My First Love Died, Now My Step Uncle Wants Me-Chapter 143: Three Minutes

Caleb Rhodes forcibly pulled her hand away and said in a low voice, "Willson Lawson, take her to the hospital."

Rosalind Lowell started crying. "Caleb, you were never like this. I’m in this state, and you’re still going to leave?"

Caleb Rhodes didn’t look back, quickly walking toward another car.

Rosalind Lowell cried out, "If Jonah were here, he wouldn’t treat me like this!"

Caleb Rhodes’s hand paused. He turned back to Willson Lawson and said, "Get the best doctors from Elysian City to examine Rosalind. Make the call yourself and invite them personally!"

Willson Lawson said, "Yes, Third Lord Master!"

At this, Rosalind Lowell couldn’t stop crying, but Caleb Rhodes’s car quickly sped out of the parking lot.

Aethelburg couldn’t compare to Elysian City, but it was by no means small. There was a veterinary hospital not far from their location.

Roy was already at death’s door when he was brought in, and the person at the front desk was shocked to see him.

The examination revealed that Roy had multiple fractures. The hole in his abdomen was connected to his intestines, which were torn and tangled. His condition was critical.

The final recommendation was immediate surgery.

But since Roy was still a kitten and naturally frail, his chances of survival were low, even with surgery.

Upon hearing this, Nina Wynn’s legs gave out. If Warner Zimmerman hadn’t been there to catch her, she would have crumpled to the floor.

Roy was quickly taken into the operating room.

Nina Wynn waited outside, staring blankly at the wall across from her.

After a long while, she suddenly asked Warner Zimmerman, "Miss Zimmerman, if you’re from a bad background, without parents, does that mean you don’t even deserve to have a pet?"

Her voice was faint and her face was ashen, her lips completely drained of color. Leaning against the wall as she sat on the chair, she looked incredibly fragile and weak.

Warner Zimmerman stepped forward and touched her hand, realizing her skin was ice-cold.

She draped the small blanket she had brought over Nina’s shoulders and said earnestly, "That’s not true. You can’t choose your background or your parents, but you can fight for the life you live afterward."

Nina Wynn said no more, her gaze fixed absently on the operating room door.

’She truly adored Roy. He was the only source of warmth in her life after Evan Chapman died.’

’She had no family, and her only friend was often unreachable. She was kept caged by Caleb Rhodes, so the only living beings she saw most days were the butler and Roy.’

’The butler was taciturn, even more so than her, which made conversation difficult.’

’Only this cat stayed by her side, unconditionally.’

’It didn’t scold her for being an orphan, didn’t mind that she had no parents, and it would never, ever bully her.’

’It depended on her with its whole heart, yet she couldn’t even protect it, allowing it to be hurt time and time again.’

Her hands clenched into tight fists, her chest heaving violently.

’This cemented her feud with Rosalind Lowell once and for all.’

’So Rosalind Lowell likes Caleb Rhodes? And wasn’t she the one always insinuating that I’m the niece of a homewrecker?’

’If anything happens to Roy, I’ll make her life a living hell!’

Caleb Rhodes took in the sight of her pale face and tightly clenched fists.

He strode forward, glanced at the operating room door, then turned to Warner Zimmerman. "What’s the situation?"

Warner Zimmerman shook her head. "I’ve already contacted the relevant specialists in Elysian City. They’re on their way now. We’re doing everything we can to save him."

The words were barely out of her mouth when Nina Wynn shot to her feet, staring daggers at Caleb Rhodes. "This is all your fault! You and Rosalind Lowell ganged up on him! He’s so little, how could you not spare him!"

She was breaking down like never before, her voice filled with accusation and resentment as she vented, "What gives you people the right to decide who lives and who dies? What gives you the right to decide Roy’s fate!"

She was so agitated she was speaking without thinking. "And you, Caleb Rhodes! You’re just the same! You’re no different from them!"

"You lock me up for your amusement! I’m nothing but a little sparrow you keep! When you’re happy, you toss me a few crumbs, bring me some trinket to play with. When you’re not, you lock me up and abuse me half to death! What’s the difference between you and them?!

"All of you in the Rhodes Family, you’re all awful! You’re rotten to the core!"

When she finished, her anger still unquenched, she continued to glare at him. Caleb Rhodes took in every bit of her fierce expression.

Caleb Rhodes’s expression was terrifyingly grim. His eyes were dark and cold, carrying the biting chill of an approaching blizzard.

He spoke, his voice like ice. "Are you done?"

"If not, I’ll give you three more minutes. Continue."

Since the day he was born, no one had ever dared to be so insolent to his face. Nina Wynn was an absolute first.

If anyone else had dared to speak to him this way, there wouldn’t even be a scrap of them left to bury.

But the person standing before him was this tiny thing he could crush with a flick of his finger. And he truly couldn’t bring himself to punish her.

However, her words—that being with him was a form of abuse—stabbed into his heart like a thorn.

His chest ached with a piercing pain. He stared at her for a full two or three minutes before speaking again. "Done yelling? Then answer me. What do you mean, ’abuse’? You think being with me is a form of abuse?"

Nina Wynn’s mind was a chaotic buzz, and her words had been pouring out unfiltered. She stared straight at him.

She was still afraid of him, but right now, her eyes held no trace of fear.

"Yes."

The single, simple word, spoken in a soft, quiet voice, was like a sword of ice striking Caleb Rhodes.

His eyes narrowed abruptly, a malevolent glint appearing in their depths.

Seeing things were about to escalate, Warner Zimmerman quickly stepped forward and pulled Nina Wynn back. "Third Lord Master, Miss Wynn is just overwrought with worry for Roy. She’s not thinking straight. Please, don’t take what she’s saying to heart!"

Just then, the door to the operating room opened. The surgeon stepped out and shook his head with a look of defeat. "I’m sorry. I did everything I could."

Hearing this, a loud BUZZ filled Nina Wynn’s head, and she nearly collapsed.

’Roy... is Roy going to leave me, too?’

Her face was a terrifying shade of pale as she staggered toward the room.

A pang of pain hit Caleb Rhodes’s heart as he watched her. He moved to grab her, but she violently shook off his hand and stumbled into the room.

Roy was still on the operating table, his wounds sutured. He lay perfectly still on his back, under the effects of the anesthesia.

Nina Wynn’s vision went black, and she nearly lost her balance. 𝕗𝐫𝚎𝗲𝘄𝐞𝕓𝐧𝕠𝘃𝕖𝐥.𝐜𝚘𝚖

A surgical assistant was placing Roy into an incubator. "We performed the surgery," she said, "but his injuries are too severe. His chances of survival are slim. At best, he might make it a day or two. I’m sorry, we truly did everything we could."

Nina Wynn’s mind was a complete blank. She stepped forward and clutched the small incubator holding the tiny kitten to her chest.

Roy stared up at her, his glassy eyes completely unfocused.

Nina Wynn’s heart felt like it was being shredded. Tears dripped onto the incubator as she hoarsely called his name, over and over.

Caleb Rhodes had never seen her cry like this. Even in her moments of greatest pain and suffering, she had always forced her tears back. She had never let them fall like this.

He stepped forward, about to embrace her, but she jerked back a step. "Don’t touch him!"

She looked up at him, her eyes filled with endless pain and hatred. "He wouldn’t be dying if it weren’t for you! I hate you, Caleb Rhodes! This is all because of you!"

The hatred in her eyes seemed to strangle Caleb Rhodes where he stood, freezing him to the spot.

Clutching the small incubator, Nina Wynn brushed past him and fled.