My First Love Died, Now My Step Uncle Wants Me-Chapter 78: Little Uncle, Hold Me

Nina Wynn grabbed the man’s arm and muttered, "Uncle, Uncle..."

The man was a hotel employee. Seeing how terribly pale her face was and how her eyes seemed unfocused, he frowned and said, "Miss, are you feeling unwell? Should I take you to the hospital?"

Nina Wynn couldn’t make out what he was saying. All she could hear was a buzzing in her ears, and her vision was a sea of red, making it impossible to even see the person’s silhouette.

She felt like she was standing on clouds, her legs devoid of any strength. She went limp and leaned against the man, who quickly caught her. "Hey, Miss, are you all right?"

Although Nina Wynn’s eyes were open, she seemed to be losing consciousness. She even reached out and hugged the man.

Afraid she would fall, the man had no choice but to let her lean on him. She subconsciously burrowed into his arms, curling into a ball.

Her vulnerable display stirred the man’s protective instincts. Just as he was about to comfort her, he felt a sharp chill from behind. His heart skipped a beat, and when he turned, he saw a noble, cold-faced man walking toward them.

The man was staring at him, the frost in his eyes sending a deep chill down his spine.

He shivered and stammered, "Pre-President Rhodes..."

Caleb Rhodes stepped forward and took Nina Wynn from the man’s arms. "I’ll take her."

The man breathed a sigh of relief and quickly stepped aside.

Caleb Rhodes enveloped Nina Wynn in his embrace, gently patting her cheek and calling her name in a low voice, "Nina!"

At that moment, Nina Wynn couldn’t see anything, nor could she even hear any sounds clearly.

But the crisp scent of cedar from Caleb Rhodes’s body enveloped her. Like someone about to fall off a cliff grabbing onto the last life-saving rope, she clung tightly to his clothes.

She curled up in his arms, her body trembling violently as she kept calling for him, "Uncle, hold me..."

"Uncle, hold me, hold me..."

Caleb Rhodes sensed something was wrong with her. He touched her forehead; it was ice-cold to the touch, yet covered in a fine sheen of sweat.

A murderous glint flashed through his eyes as he glanced at the body on the floor, waiting for the police to arrive.

Then, his already sharp jawline tensed into a hard, cold line. His usually chilly eyes now looked as if they were frozen over—cold and dark, like a massive glacier on the verge of cracking, emanating an extremely dangerous aura.

He only glanced at it for a second, as if looking at something repulsive, before turning to shield Nina Wynn with his body, blocking the gory scene from her view.

"Nina, don’t be afraid. I’m here."

Nina Wynn clung to his clothes, repeating a few words over and over, "Hold me, Uncle, hold me..."

Caleb Rhodes felt that something was seriously wrong. Her body was incredibly limp, and afraid she would slip and fall, he simply scooped her up, seating her in the crook of his arm as if she were a child.

With his other hand, he continuously stroked her back. "Good girl, Nina. Don’t be afraid, we’re going home right now."

Just as he turned to leave, Ida rushed forward and grabbed Caleb Rhodes’s arm, his expression savage. "Mr. Rhodes, you can’t leave yet!"

Caleb Rhodes’s gaze fell like a knife on the hand grabbing him. His tone was utterly cold. "We are very sorry about your sister’s suicide, but we have already reported it to the police. They will be here shortly. Mr. Ida, it would be best to leave everything to them."

Ian Dawson refused to let go, his snake-like gaze fixed on Nina Wynn. "People at the scene said my sister spoke to the young lady in your arms before she died. She is the prime suspect and the most direct witness. You cannot take her away yet!"

The ferocity in Caleb Rhodes’s eyes intensified. "Let go!"

Of course, Ian Dawson refused.

After a few seconds of stalemate, Ida was forcefully pulled away by Willson Lawson.

Willson Lawson said bluntly, "Mr. Ida, please watch your words. Also, this is Celestria. Don’t provoke someone you can’t afford to, or you might not even make it back alive."

Ida stared coldly at Caleb Rhodes and said in a frigid voice, "Celestria has laws too. This young lady is a suspect in my sister’s death. She cannot leave!"

Caleb Rhodes narrowed his eyes, his voice merciless. "First, your sister died in my hotel and frightened my love. Her condition is very poor right now. I will hold you accountable for this. The Nash Group’s legal team of several hundred people will see this through to the very end."

"Second, your sister’s death will cause reputational and financial damage to my hotel. For this, you will need to make a public apology stating that this has nothing to do with me, and you will compensate for the financial losses."

"Third, firearms are prohibited in Celestria. Ida, you knowingly broke the law. As a law-abiding citizen, I will absolutely not tolerate such illegal behavior!"

