My First Love Died, Now My Step Uncle Wants Me-Chapter 162: Using Force

The sound of footsteps drew nearer. Panicked, Nina Wynn forcefully pried Hugh Chapman’s hand off her, shoved him away, and darted through the door.

The instant the small wooden door clicked shut, Caleb Rhodes’s figure appeared around the corner.

He was a tall man, and his presence at the entrance to the tiny hallway made the already narrow space feel suffocating.

Nina Wynn took a deep breath, walked over, and grabbed his hand. "Caleb, can we go back? I don’t feel well."

She had been out in the cold for a while, so her face was pale and her hands were ice-cold. She looked as weak and pitiful as if she had fallen ill again.

Caleb Rhodes frowned and touched her forehead. "Why are you so cold?"

Nina Wynn worried that Hugh Chapman might suddenly burst in. Her voice trembled with anxiety. "Caleb, I feel really sick. I want to go home. Can we please go home?"

Under the lights, her face was wan, her lips unnaturally pale. Caleb Rhodes thought she was truly unwell and moved to pick her up, but she dodged him. "No, there are people you know here."

With that, she hurried back to their table, gathered her things, and went to the counter to pay the bill. 𝘧𝓇ℯ𝑒𝓌𝑒𝑏𝓃𝘰𝘷𝘦𝘭.𝒸ℴ𝓂

Caleb Rhodes sensed something was off, but the sight of her pale face pushed his suspicions away.

As they reached the door, Nina Wynn couldn’t resist glancing back.

She saw Hugh Chapman standing motionless in the shadows of the corner, his eyes fixed on her.

He bore a slight resemblance to Evan Chapman, especially when he looked at her with that particular gaze. The similarity was uncanny.

A pang of misery shot through Nina Wynn’s heart.

But she didn’t dare hold his gaze for a second longer. She quickly turned and walked away without looking back.

By the time they returned to the courtyard house, Warner Zimmerman had already drawn a hot bath.

Caleb Rhodes carried Nina Wynn to the bathtub and carefully checked her for any injuries.

Halfway through his examination, the atmosphere shifted.

He claimed her again and again, his possession both forceful and tender. For once, she was not passive, responding to him with an unpracticed eagerness as they sank into passion together.

The weather grew colder, but the news cycle and public discourse were heating up.

Reboot Technologies had a change in ownership, carved up by several large corporations until nothing remained.

And that was only the beginning.

In a matter of days, all of the Joyce Group’s fixed assets were either mortgaged or confiscated. Even their ancestral home was put up for auction.

Someone spotted Dustin Joyce moving his entire family, young and old, into a dilapidated, low-rent house in the suburbs. They were struggling just to afford food.

Others saw Chloe Joyce, the eldest daughter of the Joyce Family, begging her former friends for help, only to be thrown out.

Then came sightings of Chloe Joyce in nightclubs, leaving with a different man each time.

In just a few days, the once-great Joyce Family had utterly collapsed, going from a magnificent mansion to a rundown bungalow.

People said the Joyces had offended the Rhodes Family to deserve such a fate.

Others claimed it was because the Joyce daughter had been unfaithful, cuckolding a member of the Finch Family, which led to their miserable downfall.

But that wasn’t the end of it.

A few days later, it was discovered that the Joyce Family had been involved in numerous illegal activities. Dustin Joyce and his family were all arrested and imprisoned.

Strangely, however, while the rest of the Joyce Family was incarcerated, Chloe Joyce remained free.

But her fate outside was worse than any prison sentence.

Every day, Chloe Joyce was hounded by various debt collectors. When she couldn’t escape, she paid them with her body.

Before long, the men grew tired of her and began devising new ways to torture her. She lived a life more wretched than a stray dog’s; it was utterly tragic.

No one could have imagined that the once-celebrated belle of Elysian City would meet such a bleak end.

But the gossiping public is never satisfied with just one scandal.

An even bigger scandal was slowly brewing.

Rumors began to circulate that the Lawson Family of Elysian City was under investigation by the authorities.

It all started when the family’s daughter, Ivy Lawson, was indiscreet in Aethelburg, openly hiring male escorts and partying wildly.

Later, her real social media account was leaked, and netizens were stunned by a feed filled with nothing but videos of her flaunting her wealth.

Luxury cars worth millions, priceless jewelry, and opulent mansions all featured prominently in her videos.

She also used a secondary account to trade insults with netizens, her every word reeking of the "Do you know who my father is?" brand of entitlement.

Within a short time, a massive number of netizens reported Ivy Lawson, demanding a thorough investigation into her family.

The Lawson Family was crushed by the weight of public opinion, and the authorities issued an official order for a full investigation.

A storm was gathering over the Lawson Family, and they were on the brink of collapse.

The only thing that could compete with these trending scandals was the meteoric rise of an entertainer named Alan Chapman. He took part in a talent competition, appeared on variety shows, and with his handsome looks and great voice, he amassed a huge following overnight, his popularity skyrocketing.

Time flew by. Another month or so passed, and Nina Wynn’s kitten was finally able to be with her again.

When she returned to Elysian City that afternoon, Nina Wynn brought the kitten with her.

She had not been home for long when something urgent came up in Aethelburg, forcing Caleb Rhodes to head back.

A few hours after Caleb Rhodes left, the Rhodes family’s butler, Mr. Chapman, came in.

"Miss Wynn, the Old Madam wishes to see you. And the Third Master wishes to see you as well."

The "Third Master" was Walter Rhodes. He was the third-born of his generation in the Rhodes Family and had been called Third Master since he was young. Later, people took to calling Caleb Rhodes, who was also the third-born of his generation, the "Third Lord Master."

Nina Wynn was in the living room petting her cat. When the Rhodes family’s butler came in to announce that members of the family wanted to see her, she had no idea what was happening and could only look to Warner Zimmerman.

Warner Zimmerman’s expression was placid. "Miss Wynn, you don’t have to go. The Third Lord Master said you don’t have to see anyone from the Rhodes Family."

Hearing this, Butler Chapman’s expression soured, and his tone hardened. "Miss Wynn has, after all, lived off the Rhodes Family for ten years. The Third Lord Master is also a Rhodes. Therefore, she hasn’t truly left the family. The food she eats and the things she uses are still provided by the Rhodeses. Now that the Old Madam and the Third Master wish to see her, it would be quite rude of her not to go."

Nina Wynn looked at him, her gaze turning cold. "Butler Chapman, you must have heard about the kind of life I led with the Rhodes Family. I think you can understand why I don’t wish to see them."

In everyone’s memory, Nina Wynn had always been a non-entity, someone whose voice was barely a whisper. Her sudden assertiveness greatly displeased Butler Chapman.

His tone became threatening. "Since that’s your attitude, Miss Wynn, don’t blame me for using force."

With that, he clapped his hands, and several fully armed guards entered. They were the very men who usually escorted Walter Rhodes.

Butler Chapman commanded coldly, "Take her!"

The guards immediately moved forward and seized Nina Wynn by the arms.

These men were all elite soldiers. Nina Wynn didn’t even have a chance to struggle before she was dragged into a car.

Warner Zimmerman tried to chase after them but was pinned to the spot.

By the time Warner Zimmerman managed to call Caleb Rhodes, Nina Wynn was already gone.