CHAPTER 46: CHAPTER 46: MAKE RACHEL HAYES ABORT THE CHILD!

Assistant Prescott quickly stepped forward to help him up. After all these years following Julian Fordham, he knew this man was known for his composure.

When had he ever been this frantic?

Assistant Prescott guessed it must be something to do with Victoria Monroe. Seeing his hands covered in blood, he suggested, "Boss, you should get your wounds dressed first..."

Julian didn’t wait to hear him finish, pushing aside his hand as he stumbled forward.

"Boss, I’ll call the driver to bring the car around," Assistant Prescott chased after him.

Seeing the look on Julian’s face, he instinctively knew something must have happened to Victoria, otherwise, he wouldn’t have left his comatose sister in the hospital room.

The Cullinan had just arrived. Julian, uncharacteristically abandoning his usual calm demeanor, yanked open the car door, pulling the driver out and getting in himself.

Before Assistant Prescott could stop him, he had already stepped on the gas pedal and sped off.

The dazed driver, Mo, asked, "What’s up with President Fordham?"

"Hurry home, something must have happened to the madam!"

Julian gripped the steering wheel tightly, and with each tensioned muscle, the blood from his still unbandaged wound slowly trickled down over the wheel.

Last night, seeing her appear on Rhys Hawthorne’s arm, Julian had gotten drunk with jealousy. In his intoxication, he left no room for Victoria Monroe to escape the trap he had set for her.

He thought Autumn Fordham was just having her usual tantrum. They were nearby, and it would only take twenty minutes at most.

He intended to teach Victoria Monroe a lesson.

But it turned out God had other plans. When he saw Autumn lying in a bathtub full of blood,

At that moment, he lost his mind. His thoughts were only of his sister, forgetting the wife he had neglected.

How could he make such a foolish error!

With the temperature so low last night, what kind of state would she have been in now?

Victoria, please don’t let anything happen!

Julian raced madly home, and at the doorstep, he saw the open door.

The courtyard was occupied only by Mrs. Xu, who had just arrived, holding a basket of groceries, humming a song, as if rejuvenated by a decade.

Seeing the disheveled Julian, his face full of worry, she still greeted him, "Oh, sir, another night out. Seems the grass outside is greener."

Julian was accustomed to her sarcasm and dashed off through the courtyard.

The vestibule door was wide open!

There shouldn’t be anyone else at home, his mother was at the hospital all night.

Had Victoria Monroe freed herself and left?

At this moment, he was very conflicted. On one hand, he hoped Victoria could save herself, but on the other, he didn’t want her out of his sight.

The master bedroom terrace door was wide open, and the cold wind, mixed with snowflakes, swept through the room.

Before he left, he had turned on the air conditioner, but now the temperature was painfully low.

Anxious, Julian made his way to the bathroom, its door also ajar. He called out hoarsely, "Victoria..."

The bathtub, however, held no trace of Victoria Monroe.

All that was left was the blue-striped tie and the three-quarters-full tub.

Julian picked up the tie.

The bloodstains were now a dark red.

Victoria Monroe’s skin was always delicate; she must have used great force to free herself.

Even though her wrists were rubbed raw, she didn’t stop, not until her last ounce of strength was spent.

Looking at the bloodstained tie, it was as if a knife was being cruelly twisted in his heart.

How much pain must she have been in then?

His eyes fell on a familiar handkerchief on the floor, the one Victoria had cleaned and asked Assistant Woods to give back to Rhys.

It still retained the signature scent of sandalwood from Rhys.

With each tightening grasp around the tie, Julian’s forearm veins protruded and each joint turned faintly white.

He now understood why the terrace door of the master bedroom was open.

Rhys had taken Victoria Monroe away!

Julian accessed the phone’s surveillance playback and discovered Rhys took Victoria away a little past seven this morning.

In other words, Victoria had been there all night!

Victoria, are you alright?

