Chapter 631 An Unexpected Change
Lawrence's fingers slid down and gripped her wrist, almost lifting her off the ground. "You dare scheme against me? Do you really think I'd sleep with you just because you're on your period? I cherished you, but you don't care at all."
Winnie looked at his menacing face, her body trembling, but she sneered, her eyes cold. "Don't make me laugh. You spare me for six days during my period, and that's cherishing me? Lawrence, your male chauvinism is showing. No matter how despicable you are, it doesn't surprise me. You force me, and I just force myself! I rely on your 'affection' and 'flattery'? I don't see where you cherish me; I only feel your love is condescending. You treat me like a pet. I have no freedom, trapped here by you. You can sleep with me whenever you want. And I must get pregnant if you want. I can't resist at all; no matter how I resist, it's futile!" She accused, finally breaking down, her whole body shaking with anger.
Maybe the emotions she'd been holding in were too much. Her eyes reddened, and she screamed at him hysterically, "Take this perverted love to Ishara or Darcy! Every time you say you love me, I feel terrified. I've asked myself countless times. Why did I meet you? Why does someone as obsessive as you have to love me? This past month has been a living hell. When you took me to the beach, I thought many times that I might as well jump in and end it all. Once and for all."
Without Oscar and Sidney, she didn't want to live, nor did she have the courage to face the future.
But the thought of not being able to see Oscar, whom she missed so much, was unbearable. She felt the pain for her two sons. Lawrence was like an irredeemable demon. What would happen to them without her?
Therefore, she couldn't bring herself to die.
"You dare!" Lawrence's face turned pale, a hint of helplessness in his expression.
She longed for death.
In his terrified eyes, a vast darkness loomed, and he gritted his teeth as he warned, "Don't you dare think about it, not for a moment!"
Winnie's cutting words felt like salt rubbed into Lawrence's wounds.
She accused him of having a twisted love, expressing regret for ever meeting him. She described the past month as a living nightmare.
A surge of helpless absurdity flooded Lawrence's heart. He had believed, in fleeting moments over the past month, that she had found some solace in his company. Even when her resistance waned, he had mistaken it for acceptance of their circumstances. Now he realized that she was enduring a life worse than death with him, her misery a result of his own delusions.
The idea of Winnie planning to end her life and leave him behind filled Lawrence with unprecedented panic, prompting him to speak in a fit of rage without restraint.
"Winnie, the words I said to you long ago, I'll say them again. If you dare to take your own life, I will ensure your uncle, your cousin, your best friend, and all those you hold dear join you in the grave! I am not making empty promises."
Those were words he said to control her before he threw her into the sanatorium three years ago.
In Winnie's mind, old wounds were torn open, the pain laid bare, her hatred reaching its peak.
"You lunatic. You devil," she cursed him with equal intensity, "You've made my life a living hell, trapping me in a state where neither life nor death brings solace. I pray that one day you'll be abandoned by everyone, your family ruined, your company in shambles, and even your son won't forgive you! You have no mercy, tormenting me endlessly."
"I just wanted you to get pregnant. I just wanted you to come back to me, to be the Winnie who loved me!" he pleaded in agony.
Then he sneered coldly. "But I foolishly tried for a month, and you just pretended, watching me struggle in vain. You must have enjoyed your revenge. Winnie, no matter how viciously you curse me, one thing remains—I won't let you go."
Lawrence's eyes were red at the corners, a ghostly sorrow flickering deep within them. Suppressing the bitterness in his heart, he turned resolutely and said, "Since you didn't conceive this month, then we can do it next month. If one month isn't enough, then three months! I'll play with you to the end!"
"You're crazy." Winnie began to sob, her lower abdomen wracked with pain, and she crouched on the ground.
Lawrence's departing figure paused, and he called the butler, frowning as he demanded, "Get a maid up here to take care of Mrs. Anderson! Prepare some painkillers."
Then he left.
The room was filled with the inhospitable aftermath of their argument, and Winnie's curled-up, angry, and helpless figure remained.
Lawrence was heartbroken, clenching his teeth, her merciless curses echoing in his mind.
To be loathed to such an extent by the woman he loved, he truly had no solution left.
He had thought about letting her go, but the mere thought of her happily married to Rock made him feel like dying.
He would rather drag her into hell with him.
In the dead of night, Lawrence sat dazed on the terrace.
Before him were empty wine bottles, one after another.
The maid had just said that Winnie had cried herself to sleep.
A trace of helplessness crossed Lawrence's face. She was stubborn to the core yet physically fragile. He knew he had pressured her too much these days.
She was, after all, just a smart but deeply hurt woman.
Numbed by alcohol, he felt cold and empty. Staggering to his feet, he planned to sneak upstairs to check on her.
Just then, his phone on the table rang.
Lawrence rubbed his temples hard, his tired eyes lifting to see it was Bryan.
Usually, it was Jeremy who contacted him.
He instinctively frowned and answered the call, but before he could speak, Bryan's anxious voice came through.
"Mr. Rodriguez, something terrible has happened. A major company in Fantasyville, NexGen Innovations Company, suddenly released its latest chip. And their chip is identical to our EWM data! Worse still, all our EWM data in the lab is missing!"
"What did you say?" Lawrence asked, standing up abruptly, the wine glass in his hand crashing to the floor. He couldn't believe it. "The lab is personally overseen by Jeremy day and night. It's impossible for everything to be lost."
"Mr. Rodriguez." Bryan's voice was completely panicked, trembling. "Jeremy is missing."
"What?" The successive bad news left Lawrence utterly stunned, his cold eyes narrowing, "What happened? What on earth is going on in Trento City?"
"Ms. Smith and her daughter suddenly had an accident about three days ago, and Jeremy seemed to have left the lab for half a day. When he returned, he ran into Mr. Anday's son, Sean, in the lab. No one knows what happened, but Jeremy and Sean both left the lab at the same time and haven't been seen since. Sean returned today and he insisted that Jeremy stole all the EWM data, saying Jeremy was guilty and hiding!"