Master, Spare Me Please!

Chapter 13 Jason, I can live WITHOUT you

For three days and nights, Abby was locked in her room. Her phone was not with her, so she couldn't get in touch with anyone.

The first day was okay; but it got worse after that.

The cold tap water wasn't doing her stomach any good; she only drank it when she needed to quench her thirst. Tissues became her food source; she chewed it and swallowed it down. And she had the pills to handle the pain.

To save energy, she lied in bed all day. After the strike of waves of cold sweat, her face turned pale, almost half transparent now, like a delicate and fragile piece of china.

Abby didn't know time could crawl by so slowly; these three days felt like three centuries. Especially at night, everything felt so still in the darkness, including time.

She closed her eyes, trying to shut out the pain. Her head was spinning and feeling funny. Remembering what the doctor said about cancer patients' being more susceptible to fever, she lifted her hand to feel her forehead. And the doctor was right. It felt hot.

His eyes were aching from dryness; she tried to close them and drift into sleep, but only in vain. She could feel her mind getting dull, like a worn-out piece of machine, rusty and slow.

The only thing holding her together was the hope that she could get out after three days, like Jason said.

But how long did she still need to wait, before that moment could finally arrive?

She curled herself further under the sheets. She felt cold, especially her feet; she couldn't seem to warm them up. How strange and unfair that woman should have a harder time than man warming themselves up in cold weather.

Abby felt a gnawing pain in her stomach. All of her organs felt this pain, as if something was eating her from within. She clenched her teeth to fight again it.

……

When Abby was fighting against cancer alone in her bedroom, the whole world had turned upside down.

Sunny Group encountered its worst crisis. There was a dramastic fall of its stock prices; and its president, Abby Sunny's disappearance caused panic among its employees.

Carl Sunny also got himself into trouble. The real estate project he invested in turned out to be a coal mine. The mine collasped from within, leaving 32 workers buried alive, 7 dead, 15 severely injured, and 10 minorly injured.

Illegal mining coupled with the loss of human lives, Carl could be facing life imprisionment or worse, death sentence. Not even the wealth of entire Sunny Group could save him.

And Abby, the former rich young lady of the Sunny family, was now reduced to the title of "the criminal's daughter", and much cursed on the Internet.

Within a day, this incident was everywhere in the headlines. Everything was ready, now Jason just needed to fetch Abby, and let her watch the show.

The judgment would be given today at 10 o'clock. He wanted Abby to be there to witness it; he wanted to see the look on her face when her own father was sentenced to death.

He said he would let Abby out after three days, but it was already 7 o'clock on the fourth day's morning when he finally came for her.

He was in a good mood; there was a crooked smile around the corners of his lips as he drove to the villa.

Jason entered the villa and headed towards Abby's bedroom. The villa was empty and quiet, as if no one had ever lived here.

The clattering of the keys sounded across the hall. Jason took his time to find the key for this bedroom.

He aimed it at the keyhole and opened the door with a click. Then he walked in.

The room was semi-dark. All the curtains were drawn, blocked every ray of of sunlight. He looked around, and found Abby at the corner of the bed, curling up.

He turned on the light, causing her form to tremble.

His brows knitted together. What was she doing? Why wasn't she responding?

"Abby Sunny." Jason walked over and took the sheets away from her before throwing them aside. Having been locked up for almost four days, Abby looked pallid and gaunt. Her lips were blue with cold, looking fragil and helpless.

Jason had never seen her like this. He didn't know why, but he felt his heart clench, and it hurt.

"Get up! I know you're alive!" He reached out to yank her arm, but the minute their skin made contact, he found her body was icy cold.

In a moment of panic, Jason bent down and scooped Abby up in his arms. Her body felt so much lighter than three days ago. He didn't know one could lose so much weight in three days.

He felt like he was carrying a baby, light and without effort, except that it was far from soft.

Feeling the dazzling sunlight on her, Abby's eyes fluttered opened. Her beautiful eyes couldn't seem to focus; they looked dull and lifeless.

She made it.

Abby looked up, and her eyes travelled to Jason's sharp jawline, his thin and attractive lips, his straight nose, and his stunningly black eyes.

The tears that she had been holding back for three days streamed down her cheeks out of the simple joy of being alive. Jason looked down, and saw Abby staring at him through blurry eyes.

She used to do that a lot, staring at him with so much affection. Jason used to find it disgusting. But now, when he looked into her eyes and only saw an abyss of darkness, the affection no where to be found, he felt his heart drop, as if his heart just grew heavier and heavier until he could no longer handle it.

Severely dehydrated, and her whole body aching from cancer, Abby looked like a withering flower petal. She asked in a hoarse and weak voice: "Where are you taking me?"

Jason had reached the parking lot: "Hospital."

"No. I'm not going there." She didn't like it there. For her, hospital was the beginning of everything tragic. Her mom died in there. And if she went to hospital with Jason, he would find out about her cancer.