He looked at Willson Lawson, his voice heavy with menace. "Willson, file another police report immediately, and cease all cooperation with the Ingram Family."

Willson Lawson immediately replied, "Yes, Third Lord Master!"

Ian Dawson froze for a moment, as if snapping back to his senses. He glanced at his sister’s body, still on the floor, and the veins on his forehead bulged.

But his tone became exceptionally calm. "President Rhodes, I apologize. I was out of line just now."

"But the Nash Group and the Ingram Family have cooperated for many years. It has always been a win-win situation. The two families cannot stop cooperating. I implore you to retract your order."

The Nash Group was a top global conglomerate with an extremely diversified industrial chain. It had always been the Ingram Family’s most important partner in Austrasia and Elysia. If negotiations with the Nash Group collapsed this time, his position as the first-in-line heir would be gone.

But Caleb Rhodes clearly didn’t take him seriously. His tone was frigid. "I don’t care about that little bit of money. From now on, the Nash Group will cease all cooperation with the Ingram Family."

Seeing he wasn’t joking, Ida said hurriedly, "President Rhodes, you can’t do this! My sister has admired you for years, and today she even killed herself for you..."

"Your sister’s death has nothing to do with me. Many people admire me. Am I supposed to respond to every single one of them?"

As they spoke, the wail of police sirens grew closer, and Nina Wynn suddenly became extremely agitated.

She kept rubbing her head against Caleb Rhodes’s neck, her body shaking violently.

She repeated the same phrase over and over, "Uncle, hold me..."

Caleb Rhodes held her tighter and turned, striding toward the suite.

Back in the room, Nina Wynn still refused to get down from Caleb Rhodes. The moment he tried to set her on the sofa, she would immediately stand up, grab his clothes, and press herself tightly against him.

Moreover, no matter how Caleb Rhodes tried to comfort or coax her, she seemed unable to hear or see anything, as if she had sealed herself off in her own world, deaf and blind to her surroundings.

After a good while, only when the police sirens outside faded did she quiet down a little, but she still refused to get off of Caleb Rhodes.

Just then, the old traditional doctor arrived. Seeing the situation, he quickly waved a hand in front of Nina Wynn’s eyes, but she seemed not to see it. She immediately grabbed Caleb Rhodes’s clothes again, buried her head in his chest, and refused to look up.

The old doctor frowned deeply. He wanted to check Nina Wynn’s pulse, but she was acting exceptionally strange this time. She absolutely refused to extend her hand and wouldn’t cooperate with anyone who tried to touch her, except for Caleb Rhodes.

The old doctor’s expression turned grave. "Third Lord Master, we should take her to a hospital. Miss Wynn’s condition seems like temporary deafness brought on by immense shock. Also, she doesn’t seem to be able to see things clearly."

As he spoke, Nina Wynn’s arms and legs wrapped around Caleb Rhodes again, as if he were the only safe place in the entire world, the only place she could find a moment of comfort.

Just then, Warner Zimmerman came in from outside, followed by another person.

The person was in a police uniform, in his early thirties, with an air of integrity and a very serious expression.

"President Rhodes, I’m told that the first witness and the last person to have contact with the deceased was the young lady you’re holding. We need your cooperation."

Caleb Rhodes stood up, shifting Nina Wynn back into the crook of his arm. His voice was very deep. "Director Morgan, I’m very sorry, but my girl is terrified. She may not be able to cooperate with you right now."

Leo Morgan stepped forward to check on Nina Wynn’s condition. He felt that she looked somewhat familiar and was suddenly reminded of something.

"Is her surname Wynn?"

Caleb Rhodes and Leo Morgan had some history. Hearing this, he immediately asked, "Yes. Is there a problem?"

Leo Morgan frowned, his tone tinged with regret. "Ten years ago, when I first joined the force, I was just a beat cop in that district. On the second night of my assignment, someone reported a jumper in that residential complex. When I got there, I learned that a woman had jumped. She got caught on a tree on the way down, breaking all her limbs. It was a gruesome death. Her daughter was just sitting beside her, watching over her. She didn’t cry or make a sound. It was very strange."

He couldn’t help but glance at Nina Wynn again. "That was the first case I ever handled, so I remember the little girl very clearly. Such a terrible thing happened, yet not a single adult from her family came to help her. Her neighbors had to handle everything."

"Back then, when the little girl was giving her statement at the station, she didn’t cry or make a fuss, nor did she speak. It was like she was in a daze. Later, we all felt something was wrong and had a doctor check on her. That’s when we found out she had gone temporarily blind and deaf."

He shook his head. "Forget it. She can’t give a statement like this today. You should take her to the hospital. If I’m not mistaken, the girl is reliving the scene. She’s overlapping the scene of her mother’s death with today’s events. That’s why she’s like this. How pitiful."

