unable to accomplish anything. Besides me, who else would want you? You should be grateful that I don't despise you and give you a shelter. Otherwise, how could you live in such a nice house? Why are you still standing there? Pour the water!"

Nina turned and went into the kitchen, pouring herself a few glasses of water first.

The water was warm, flowing down her throat. But it couldn't warm her gradually chilling heart.

In the living room, Charlie impatiently urged, "Is it ready yet? Do you want me to die of thirst?"

Nina poured a glass of hot water and walked out of the kitchen.

Charlie, acting like a lord, lounged on the sofa watching TV. He glanced at her and complained, "Even pouring a glass of water takes you so long. What else can I expect from you?"

Nina pursed her lips and handed him the glass.

Just as Charlie reached out to take it, she suddenly tipped the glass.

The scalding water spilled all over Charlie, some directly on the back of his hand.

"Are you crazy, Nina?"

The cup fell to the ground, shattering.

Startled by the commotion, Charlie stopped yelling and looked at Nina.

"Charlie, we're done," said Nina.

The room fell silent for a few seconds. Charlie stared wide-eyed. "What's gotten into you?"

Without further explanation, Nina turned and went back to the bedroom. She took out a suitcase from the closet and began packing.

She had only packed a few changes of clothes when Charlie walked in.

Seeing Nina's actions, he not only didn't try to stop her but sneered, "Alright, you've grown some backbone. I knew you had someone else outside, otherwise, how could you dare to be so arrogant with me? It's that man from this morning, right? You deliberately let me see it and deliberately made me angry, then quarreled with me. Now you're finding reasons to split up?"

No matter how Charlie ranted and insulted, Nina remained silent, packing quickly as if eager to escape.

Charlie paced back and forth at the door, then suddenly rushed in, pressing Nina down on the bed.

He shouted, "I'm talking to you. Are you deaf?"

Nina struggled, accidentally scratching his face with her fingers, leaving a blood mark on Charlie's face.

"You are so restless. Today I want to see how you can be arrogant with me," shouted Charlie.

There was a huge disparity in power between men and women. Although Charlie couldn't defeat a burly man like Richard, he had the upper hand against Nina.

For the next few minutes, Nina was defenseless against Charlie's blows.

Charlie's fists rained down on her, showing no mercy.

At first, Nina managed to resist a few times. Eventually, she just curled up, completely unable to move.

After venting his anger, Charlie sat on the bed and lit a cigarette.

Soon, the room was filled with smoke.

Charlie gradually calmed down, turned to look at Nina who was still curled up in the corner of the bed, frowned, and said, "Get up. Stop pretending to be dead. You said you wanted to leave, then go!"

But Nina remained motionless.

After another two minutes, Charlie realized something was wrong when he saw that she hadn't moved at all.

Hastily stubbing out his cigarette, he walked over and shook Nina. "Nina?"

As he shook her, Nina turned over.

Her eyes were tightly shut, her face swollen, looking ashen and her breathing weak.

"Nina!" Charlie quickly picked her up and rushed out of the house.

Isabella wanted to call Nina to ask about the progress of the food poisoning incident.

She dialed several times but no one answered.

Finally, someone picked up.

To her surprise, it was Charlie's voice.

"Bella, what's up?"

Isabella didn't like Charlie, but because of Nina, she couldn't show her dislike too openly. "I'm looking for my sister."

"She's not here," said Charlie.

Isabella sensed something was off. Nina never parted with her phone because she was afraid of missing Isabella's calls. Every time Isabella called Nina, Nina would answer immediately.

She asked, "Where did my sister go?"

"I'm not sure. It seemed like she went out shopping with friends."

Isabella said, "Okay, I got it."

After hanging up, she immediately took a taxi to Green Valley Community.