Chapter 42: Are You a Mosquito?

Anna blinked her eyes open, her gaze clear and steady, locking onto his with a serious look. "I never get jealous."

Next morning.

Anna got jolted awake by her alarm, fumbling around to shut it off.

Charles was leaning against the bathroom door when she was getting ready for work, looking totally chill, no jealousy or anger in sight. He watched Anna, who was gritting her teeth, with a smirk.

"Charles!" Anna snapped, trying to keep her cool but failing. "Look at what you did! I can't even hide it!"

Charles didn't look the least bit guilty. He strolled over, wrapped his arms around her waist, and, ignoring her angry glare, kissed the marks on her neck.

"Don't be mad, Anya," he said, all casual.

"Get off!" She shoved him away hard.

Charles let her go, no fuss.

After freshening up, Anna spent ages trying to cover the marks with concealer, but it was no use. Charles had gone too hard; no amount of makeup could hide it.

Frustrated, Anna tossed the concealer aside, thinking about using band-aids.

'If I use band-aids, I'll need like a dozen. That'll look even worse.'

She ditched the idea.

Anna picked a high-necked shirt from her closet, which barely covered most of the marks.

But Charles had left them in such tricky spots. Even with the top button done up, three or four kiss marks were still peeking out. No matter what she did, she couldn't hide them all, and her frustration grew.

"Charles, are you a mosquito? Did you have to suck on my neck so hard?" she snapped.

Charles knew he had gone overboard last night and, with a sheepish grin, admitted, "Yeah, I am."

After Anna left for work, Charles headed to the parking lot and tossed the lipstick he had bought yesterday into the trash. Smelling the lingering perfume in the car, Charles frowned and called Henry to get the car cleaned.

When Henry showed up, catching a whiff of the perfume in the Koenigsegg and seeing Charles looking awkward by the flower bed, he said, "Mr. Percy, you really need to chill and stop getting so jealous."

Who would've thought Charles would buy lipstick and spray perfume to make it seem like another woman had been in his car, just to make Anna jealous?

And last time, when Tina came back to Crystal City, Charles caused a huge scene just to make Anna jealous. Even Alice got involved.

To this day, Henry avoided the Percy family house. Because Alice would chew him out every time she saw him.

"Get lost, now!" Charles tossed the keys to him and headed back inside.

Henry caught the keys and, looking at Charles's back, quickly asked, "Mr. Percy, you heading to Radiant Life Hospital today?"

"No," he replied coldly. "Who likes being jealous?"

So, the jealousy was still simmering.

Meanwhile, Anna had just reached the third floor of the emergency department. She was about to head to room 308 when she bumped into Michael at the stairway corner.

She hesitated for a split second, then kept walking.

Michael was about to stop her when he noticed the marks on her neck that she couldn't hide. His eyes narrowed sharply.

Almost instinctively, he grabbed Anna's wrist and yanked her into the nearby stairwell.

At the same time, on the second-floor stairway, Ethan spotted Anna from a distance and was about to catch up to say hi. Before he could call out, he saw Michael dragging Anna into the stairwell.

Ethan was stunned for a moment, then quickly reacted. He instinctively pulled out his phone and started a video call with Charles.

He turned the phone volume to the lowest, quietly walked up to the third floor, and found a spot that was neither too far nor too close. He could see Michael and Anna clearly without being noticed.

Two seconds later, Charles answered. Just as he was about to speak, the video screen shook and focused on the quiet stairway corner.

Ethan signaled him to stay silent.

In the video, Michael roughly pinned Anna against the wall, his eyes blazing with uncontrollable rage. He tried to yank open her collar, but Anna clutched it tightly, stopping him.

In the struggle, Michael had already seen the red marks on her neck clearly. "Anna, you're so cheap! Anyone can have you?"

Michael had never spoken to Anna like this before. Even two weeks ago, when he dropped his nice-guy act and spoke bluntly to Anna, he hadn't acted this way.

Anna bit her lip, holding back her emotions, and looked up with a sarcastic smile. "He's my husband. What right do you have to say this to me?"

Michael couldn't handle her coldness right now. Before this, he was the closest person to her. He was the one she always said she wanted to spend her life with.

Even two weeks ago, when she married Charles, Michael wasn't this furious. In his mind, Anna was always strict about relationships. She would never let someone she didn't like touch her.

He always thought her marriage to Charles was just for show.

Michael clenched his fists tightly. The anger in his eyes looked like it could tear her apart.

"Anna, don't forget, the one who stayed by your side for eight years, shielding you from everything and watching you grow, was me!"