The footage showed Rhys, a face full of cold, wrapping Victoria in a blanket as he left. Watching every angle over and over.

From start to finish, the blanket didn’t move an inch, meaning Victoria had lost consciousness by then!

Julian was filled with regret, his mind consumed by the image of Victoria’s slightly sickly face as he had left.

She called his name over and over.

"Julian, let me go, I truly don’t feel well."

"Julian, come back! Let me go! My hand hurts..."

"Julian, I’m in pain..."

Each plea weaker than the last, like alarm bells ringing in his mind.

If she wasn’t pretending, and she was really unwell?

He had left her confined in the bathroom all night!

Thinking of this, Julian slapped himself hard.

How could he have done such things to Victoria Monroe?

Assistant Prescott rushed in, uninformed of what truly transpired between them, but seeing the blood-stained handsome face of Julian, and the reddish corners of his eyes, he figured something wrong had happened.

"Boss, madam..."

Julian’s eyes were dark, and his voice hoarse, "Contact Rhys Hawthorne, ask where he took Victoria. If you can’t get through, check all the hospitals in Kenton."

"Yes."

Assistant Prescott quickly went to track down Victoria Monroe’s whereabouts.

Julian stared at the bloodied tie, his voice extremely hoarse, "Victoria, I was wrong, I was truly wrong... please don’t let anything happen!"

Assistant Prescott slowed down, carefully speaking, "President Fordham, Rhys has severed contact. You know these years he’s been developing in Portoros, he keeps a very low profile, never showing up. If he’s cut off, it means he doesn’t want you finding him."

Julian didn’t look up, his voice deep and cold, "The hospitals in Kenton..."

"I checked, there’s no hospital admission record for the madam."

Assistant Prescott gently reminded, "If Rhys truly wants to hide madam from us, it will be difficult to find her for a while. However, sir, don’t worry, no matter what injuries madam may have, the Hawthorne Family has a top medical team, madam should be fine."

The words "top medical team" stabbed deeply into Julian’s heart.

He had climbed so hard for many years, thinking he stood tall enough, only to realize it was just Rhys’s starting point.

Rhys didn’t make the Forbes list, not because he couldn’t, but because he simply didn’t care.

A family like the Hawthornes, with wealth unfathomable like a beast from the abyss.

In front of the Hawthornes, he was naive as a sapling.

Even in his own Kenton, under Julian’s watch, Rhys had taken Victoria Monroe away.

He couldn’t even trace Victoria’s whereabouts!

This was the chasm between them, like an insurmountable gap.

Julian clenched his fingers, and with the pressure, blood, which was slowly drying in his hand, once again broke through the wound, seeping into the tie.

Assistant Prescott watched as he held the tie, blood steadily oozing from his palm, yet he was unaware.

One day, he would bridge this so-called chasm!

Biting his lip, Julian forced out a strained question, "Corbin, did I make a mistake?"

Corbin Prescott adjusted his glasses, understanding what he meant.

"Boss, I did warn you, with madam’s temperament, she might not tolerate this kind of thing. Now, instead of regretting, it’s better to compensate."

Julian slowly raised his head, staring at his bloodied hands.

"No, there’s still time."

His eyes turned scarlet, pupils filled with beastly ferocity, "The biggest mistake between Victoria and me was that child. As long as that child is gone, Victoria will come back to me."

Corbin was startled, then frowned, "But boss, didn’t you..."

Julian interrupted him, "I regretted it, I shouldn’t have been so obstinate. Because of Rachel Hayes’s child, I’ve continually compromised, and because of Rachel, I repeatedly hurt Victoria."

The man slowly stood, moments of vulnerability vanished.

His sharply defined features only showed obsessive intensity, "Only now do I find, Victoria is what’s most important to me. I shouldn’t hurt her. I’m going to get her back. As for Rachel Hayes..."

As he said this name, his voice turned frosty and emotionless, "Assistant Prescott, arrange to have Rachel’s child terminated."