Female Novel
Chapter 209
Artemis lifted his gaze from the pile of documents before him and turned to look at the box clutched inhis secretary's hands. His brows slightly raised at the sight of the box.
“Hand it over.”
“Sure.”
After placing the box on the curved desk, the secretary retreated out of the office quietly.
Artemis did not rush to open the box. Instead, he texted Bailey first.
Artemis: Have you arrived at the pharmaceutical factory yet? Be careful on the way.
He managed to get a reply in just ten seconds.
Bailey: Veronique was beaten by her father yesterday. She's not doing so well. I'm going to go over andhave a look. Please pass the word to the people over at the pharmaceutical factory that I will only headthere in the afternoon.
Artemis reckoned that she was still driving. Hence, he did not reply to her text, fearing that he mightdistract her.
Then, he tossed his phone aside and picked up the exquisitely wrapped box.
He opened it up and saw that there was only a note written in rather neat handwriting inside.
It said: It is only befitting to marry one's savior. novelbin
Artemis took the handwritten note out of the box and turned it over.
As expected, there was the signature of the author of the note: Zoey Shurmer.
She was the eldest daughter of the Shurmer family, one of the Ten Acclaimed Socialites renownedworldwide, and a noble lady who was well-known for her elegant mannerisms.
Artemis' thin lips turned up slightly.
Then, he picked up his phone to browse for Zoey's number and sent a text to her.
Artemis: How are you doing overseas? Once again, thank you for saving my life back then, Ms.Shurmer. I am indebted to you for life. Also, I wish you may find someone whom you love and couldshare your life with.
After sending the text, he did not sit around to wait for Zoey's reply. Instead, he got up and went aroundthe desk to head out of the office.
At the same time, Dwayne came inside and bumped right into him.
“Where are you going?”
“The Revelle residence.”
Dwayne was rendered speechless.
He widened his eyes in disbelief at Artemis. Has he given up on Bailey? Is he pursuing the daughter ofthe Revelle family instead?
“Um, there are a few urgent documents that require your signature,” Dwayne said.
“You may sign it,” Artemis stated plainly.
“What the h*ll? Aren't you afraid that there will be some errors in the agreement that will incur billions oflosses to the company?” Dwayne groaned.
However, Artemis did not seem to pay heed to him and continued to head out of the office. His voicebecame more and more distant as he said, “Losing billions is a small price to pay when you finally getthe woman you are pursuing.”
Dwayne was speechless.
Is he really thinking to pursue Veronique? What the heck?
Meanwhile, in the infirmary of the Revelle residence, Bailey did a check-up on Zephyr.
“There's nothing wrong with you. You just need to take ample rest here. I've called Zayron on my wayhere. He's going to be here soon. It has been some time since you guys have seen each other. Whydon't the two of you take the time to catch up with each other?” Bailey suggested.
“Thank you, Bailey.”
Bailey reached out to pinch Zephyr's cheeks and smiled. “I'm going to take a look at your AuntVeronique at the ward next door.”
“Okay,” Zephyr said.
When Bailey entered Veronique's room, the latter was lying on the bed and spacing out.
“I know it all,” Bailey said as she made her way to Veronique's bedside.
“Hmm?” Veronique was a bit confused. “What have you found out?”
Bailey crouched by her bedside, grinned at Veronique, and said in a low voice, “Why are most of thewomen I know so silly? Why torment yourself for a man? Victoria is like this, and so is Shannon. Whydo you guys choose to do this to yourselves?”
Veronique managed a wry smile. “Artemis must have told you. He adores you. Of course, he would tellyou everything.”
Bailey rolled her eyes at the girl. “Don't mention him. Men are all the same. So, what are the two of youplanning to do next? Since your initial plan didn't work. Should you be honest with him now?”
“Be honest with him?” Veronique murmured. She shook her head and said, “Bay, I believe Artemismust have mentioned the Fletcher family to you.”
“Yes, he did. The Fletcher family is one of the most prominent families in the capital. They are sopowerful that the Revelle and the Xuereb families combined cannot rival the family. However, you've
given birth to Justin's child first. No matter how one looks at it, that Fletcher girl is the third wheel.”
Then, Bailey reached out to take Veronique's hand and added, “If you have the courage to face thesituation, I can help you out. No matter how powerful the Fletcher family is, I am not afraid of them.”
“I know you are not afraid of them,” Veronique said with a smile. “But, don't you have children of yourown too? Life is not going to be easy for your family if you offend the Fletcher family. Moreover, this willinadvertently put your children at risk. No matter how naive I am, I will never do something so selfish.”
“Vero, you don't need to concern yourself with that. I—”
Before Bailey could finish, Veronique caught hold of her arm and shook her head. “I can't let you riskoffending the Fletcher family. My father's whips made me realize that if this were to be Zephyr's fate, Icould only accept it and go with the flow. This is my choice to make. Just save the trouble of trying toconvince me otherwise.”
“Okay,” Bailey replied in a heartbeat. “I'm not going to stop you then. So, how did you get pregnant withJustin's child back then?”
Veronique went quiet.
After about five minutes, Veronique finally parted her lips to say, “If I said that he raped me back then,would you believe me?”
Bailey was stumped.
“You...”
Veronique smiled dryly. “Well, that is the truth. It happened back in Pontotium. Artemis brought Justinand Dwayne for a business meeting with an underground gang. Nevertheless, they fell into a trap andwere in a perilous situation. Dwayne protected Artemis at all costs, while Justin was left behind to holdback the thugs. However, he was caught in the end.”
She paused right then and did not continue.
Shrewd as Bailey was, she could already guess what happened next.
“You were madly in love with Justin back then. So, you must have rushed to Pontotium to save himwhen you got hold of his news,” Bailey said.
Veronique battled with herself for some time before she finally removed her clothes.
Her waist immediately caught Bailey's eyes, especially the jarring teeth marks on it.
“T-This—”
“This is from a tiger's bite,” Veronique said in a hoarse voice. “Those sick b*stards locked Justin in acage and dumped him at the beach. They also locked a few tigers inside the cage with him anddrugged Justin and the tigers with the strongest drugs.”
Veronique started to shake uncontrollably.
Bailey could already imagine what happened next. She hugged Veronique in an attempt the soothe her.“It's all in the past now. Don't be afraid.”
It took a few minutes before Veronique could finally calm down.
“If I had not made it in time, Justin would have lost his life. Even if he did survive, he would have beencrippled for life,” she stated in a flat tone. “He had lost all rationale when I saved him from the tigers. Nomatter how hard I tried to struggle, he paid no heed to me and forced himself onto me right then andthere on the beach. I know... I know he doesn't like me. He wants to marry the Fletcher girl. So, afterthe incident, I asked someone to take care of him and came back here all alone.”
She continued, “After a month, I realized that I was pregnant. You, of all people, should know that mybody would not allow abortion. I would risk my fertility if I chose to abort the child. Besides, my fathercould not bear to see me suffer the loss of the child too. Hence, after discussing with my sister andbrother-in-law, they've decided to announce to everyone that my sister is pregnant instead.”