Chapter 16
Chapter 16
“It’s okay. I’m here.”
Marcus asked Cordelia to go inside and close the door.
The girl followed obediently, but the man did not go in after her. She heard a few dull thuds outside the house before the men’s agonized moans and cries were heard.
Cordelia looked out the window. Marcus had beaten those thugs down. They were bruised and swollen as they begged for mercy on their knees.
The ground in front of the house was all bloody now.
In spite of this, Marcus did not seem satisfied. He picked up the stick that Cordelia had used and hurled it down on one of the men’s legs.
“Try to harm my wife again and it won’t just be your leg that gets broken next time!” Marcus’ voice was a deep growl, and each word was oozing with threat.
The thugs ran off in terror, and Cordelia hid inside, trying to calm her thumping heart down even though her panting still gave it away.
Marcus entered at that moment. When she saw the dried blood on him, her lips moved but she said nothing.
“Were you frightened just now?” Marcus went over and put a large hand on her shoulder.
Cordelia shook her head, stretching her arms to hug him and snuggling her face against his chest unprompted.
This soft, dependent side of her hit a soft spot in Marcus.
“You’re tougher than I imagined.” He chuckled. “You actually chased them away with a stick when they tried to harm you.”
“What else could I do?” Cordelia looked up defiantly. “No one around offered to help, and you weren’t home. I could only encourage myself…”
“Mm, it’s all my fault. I should have been keeping you company at home,” Marcus said in a deep tone. “But I don’t think those guys will dare come again.”
Cordelia buried her face deeper in his chest and giggled lightly.
Her hand unintentionally glided past the man’s ripped chest, and his prominent muscles made her heartbeat quicken.
She had not expected him to actually be able to fight and finish the men off so quickly. Why did people call him a coward then?
“Wash up first and get changed,” Cordelia told him. “I’ll prepare dinner.”
Marcus nodded and watched her with a squint.
That took Cordelia aback, so she asked, “Do I have something on my face?” All text © NôvelD(r)a'ma.Org.
“No,” the man replied with a smile. “I just think that… you’re not the way they described you.”
“What?”
“Before we got married, people said that the Jenner heiress was spoiled and had a huge temper— they said she didn’t know how to do a thing either. But you clean up the home very well and you are an amazing cook. You can calmly handle any issue you encounter as well…”
Marcus went closer to her with a vague smirk. “I’m questioning whether you’re actually Yelena Jenner.”
Cordelia blanched as she stared at him dumbly. The corners of her lips twitched as she plastered on a forced, awkward smile.
“I—of course I-I’m Yelena.” Her gaze was evasive as she tucked her hair behind her ear. “Rumors, right? They’re always different from the truth. Don’t listen to their nonsense. I am the heiress of the Jenners. You didn’t marry the wrong person!”
This time, Marcus actually laughed genuinely. That was fine, he could wait—he could wait until the day she was willing to confess.
As Cordelia hurried back into the kitchen, somebody knocked on their door urgently.
“Marcus, you home?”