Chapter 170: Chapter 182: Redouble Efforts, Tenfold Return (7) Chapter 170: Chapter 182: Redouble Efforts, Tenfold Return (7) His movement came suddenly and unexpectedly, leaving Isabel Smith unprepared. A wave of intense pain instantly swept through her entire body.

Isabel’s body spasmed with pain, and she instinctively reached out to grab the bedsheets beneath her. She swallowed hard twice, trying to alleviate the pain.

However, her endurance was futile; she felt the pain only growing.

She furrowed her brow, trying to push him away, but he reached out first, grabbed her wrist, and placed it over her head. He stared into her eyes, his own flashing with a cold light, and said slowly, his tone deliberate: “Do you understand, this is what a bed|**|partner is!”

Isabel’s trembling lips couldn’t utter a single word.

Percy Stanton’s eyes were still filled with barely concealed anger. He stared at her, his face filled with mockery, and asked, “Have you not wronged me?”

A hint of sorrow surfaced in Percy’s eyes. In that moment, he felt an urge to strangle the woman beneath him.

What exactly had she done to him?

How could she make him fearful one moment, gentle and infatuated the next, and then enraged beyond words in the next second?

Had she not wronged him?

Did she not know that it was her appearance that had thrown Percy’s once smooth-sailing life into irreparable chaos?

Staring into Isabel’s eyes, his eyebrows frosty and his tone resolute, Percy said: “You do not wrong me… That is the greatest insult I have ever heard. No one in this world can do something to wrong me! Because I won’t allow anyone to wrong me, except for — ”

Percy’s grip on Isabel’s wrist tightened, his knuckles turning white. His forehead was etched with throbbing veins, on the verge of rage. He stared into her eyes and paused before the remaining words seemed to leap out of his mouth one by one: “Isa-bel-smith!”

He was the best in the world at self-preservation. In order to take over the wealthy Thompson Empire Group, he first needed to learn how to protect himself from harm, not be easily swayed, and not be easily hurt.

Only by being strong and unyielding could he be truly invincible.

If not for his indulgence, would she think she could wrong him like this?

At first, she brazenly stormed into his heart, and now she wanted to forget him just as easily?

How laughable, how ridiculous, how infuriating!

Percy thought of these three phrases and then leaned down to press his lips hard against Isabel’s.

His kiss was devoid of tenderness, even somewhat brutal.

Isabel’s wrist hurt, her lower body hurt, and her lips hurt from his kissing. In the end, she felt like there wasn’t a single part of her body that was fine; everything hurt.

A sense of despair slowly emerged from the bottom of her heart. She knew she had no right to be weak, so she had endured it all, gritting her teeth and bearing it in silence. She never knew just how much she could bear.

Though she pretended to be strong, had anyone ever asked her if she wanted to be strong?

This night was indeed a bit special. She felt incredibly vulnerable, as if she was on the verge of breaking. Suddenly, she gently turned her head away.

With her action, Percy’s kiss missed its mark. He opened his eyes and, before looking at Isabel, heard her slightly hoarse and trembling voice: “Percy, I know that by signing that contract with you, I allowed you to do whatever you wanted to me. I have no right to resist or fight you. But, do you know, sometimes I don’t want to be humiliated like this!”

Percy looked up to see a thin layer of moisture in Isabel’s dark, brilliant eyes, much like tears.

Percy frowned, moved his lips slightly, but before he could say anything, Isabel closed her eyes, swallowing back the acidity at the bottom of her eyes.