Chapter 8

“Look after Nellie, I’ll come home immediately.” Joshua hung up the phone and stood up to leave. “Wait, wait!” Hearing him mention Nellie, Luna hurriedly stood up. “What happened to Nellie?” His hand that held the door handle trembled slightly. He turned his head and studied Luna’s face coldly. Facing his suspicious eyes, Luna sucked in a deep breath. “I’m Nellie’s personal servant; caring for her is what I should do.” The man opened the door and strode into the hallway. “Let’s go.” On the way to Blue Bay Villa, Luna tried to ask him about Nellie’s situation. He glanced at her coldly and threw the contract at her, “You’re not her personal servant yet.” Luna pursed her lips, signed the contract, and handed it to him. “Can you now tell me what happened to Nellie, Mr. Lynch?” Joshua frowned slightly. “Aura came to look for Nellie.” Luna felt like her heart fell into a deep chasm just by listening to him. Aura went to look for Nellie! Why? Nellie was the smallest amongst her three children. Both of her brothers took away too much of her nutrients when she was in Luna’s belly, and it resulted in her looking small and fragile when she was born. This was the first time she had left her mother in six years. Luna kept wriggling about in her seat in anxiousness. With gritted teeth, she peered out of the window, anxiety written clearly across her face. “Hi, can you drive faster?” Beside her, Joshua’s gaze darkened as he looked at her. “Ms. Luna, you seem to care for her even more than me, even though I’m her father.” Luna stiffened. She realized it only when he pointed out that her care for Nellie did indeed exceed the parameters of that of a nanny and her charge. She pursed her lips. “I signed the contract. From now on, Nellie is my source of income, so it’s only natural I care about her.” Joshua lifted his lips in a vague half-smile as he eyed her. “That’s all?” His ambiguous attitude made her uncomfortable. Lips forming a line, she nodded. “Yes.” He said nothing else on the matter. Very soon, the car stopped at Blue Bay Villa. “Sir, finally you’re home!” The moment the car slid to a stop, the butler rushed forward. “How’s the situation inside?” Joshua asked, frowning. “They…” Before he could finish his sentence, the door to the passenger seat was flung open as Luna sped into the villa like a rocket. Somehow, it felt like the air in the living room was tinged with the stench of blood. When Luna rushed in, Nellie was crouching in a corner on the sofa, her little head dropping, looking lifeless. Opposite her sat Aura with eyes widened in rage. “Nellie!” Every other thought flew out of the window as she strode forward and took the little girl into her arms. “Are you okay?” Luna’s voice was trembling for no reason. “Are you okay?” Nellie reached out a little hand and held onto her arm silently. “I’m ok.” “Who are you?” Aura, who was sitting opposite them, swept her eyes coldly over Luna with sheer contempt. “A new servant? You look like such a siren. Who are you trying to seduce?” Luna pursed her lips tightly together at her words, but she had no time nor the energy to argue with her, so she lowered her head and lifted Nellie’s chin. “Let me take a look.” “I’m fine.” The little girl lowered her head stubbornly, not daring to let Luna see it. A bad premonition surged into her heart as Luna gritted her teeth and raised the girl’s face regardless. As expected. There was a palm print on the little girl’s fair and tender cheeks; red and swollen. The palm print ran so deep that one could even see the creases imprinted onto Nellie’s face! Obviously, this was done by an adult, and with considerable strength at that. Luna almost shed tears of distress. “I’m okay,” comforted Nellie softly. “The butler just made me ice cubes, and it doesn’t hurt anymore.” Her daughter’s sensible attitude made Luna’s heart hurt like it was stabbed sharply. She lifted her head, hands clenched into fists as she raised her eyes to stare at Aura in front of her. “I hit her.” Aura crossed her arms at her chest indifferently. “Want to take revenge for this little brat?” “Who are you calling a brat?” Luna gritted her teeth. She put down Nellie, stood up, and approached Aura, step by step. “She’s just a child. How could you hit her?! An adult bullying a five-year-old child like this, don’t you have a conscience?” Aura scoffed, looking at Luna coldly. “I can’t hit her just because she’s young? The little imp deserved it for running around calling random men as her father.” The moment she finished speaking, Luna stepped forward and threw a slap across her cheeks. Smack! A crisp crack echoed in the living room as Aura fell to the sofa from the impact. Her head rang as she struggled to get up for quite a while. Luna bit her lip and stared at Aura coldly. Before, she loved Aura the most. Aura was her younger sister, so she gave her everything she could. Even after she was married, when Aura could not find a good job, she recommended her to work at Joshua’s company. As a result, Aura became Joshua’s personal secretary and conspired with him to push her into the abyss. At this moment, Aura dared hit her Nellie, and a slap on the face could not resolve her hatred! “You dare hit me?!” Aura got up from the sofa and rushed toward Luna angrily. “Do you know that I’m Joshua’s fiancé, the future lady of this family? Do you want to continue working in this house in the future!? Come, throw her out!” The servants watched from a distance, but no one dared approach them. Aura cursed them inwardly and called them trash before she rushed up to fight Luna. “Don’t fight...” Nellie’s whimper rang behind her. The little girl got up from the sofa and tried to stop her, but because she was too anxious, she fell onto the carpet. “Nellie!” The sound of her daughter falling behind made Luna panic. When she instinctively turned her head to check out the situation, Aura grabbed her hand and— Smack! With a slap, Luna’s ears rang with the impact, and the sweet pungent taste of blood filled her mouth. Aura raised her hand as she landed another slap, but since she had been feather-bedded, her reflexes were not as fast as Luna, and she was definitely not as strong as Luna. Luna gained the initiative and pressed Aura to the ground. She licked the blood that oozed from the corner of her mouth. “Still want more?” Luna raised her hand and swung it in the direction of Aura’s face when all of a sudden, someone grabbed her wrist in place. Joshua. His expression was ice-cold. “What are you doing?” “Joshua, your servant dared to hit me!” Taking advantage of Luna’s indisposed position, Aura hurriedly climbed up and kicked Luna with all her strength. “How dare you touch me! Who do you think you are?!” The sharp tip of Aura’s shoe dug into Luna’s back, making her scrunch her eyebrows in pain. “Auntie!” Nellie crawled up and ran to her worriedly, shaking off Joshua’s hand. “Auntie, are you ok?” Joshua turned his head, wanting to say something, but immediately caught sight of Nellie’s face. There was a clear adult palm print imprinted on her child-like cheeks. He pulled Nellie into his arms as a cold and unapproachable aura was emitted from his being. “Who hit you?”