With every word he spoke, the coldness in Caleb Rhodes’s eyes deepened. Before Leo Morgan could finish, Caleb picked up Nina Wynn and strode quickly outside.

At the hospital, Nina Wynn remained clinging to Caleb Rhodes during the examination, refusing to get down no matter how he coaxed her. Her eyes remained unfocused, which looked rather strange.

Finally, a psychiatrist came over, performed a simple hypnosis, and determined that Nina Wynn’s condition was temporary pseudoblindness and pseudodeafness—an aftereffect of intense trauma that should resolve on its own in a few days.

In the end, she was also given a sedative.

After watching over Nina Wynn until she fell asleep, Caleb Rhodes had just started to pull his hand away when she twitched violently as if startled. Her hands flailed in the air a few times, a picture of extreme distress, as if trying to grab onto something.

Just then, a pillow appeared in front of Caleb Rhodes. "Here, let her hold this."

The moment Nina Wynn grabbed the pillow, she immediately calmed down.

Caleb Rhodes watched her for a moment, brushed the sweat-dampened hair from her forehead, wiped away the sweat with a tissue, and only then did he stand up to look at the person who had just spoken.

It was a mixed-race man whose aura combined Eastern elegance with Western boldness. He had black hair and brilliant blue eyes, making him very charming.

Caleb Rhodes said politely, "Mr. Joyce, I’ll have to trouble you to look after my girl from now on."

Jody Joyce smiled, his Mandarin perfectly fluent. "President Rhodes, there’s no need to be so formal. I was only able to establish myself here thanks to your support."

His gaze fell again on Nina Wynn’s delicate and pale little face, his eyes full of curiosity. "Is she the reason you returned to the country early?" 𝑓𝑟ℯ𝘦𝓌𝘦𝘣𝑛𝑜𝓋𝑒𝓁.𝑐ℴ𝓂

Caleb Rhodes didn’t answer. After a moment of silence, he said, "Tell me about her condition."

Jody Joyce said, "Her psychological problems are very serious. In all my years as a psychologist, I’ve rarely seen someone become deaf due to stress. The brief hypnosis just now revealed that she suffered immense trauma in her childhood, which caused a very severe psychological illness that was never treated. And now, her condition is worsening."

He paused, then looked at Nina Wynn again and frowned. "The strange thing is, she would only answer questions about things before she was twelve. I couldn’t get anything out of her about the time after that. I’ve never seen anyone with such severe psychological defenses."

The coldness in Caleb Rhodes’s eyes grew deeper and deeper. In the end, seeing how awful Caleb’s expression had become, Jody Joyce had no choice but to stop for the time being.

"It’s too early to define anything right now. We’ll have to wait for her to wake up and run more tests."

Nina Wynn’s sleep was extremely restless. In the middle of the night, she started running a fever, tossing and turning, rolling about in bed. Her sweat soaked the sheets several times. It was as if something was violently ramming around inside her body, unable to get out, leaving her in agonizing distress.

Caleb Rhodes watched her like this. At first, he patiently used a wet towel to cool her down physically. But later, when he was changing her clothes for the fourth time, he saw she was drenched in sweat again, and the heat from her body was frightening to the touch. In a fit of desperate anger, he dragged the attending doctor and nurses over and made them stand there.

He didn’t yell at them. He just stood there, staring at them coldly. The sinister ferocity in his eyes and the terrifying chill emanating from him made everyone in the room tremble.

They had all heard of Master Rhodes’s reputation and his ruthless methods.

He had spent less than half a day negotiating the acquisition of this hospital before buying it outright for three times its market value.

Within a week, he had gathered numerous famous doctors from all over the country, most of them renowned specialists.

In less than a month, this once-obscure small private hospital had become one of the top ten in Elysian City. But strangely, the hospital was not fully open to the public.

At the very least, the department they were in now only accepted patients by appointment. Other than that, it was dedicated solely to serving this young lady.

Sometimes, the nurses would joke that this hospital was built by the Crown Prince specifically for the young lady in the bed.

At first, everyone thought it was just a joke. But later, when the Crown Prince converted the best part of the hospital into a private treatment room for the young lady and spent all day with her, almost treating the place like his home, they began to realize it might not be a joke after all.

This hospital was very likely this young lady’s private hospital.

Now, the young lady’s high fever wouldn’t break, and she was constantly thrashing in bed. The sight was frightening even for them to watch. No wonder the high and mighty Crown Prince had become so desperately furious.

Caleb Rhodes didn’t speak, so naturally, they didn’t dare to either. The entire room of people just stood there with him, drenched in cold sweat. The atmosphere was terrifyingly tense.