Jason gave her a cold glare: "Death wish?"

No. Not a death wish. I WAS dying. A few coughs rekindled the pain in her stomach; she held her hand to it, trying in vain to ease it, and said in a shaky voice: "I want... I want a divorce."

"A divorce?"

Jason locked his piercing eyes with hers. There was something in his eyes that made Abby tremble with fear.

Abby's throat was a bit dry. She questioned him: "Why not? I can live WITHOUT you. You locked me up for four days, and yet I'm still alive."

Jason pursed his lips into a thin line. He had wanted to take her to the hospital. But seeing that she still had the energy to challenge him, he changed his mind.

"Good. Then we're going someplace else."

He opened the door before thrusting her roughly in. Abby's head hit the steering wheel, causing a throbbing pain.

Jason slammed the door with such force that the whole vehicle was shaking.

Abby curled up in the passenger seat, her brows furrowing from the gnawing pain throughout her whole body.

Jason leaned over and fastened her seat belt before speeding the car off.

Abby had no idea where he was taking her. But she grew up in this place, and soon she recognized the route.

He was taking her to criminal court?

Why would he do that? Did he want to sue her for the divorce? But in that case, they should be in a civil court.

Abby's mind was too heavy to figure this out.

She looked out the window and stared at the dark clouds; they looked heavy, vast, and pressing down.

Jason pulled over in front of a restaurant. He needed to get something in her system, so that she could have the energy to watch the show. He locked the door before when he got off.

Abby smiled sadly to herself. Locking the door was really unnecessary: she didn't have the strength to run away even if she wanted to.

Her eyes dazed off. She didn't even notice it when Jason came back with a paper cup of soup.

Jason handed it to her and ordered: "Eat."

Abby held it with both hands, feeling its warmth. Putting the straw in her mouth, she took a sip, her movement a bit stiff.

It was the best soup she had ever tasted; it warmed her hands, and warmed her insides.

Her visions became blurred with tears. Abby sniffed, and mentally scolded herself: "Abby Sunny, don't you dare feel moved! Did you forget it was he who locked you up for four days, and didn't check for once if you were still alive? Did you forget all the insults, scorns, did you forget how he trampled on your heart, like it was nothing?"

But he was Jason Lewis; the Jason Lewis she had loved for 16 years... and she was Abby Sunny, the cheap girl whose heart was stolen by him, with a stick of sugarcoated hawthorn berries, many many years go.

Her stomach was having an upset from the tissues she forced in there these four days; it wasn't prepared for the hot soup. Abby gagged and quickly covered her mouth to stop herself from throwing up.

Jason shot a glance at her: "What, the soup doesn't suit your taste?" There was sarcasm in his tone.

Abby forced whatever was in her mouth down; her mouth reeked of acids. She didn't dare open it, for fear of throwing up again.

But it hurt so much...

She leaned back, and closed her eyes.

The soup in her hand was getting cold. Jason didn't even ask her if she was okay.

She held the soup to her chest, but being cold itself, it couldn't warm her again.

Jason parked the car in the parking lot of the court.

Abby reached out to push the door, but it wouldn't open. Impatient, Jason opened it for her, and dragged her out.

"Useless!"

Abby pursed her lips and didn't speak.

Jason took the cup of soup from her and threw it in the trash bin.

Abby followed his movement with her eyes. She lowered her head again before he returned, her long hair half covering her face, and her emotions unreadable.

There were a lot of people at the gate of the court, all coming here to witness the judgment. The police had to park dozens of cars to stop them from flooding in.

Abby's heart dropped. She saw police and reporters everywhere.

She didn't have the strength to walk. Jason put his arm around her waist to drag her along. One would think they were couples from this gesture.

Some recognized Abby from the news, and shooted some insults at her.

They were too faw away for Abby to catch it. But she heard one thing.

"You own father is facing death penalty, and you have the shame to sleep around, sl*tty who*e!"

At these words, Abby's strength seemed to be taken away. She would have collasped on the ground had Jason not been holding her.

She looked up at Jason, her movement stiff like a puppet. She saw a sneer around the corners of his mouth, and the coldness in his eyes, something she could never figure out.

"Why are we here?" Abby asked, her tone almost begging and desperate. She had a suspicion. But she dare not think about it; the mere thought of it made her sick.

"You'll find out after we get in, my love." Jason smiled dangerously.

"No, I'm not going in! Let me go Jason! I'm not going in. I want to go home!!!"

She struggled to break free of him, fear evident in her eyes. No, not fear, but terror, the terror of anticipating a death sentence, a personal hell customized for her.

"Looks like someone catch on." Jason tightened his grip on her waist, and walked even faster, dragging her along. He whispered into her ear with a sneer: "It's a bit too soon for you to break, don't think? There'll be benches inside, why don't you lose it there?"