Madly Yours (Nora Reed) novel Chapter 199

Nora's face burned hot. She hid against his chest and muttered, "Shut up."

Hudson chuckled aloud, carrying her over to the dining table. He set her down in a chair before turning to dish out bowls of hot soup for them.

For the next three days, Nora didn't go anywhere.

It wasn't that she didn't want to—she physically couldn't leave the house.

Hudson seemed like such a refined, disciplined man on the surface, but the moment he got a taste of intimacy, he was like a starved man at a feast. He was absolutely relentless.

During the day, it was manageable. He held back just enough to keep things somewhat decent.

But the second the sun went down, he turned into an entirely different beast. He thoroughly dominated her, flat-out refusing to stop until she was crying and begging for mercy.

On the first night, he promised, "Just one last time," and completely lied.

On the second night, he swore, "I promise, this is the last time," and lied again.

By the third night, Nora had learned her lesson. She refused to believe a single word that came out of his mouth.

But when he whispered, "I swear, this is absolutely the last time," his expression was so painfully sincere she couldn't say no, his voice dripping with pure tenderness, his gaze impossibly deep...

Nora fell for it.

And was thoroughly tricked yet again.

On the morning of the fourth day, holding her aching back as she crawled out of bed, Nora stared at the fresh marks on her collarbones in the mirror and took a very deep breath.

Only now did she realize how incredibly deceptive rumors could be.

Deceptive wasn't even the word—they were downright lethal.

If she ever believed Hudson's "one last time" again, she would legally change her last name to Lancaster.

...

Early that morning, the doorbell at the Reed family villa rang frantically.

A maid jogged over to answer it, but the moment it cracked open, it was violently shoved wide.

Marcus and Penelope were having breakfast in the dining room. Startled by the loud crash, they immediately looked up.

Marcus scoffed coldly. "I told you that so-called Duke's son was bad news! But you refused to listen. And now look? You got played!"

"He didn't play me! Archer treated me incredibly well! He isn't a scammer!"

Penelope quickly pulled her aside. "Okay, okay, he's not a scammer. Stop crying. Tell me, how was your trip? Did he put you through any hardship?"

Jade shook her head through her sobs. "We stayed in five-star hotels the whole time. He treated me like a princess. I didn't suffer at all..."

Penelope and Marcus exchanged a look.

"Then... did he spend any of your money?"

Jade shook her head again. "No, not a single cent. He wouldn't even let me pay when we went shopping."

Marcus's brow furrowed further. That certainly didn't sound like a con artist's MO.

"Then did he... did he try to take advantage of you?" Penelope carefully chose her words, asking cautiously.

Jade froze for a second, catching onto Penelope's underlying question, and her face flushed slightly. "No... He said he wanted to save the best part for our wedding night..."