Chapter 5

“Bang —”

I raised my hand and slammed the water glass onto the floor, the sharp sound of shattering cutting off Carter’s unfinished sentence.

Emma, like a startled rabbit, sprang away from his embrace. “Mia, you’re awake!” She rushed to the bedside, tears streaming down her face. “How are you? Does it still hurt? It’s all my fault…”

A cold smile curled on my pale lips. “You’re in the way. How can I feel better with you here?”

Emma’s tears instantly flooded down, her shoulders trembling as she looked at me, the picture of someone wronged. She bit her lip and, with a final glance at Carter, turned and fled the room.

Carter instinctively moved to follow her, but then hesitated, stopping himself. He looked at me, his voice low. “Mia, it was an emergency, I... didn’t react fast enough.”

I said nothing, just turned my head to stare out the window. I didn’t want to hear any more.

For the next three days, Carter stood outside my hospital room like a dutiful bodyguard, but I didn’t speak a single word to him.

The day I was discharged, I limped straight to the study, my leg still not fully healed.

I pulled open a drawer and took out the glistening black leather whip — a punishment reserved by the Miller Family for those who defied the clan. One lash was enough to leave scars.

“Call Carter here,” I told the butler.

When Carter entered the room, I was leisurely cleaning the whip. Sunlight filtered through the floor-to-ceiling windows, casting a cold, silent shadow under my eyelashes.

“Carter, you’re my bodyguard, but you failed to protect me.” I looked up at him. “I’m going to punish you. You don’t mind, do you?”

He froze in place, his pupils narrowing slightly.

I could see it clearly. This man, the one everyone in the world feared, had never once imagined someone would dare to lay a hand on him in punishment.

He was the only heir of the Taylor Family. Everyone around him fawned over him, who would dare touch him? But now, I was about to whip him.

I watched his expression, then suddenly laughed. He was hesitating. He could walk away right now, he could quit, but… he was hesitating? For Emma? To stay in this house, to continue watching over her?

My eyes burned, almost as though tears were going to fall.

Carter gritted his teeth and finally spoke in a low voice. “No.”

That moment, my heart jerked painfully. I tightened my grip on the whip and raised my hand —

“Stop!”

A slender figure rushed forward, standing firmly in front of Carter.

Emma, her eyes red from crying, trembled as she spoke, “Mia, if you want to punish someone, punish me. It’s got nothing to do with Carter!”

“Move,” I said coldly.

“I won’t!” She shook her head, tears streaming down her face like rain. “It’s my fault you’re hurt. If anyone should be punished, it’s me…”

Carter reached out to pull her away. “Emma, this isn’t your fault.”

But Emma stubbornly stood her ground, refusing to move an inch.

Watching the scene unfold before me, my anger flared up. With one swift motion, I lashed the whip down!

“Crack!”

The sound cut through the air like a sharp, deafening scream. I had aimed for Carter, but Emma threw herself forward, taking the lash meant for him.

“Ah!”

Emma cried out in pain, her body going limp as she collapsed to the floor.

Carter immediately rushed to her side, scooping her up in his arms, his head lowered to inspect her wound. When he looked up, I met his eyes —

I froze in place. His gaze was as cold as ice, a killing intent so strong it practically radiated from him. It was as if, in the next second, he would pounce on me and snap my neck.

I stiffened, the chill running through my body like a deadly frost.

“Get out.” My voice trembled.

Carter, still holding the unconscious Emma, turned and stormed out of the room. The door slammed behind him with a deafening crash.

I stood there, motionless, my hands trembling so violently that I could no longer hold onto the whip.