When did Joshua Hughes become so pathetic?

She wanted to pull away his hand, but her struggle was utterly pointless. His hand was strong and powerful, no matter how many times she tried to resist and escape, each attempt ended in failure.

Avery Jane breathed heavily, surrounded by his presence, his musk more intense and overwhelming on her every nerve as he grew angry.

"He is my husband, what right do you have to demand I can’t think about him, or go see him? Such demands are simply inhumane." Avery Jane looked at Joshua Hughes, truly a bit terrified.

When he was angry, it was genuinely frightening, Avery Jane was utterly shaken, blurting out: "I can’t help it, I just think of him, he is my husband."

She couldn’t stand his unreasonable harassment; she shouldn’t have to endure any of it.

And yet he claimed he protected her. If not for her, how would the place Wenyard Cooper stayed get demolished?

How could Evelyn Yates and her mother possibly come to trouble her—all of this was caused by him.

Yet he thought she should be grateful to him, what a bastard.

Avery Jane was livid, biting her lip, yet she stubbornly held back from cursing him, though she wanted to yell at him, scold him harshly.

"Fine, great, everything I gave you, you don’t appreciate, right? You’ve got ambition, right? You want to work and earn money, right? I’ll help you fulfill it all."

Joshua Hughes’ terrifying gaze turned to her, listening to her insistence on needing him. His heart cracked into a thousand pieces, painfully bleeding, as he pulled her hand and headed for the door.

"What are you doing?" Avery Jane was frightened by his anger, but she couldn’t compete with his formidable strength, what was he going to do?

The fear seized Avery Jane’s mind, like icy venom snakes coursing throughout her body, he was chillingly void of any humanity unlike the warm body that had gently embraced her in the night.

Her tears fell more fiercely, her heart filled with fear about the day her freedom arrived, yet finding herself without wings to soar.

"Aren’t you full of ambition? Well, I want to see if ambition and dignity can protect your life."

Joshua Hughes pulled her into his arms, sensing her trembling fear.

He was going to toss her into darkness, waiting for her to plead with him.

More importantly, he wanted her to truly feel what life would be like without protection.

"Remember this, Avery Jane, everything you suffer from now on, you brought on yourself. I wanted to give you more comfort, but you refused. Your pride and stubbornness, without my protection, are utterly worthless and useless."

He spoke softly into her ear, each word piercing like a needle, entering her ears, the sound low and hoarse, yet it seemed to stab through her eardrum, causing unbearable pain.

Joshua Hughes was always the man at the highest point, accustomed to everyone’s obedience, women’s submission and compliance.

The thing he couldn’t tolerate most was deception, but she deceived him, knowing full well going there would displease him, yet still not willing to speak the truth.

Thus, Avery Jane touched his bottom line, making him determined to thoroughly teach this damn, audacious woman a lesson.

His stare and words made Avery Jane feel as though she had fallen into a deep, icy lake in winter.

Cold, bone-piercing water surged from all directions, entering her body through her ears, nostrils, and mouth, the chill and despair spreading all over. Her gaze was filled with horror, the peaceful days he spent with her vanished in the cold depths of his eyes, without a trace, without a sound.

"What exactly do you want?" His pupils radiated a chilling, penetrating cold as he slowly lowered his head, his sharp features imposing and overwhelming.

"I want you to know that your so-called faith is the most useless thing in the world."

He wanted to give her time to forget, but she remembered more fervently, so he would utterly destroy her faith.

Then he would rebuild on that faith’s ruins, her faith would only be him.