Chapter 116: Chapter 116: He’s Really Crazy

The young man and woman were startled too, staring blankly at Wyatt Shaw.

A corner of Wyatt Shaw’s mouth twitched. He shoved the wrench into the man’s hands and the hammer into the woman’s.

"It takes no skill to smash things and wreck a house. If you can manage to take each other out, now *that* would be impressive," he said, crossing his arms as if settling in to watch a good show.

The man, his pride wounded, pointed the wrench at Wyatt Shaw. "What’s our fight got to do with you?"

"What? You want to fight me?"

"As if! You think I’m scared of you?"

Wyatt Shaw scoffed, then moved in, slamming the man against the wall and wrapping a hand tightly around his throat.

The man was tall, about five-eleven, but he seemed small and weak in front of the six-foot-one Wyatt Shaw. He clearly had no fighting experience and was instantly subdued. He struggled, but couldn’t break free.

But Wyatt Shaw deliberately left the man’s wrench-wielding hand free. "Aren’t you so tough? Go on, hit me in the head with it!"

"You... you’re insane!"

"Do it!"

Wyatt Shaw’s face was menacing, and the man was too frightened to look at him.

The woman snapped out of it and moved to help, but a single glare from Wyatt Shaw froze her in place.

"You’ve got a hammer in your hand, don’t you? You can hit me with it, too!"

Tears streamed down the woman’s face as she shook her head. "I... I can’t."

Wyatt Shaw turned back to the man. "Did you sons of bitches see that the landlady is in a wheelchair and has a good temper, so you figured you could get away with anything? That you could just bully her?!"

"We’ll pay for the damages..."

"Triple? Five times? Ten times the cost?"

"What do you mean?"

"Before, you’ve always just paid for the original price of the items, right? What about labor costs? Cleanup fees? And then when it’s all fixed, you just smash it up again? Is that fun? Who do you think you’re messing with?"

The man pressed his lips together. "We won’t smash things again."

"We’ll pay, how about triple the cost?" The woman frantically looked for her wallet, only to realize her purse had been thrown downstairs. "Please, can you let him go? He can’t breathe."

Seeing the man’s face turning pale, the woman’s heart ached for him.

Yvonne Sutton, seeing the young couple was thoroughly terrified, went up and tugged on Wyatt Shaw’s arm.

"That’s enough. I’m sure they won’t do this again."

"Yes, yes! We won’t do it again."

The man and woman nodded vigorously.

Wyatt Shaw gave a cold snort and finally released the man.

"We don’t want triple compensation. We want you to personally clean up everything, inside and out, replace the glass, and repair what you’ve broken. You can leave when you’re done, and not a moment sooner."

The couple stopped fighting and obediently went to clean up.

The woman swept while the man carried things upstairs. When the woman cut her hand on a shard of glass, the man’s heart ached as he bandaged it for her, then took over the sweeping duties himself.

The woman bought bread and water, feeding the man a bite for every one she took herself. The intensity of their affection now was a direct match for the ferocity of their earlier fight.

’Love is freedom,’ Yvonne Sutton thought, ’but it also has restraints. It requires fairness, and even more, it requires effort from both sides. One person’s effort is a sacrifice; two people’s effort is a partnership built on love.’

That night, Yvonne Sutton once again slept on the bed, and Wyatt Shaw on the sofa.

Sounds from the room next door drifted in intermittently. At first, she could ignore them, but soon the woman’s voice grew high-pitched, and the man began to shout in excitement.

The walls were clearly not soundproof. Yvonne Sutton tried to cover her ears with a pillow, but the couple’s voices were so powerful they seemed to bore right into her eardrums.

She finally understood why Wyatt Shaw had been so dazed during the day. It was genuinely impossible to sleep through this.

On the sofa, Wyatt Shaw was clearly not asleep either. He tossed and turned a few times, then abruptly shot up and headed for the door.

Knowing what he was about to do, an uneasy Yvonne Sutton threw on some clothes and followed.

