Madly Yours (Nora Reed) novel Chapter 617

Lawrence and Arthur turned a sickening shade of gray. Neither of them had expected Hudson to recover so quickly.

Hudson's body was supposed to be running on empty. He wasn't even supposed to survive the year!

Triggering his collapse tonight had taken a massive amount of planning and resources on their end.

They had planned to strike while he was down and rip the empire from his hands. What they hadn't planned for was Nora Reed.

The fragile little trophy wife they had entirely written off had suddenly morphed into a vicious, bloodthirsty guard dog!

"Hudson, are you really okay?"

Nora stepped closer to him, her eyes completely red and brimming with unshed tears. She looked up at him, her voice trembling. "You scared me to death..."

"Crybaby. Are you crying again?"

Hudson squeezed her fingers, his tone dropping into a warm, teasing murmur. "I'm perfectly fine, see?"

Nora sniffled, her long eyelashes wet and fluttering. She looked incredibly fragile and heartbreakingly pitiful.

Just moments ago, when she was staring down the two deadliest foxes in the Lancaster family, she hadn't felt an ounce of fear. Her hand hadn't even trembled when she slapped Arthur twice across the face.

But now, seeing Hudson standing tall and completely unharmed in front of her, the delayed shock finally crashed over her.

She had been by his side long enough to know how ruthlessly the game was played.

In a room like this, if she had shown even a fraction of weakness, those men would have swarmed her and torn her down to the bone.

She had forcefully projected absolute dominance solely to hold the fort for Hudson.

To hold the line until he came back.

"Alright, it's over." Hudson looked down, gently tucking a stray strand of hair behind her ear. His thumb brushed softly against her cheek. "You did great, honey. Does your hand hurt?"

Nora had been holding it together perfectly, but the second he asked, a dull, throbbing pain flared up in her palm.

When she struck Arthur, she had put absolutely everything she had into the swing. The adrenaline masked the pain then, but now it was burning.

She pouted slightly, giving him a pathetic little nod.

Hudson let out a low chuckle. He took her hand, turned her palm upward, and gently blew on the reddened skin.

Watching the intimate display, Lawrence and Arthur's faces twisted in absolute disgust, as if they had just been forced to swallow a live rat.

Arthur, especially, could feel the veins throbbing violently in his temples. Half of his face was ballooning from the impact.

He had never been subjected to such degrading humiliation in his entire life.

A twenty-something girl had pinned him down and publicly slapped him across the face. Twice.

She had taken his pride, thrown it on the floor, and stomped on it.

"Don't get too cocky, Hudson!" Arthur ground out, the words hissing through his clenched teeth, thick with repressed fury. "That disease is going to—"

"Arthur." Hudson's voice cut through the room like a surgical blade, his dark eyes freezing over completely. "If your face isn't swollen enough, I have no problem letting my wife give you another two slaps to even it out."

"You—"

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