My First Love Died, Now My Step Uncle Wants Me-Chapter 31: A Knot of Anguish

’Someone in the Rhodes family was about to pay a heavy price.’

Caleb Rhodes had received an education that blended Eastern and Western values. He was extremely traditional at his core, yet he remained quite indifferent to family ties.

You could say the man had no sense of moral restraint. Warner Zimmerman believed that, aside from his own parents, Caleb Rhodes probably couldn’t care less about anyone else in the Rhodes family.

Seeing Warner Zimmerman hesitate, Caleb Rhodes’s chest heaved violently a few times. His voice sounded even more terrifying. "Right now!"

Warner Zimmerman turned and walked out. "I’m on it!"

Caleb Rhodes’s gaze remained fixed on the wound on the back of Nina Wynn’s hand, the dark storm in his eyes gathering and deepening. He took her arm to examine it closely. As he looked at the edge of her school uniform’s cuff, he saw the dark purple of a bruise peeking out.

His eyes turned sharp and cold. He gripped the wooden headboard so tightly that the veins on the back of his hand throbbed violently.

After a moment, he took a deep breath and reached for the buttons on Nina Wynn’s school uniform.

He unbuttoned the uniform.

Nina Wynn’s beautiful, youthfully alluring body was revealed to him, her curves perfect.

A slender waist, long legs, full breasts... her skin was as fair and delicate as the softest milk pudding, enough to tempt any man in the world.

But scattered across this tempting body were bluish-purple bruises. From her legs to her collarbone, and down to her small waist, there were at least ten marks—a shocking sight.

The five or six most severe ones were on her chest and abdomen, the softest and most vulnerable areas, revealing the perpetrator’s vicious intent.

Caleb Rhodes’s fists clenched and unclenched, over and over. The fury in his eyes nearly materialized into a deadly blade, and even the bulging veins in his neck were clearly visible.

He had assumed she was merely disliked in the Rhodes family. He never imagined that the not-so-large Rhodes estate hid so many despicable schemes.

’The Rhodes family... it’s time for a complete overhaul!’

Just then, Warner Zimmerman’s voice came from outside. "Young Master, Dr. Chapman is here."

Caleb Rhodes immediately buttoned up Nina Wynn’s clothes. Then, his eyes fell on her pale calves, which were exposed, and he quickly pulled the blanket over her.

Dr. Chapman was a traditional Chinese medicine practitioner in his early sixties. He came from a family of TCM doctors and had over forty years of rich experience.

After taking Nina Wynn’s pulse, his brow furrowed slightly. "She fainted from the pain of stomach spasms. This child... she’s young, but she holds a lot in."

After the ten-minute wait, the dark storm in Caleb Rhodes’s eyes had receded, leaving only an ever-deepening, somber coldness.

His gaze shifted from Nina Wynn’s face to the old doctor’s hand on her pulse. His voice was unnervingly quiet. "What’s your diagnosis?"

The old doctor listened to her pulse carefully again. "There’s deep emotional stagnation affecting her internal organs, especially her liver. The blockage is severe. Is this young lady not very talkative?"

Caleb Rhodes gently brushed the sweat-dampened hair from Nina Wynn’s face. His tone softened slightly. "She doesn’t like to talk much."

The old doctor sighed. "That explains it. The liver is congested, and her qi isn’t flowing smoothly. She bottles up all her emotions, which is bound to cause problems over time. Her condition is already quite serious, to the point where it’s affecting her other organs. Her stomach, for example, must be bleeding internally."

He listened to her pulse for another moment. "Her spleen is deficient. She can’t handle eating even a little too much, and she’s constantly in a cold sweat."

After another moment, the old doctor’s eyebrows knitted together. "Is her living environment very poor? Has she been subjected to long-term fear? Her heart is so weak... I’ve never seen someone so young whose internal organs have aged like this."

With every word he spoke, the sharp glint in Caleb Rhodes’s eyes intensified.

The old doctor continued, "Is this a child of the Rhodes family? Or is she your..."

He didn’t finish, looking up at Caleb Rhodes. He saw that Caleb’s dark pupils were as deep and cold as a bottomless, icy pool.

The old doctor, who was past fifty and had seen much of the world, was startled. It was the first time he had ever felt such intense hostility in someone’s eyes.

Thinking Caleb Rhodes was just overly worried, he softened his tone. "Although it’s serious, it’s not untreatable. We can use Chinese medicine to regulate her system. The first step is to release the pent-up frustration in her heart. Don’t you have what you call psychologists in Western medicine? I think that would be quite good. Society has changed, and combining Chinese and Western medicine can often yield surprising results."

As he spoke, he freed his other hand, intending to take the pulse on Nina Wynn’s other wrist, but his eyes immediately fell on the wound on her hand.

The old doctor’s brow tightened. "How did this happen?"

He took Nina Wynn’s hand and examined the wound closely. "This doesn’t look like it was caused by a sharp object. It seems more like a puncture from a blunt object... like, a woman’s high heel?"

The moment the words left his mouth, the air in the room seemed to grow even colder. He looked up and saw Caleb Rhodes glaring with a look so fierce it was as if he wanted to devour someone, the veins in his neck bulging.

The old doctor said no more.

He was perceptive enough to know that the affairs of the Rhodes family were not for someone like him to meddle in.

The old doctor simply treated the wound on the back of Nina Wynn’s hand, then wrote out a prescription and handed it to Caleb Rhodes. "I’ll have someone deliver the herbs shortly. Remember to decoct three bowls of water down to one. Have her drink it three times a day. Let’s try this for a month and see how she does."

He then took a small packet of pre-brewed medicine from his medical kit. "Warm this with hot water and have her drink it. It will temporarily relieve the pain."

Caleb Rhodes took it and handed it to the butler.

Before leaving, the old doctor couldn’t help but glance back at the frail young girl on the bed. "Third Lord Master, I know a little about face reading. This young lady doesn’t appear to be someone destined for a fortunate life. Perhaps raising her in a less pampered way might help dissolve some of her ill-fated connections."

Although he didn’t understand the relationship between Nina Wynn and Caleb Rhodes, he spoke out of his benevolent principles as a doctor.

"Forgive my forwardness, but if she is your partner, you must be cautious with marital relations. The young lady’s body is weak and not currently suitable for childbearing. If she were to accidentally conceive, I fear it would be detrimental to both mother and child."

He expected Caleb Rhodes to ignore him, but to his surprise, Caleb politely saw him to the door. "From now on, I’ll have to trouble Dr. Chapman with my little girl’s health."

The old doctor was utterly shocked. He never thought the famously taciturn Crown Prince of the Rhodes family would say something so courteous. He quickly replied, "It’s my duty. However, you should take her to a hospital to have that wound treated soon. It’s quite serious."

After Dr. Chapman left, the butler warmed the medicinal soup he had provided and brought it in.

Caleb Rhodes took a spoon and fed it to Nina Wynn, bit by bit.

The medicine was too bitter, and the unconscious Nina Wynn resisted it somewhat. It took a long time to feed her just half a bowl, and some of the liquid stained her uniform collar and the white bedsheets.

After she finished the medicine, Caleb Rhodes noticed she was sweating less, so he took out a set of pajamas and changed her into them.

The old doctor’s medicine worked well. Before long, Nina Wynn’s eyes fluttered open.

The unfamiliar room left her dazed for a moment, but the faint sound of a voice quickly pulled her back to reality.

She sat up and saw Caleb Rhodes standing on the small balcony outside, his back to her, talking on the phone.