He knocked on the door across the hall—several loud, sharp raps. BANG! BANG! BANG!

"Who’s knocking? Did someone die or something in the middle of the night?" the man inside yelled.

Wyatt Shaw said through gritted teeth, "Could you try to be a little more considerate? Maybe think about the tenants next door?"

It was quiet inside for a moment. "Whoa, sounds like someone’s all fired up. You alone over there, buddy?"

"What’s that supposed to mean?"

"Means you didn’t bring a woman with you. Otherwise, you wouldn’t be so pent-up."

Enraged, Wyatt Shaw slammed his fist against the door a few more times. "You got the guts to come out here and say that to my face?"

"Heh, you think I’m scared...?"

The woman inside pulled the man back and shouted through the door, "Sir, I’m sorry! We’ll... we’ll be more careful from now on."

Since the woman had apologized, Yvonne Sutton quickly pulled Wyatt Shaw away.

Once she had pulled him back into their room, she couldn’t help chiding him. "Why are you so fired up today? You’re going to scare away all of Zoe Churchill’s tenants."

Wyatt Shaw raised an eyebrow. "You want to know why?"

"Why what?"

Before Yvonne Sutton could even react, Wyatt Shaw pulled her into his arms, pressing her hard against the door. He lowered his head, their bodies flush together, their breaths mingling.

"Now do you see why I’m so on edge?"

Yvonne Sutton could feel exactly what he meant and frantically tried to push him away.

"Wyatt Shaw, don’t... don’t be like this."

They hadn’t cleared the air between them, and she still hadn’t sorted out her own feelings.

Wyatt Shaw held back for a moment, but couldn’t stop himself. He lowered his head and kissed her.

Passion flared instantly, and they were lost in a long, tender kiss.

But at the critical moment, Yvonne Sutton pressed a hand to his chest to stop him. "Can you really tell the difference between me and Hannah Abbott?"

Her words were like a bucket of cold water dumped over Wyatt Shaw’s head. The fire in him died instantly. He gave Yvonne Sutton a tight hug, then went to the bathroom to take a cold shower.

Yvonne Sutton regretted the words as soon as they left her mouth. ’It’s as if Hannah Abbott isn’t just a hang-up for Wyatt Shaw,’ she thought, ’but she’s become one for me, too. And for me, that knot is tied even tighter.’

The next day, they went to the hospital after breakfast to relieve David Sutton.

When they reached the first-floor lobby, Yvonne Sutton told Wyatt Shaw to go on ahead. She was going to find Sandra Sutton to ask about Zoe Churchill’s condition and see if she could be sent home for bed rest.

The hospital was tiny. The first floor was for outpatient services, and the second floor housed the inpatient wards. There was no real distinction between outpatient doctors and attending physicians; they just went wherever they were needed.

As Yvonne Sutton headed toward the obstetrics and gynecology clinic, she saw that the door to the general clinic was open. There were no patients inside, just a middle-aged male doctor reading a book.

Hearing footsteps, he assumed a patient had arrived and adjusted his glasses, looking toward the doorway.

Yvonne Sutton recognized him at a glance—it was Sandra Sutton’s father. ’So he’s a doctor too,’ she realized.

Yvonne Sutton gave him a nod and continued on her way.

After taking a few steps, she sensed something and looked back. She saw the doctor staring at her, his face a mask of utter shock.

Yvonne Sutton faltered. "Uh, is something wrong?"

Mr. Sutton opened and closed his mouth several times, but no sound came out.

"I’m here to see Dr. Sandra Sutton," Yvonne Sutton explained, pointing toward the OB/GYN clinic up ahead.

"What’s... what’s your name?"

"Me?" Yvonne Sutton was baffled. "My name is Yvonne Sutton."

The words had barely left her mouth when the book slipped from the doctor’s grasp, the corner thudding heavily against the floor.

Seeing his strange reaction, Yvonne Sutton pressed her lips together and asked, "Do you... know me?"