A Reborn Bride Pearl Emerging from Dust

She was just about to speak when a booming, icy voice suddenly echoed from outside the door.

"What's this? Is my wife your housekeeper or your nurse now? You expect her to stick around here and look after Horatio day and night?" Was the surgery she did for him not enough?"

"My wife sleeps in our bed at night. Or are you all planning to keep me company instead?"

No one even saw when Silas showed up. He just barged right in. He had the kind of striking, almost devilish looks that made people nervous, and the kind of presence that made the whole room tense up as soon as his eyes swept over them.

He didn't need to do much, just a few words, and the pressure in the room was suffocating. Everyone was dead silent. Zelda and the others instinctively took a few steps back.

"If you're not satisfied with what my wife did during the surgery, I can break his legs right now and make sure he never walks again."

As Silas spoke, Fagan handed him a mop handle like it was the most natural thing in the world.

Silas strode right toward the hospital bed.

"No, wait!" Zelda shrieked, throwing herself in front of Horatio. She shot Calliope a furious look. "Calliope, are you just going to let your husband do this?"

"He's not wrong," Calliope replied coolly from across the room. "If you're not happy with the surgery, we can just pretend it never happened. Let him lose the legs. You can take him home after."

"Callie, that's too much. He's your brother!" Lisette protested, her brow furrowed.

"He's always been good to you. Why don't you break them for him instead?" Calliope shot back with a crazy glint in her eye.

"Calliope, have you lost your mind?" Valerian snapped, quickly stepping in front of Lisette protectively. He glared at Calliope. "We haven't done anything to you. We were just asking if you'd be willing to help out. If you don't want to, you don't have to. Are we supposed to force you?"

"Asking'?" Calliope chuckled, giving Valerian a look that made him drop his gaze. "I've never seen anyone ask like that. Sounds a lot like emotional blackmail to me."

Silas turned to Zelda. "So? You don't want me breaking his legs, but you want me to play nurse instead?"

Even Zelda could tell he was being sarcastic. She shook her head frantically. "N-no, that won't be necessary! We'll take care of him ourselves!"

She turned to Calliope, forcing a smile. "Callie, we were just joking around. No need to get so worked up, right?"

Calliope shrugged. “We were just

joking too. But if you keep pushing

me next time I'll just sell your

company out from under you Let's see how you like that, huh?"

She gave them a sweet little smile that made everyone's blood run cold.

Zelda stared at her in disbelief. Monty and the others looked visibly rattled. Nobody could tell if Calliope

waerous or just messing with

them.

After a long, tense pause, Calliope said, "Why are you all acting so stiff? It was

just a joke. Isn't that what you guys love?"

Monty and the others exhaled in relief. They'd definitely been shaken up.

Silas returned to Calliope's side, his gaze chilly. "Do you still need my wife to play nurse?"

Nobody dared say a word. They all shook their heads, fast.

"My wife's tired. I'm taking her home."

With that, Silas led Calliope out the door.noveldrama

But he still left Damien and a couple others at the hospital. Not to help take care of Horatio, of course, just to keep an eye on the Jewell family and make sure they didn't try anything funny.