My First Love Died, Now My Step Uncle Wants Me-Chapter 104: A Forceful Embrace

Caleb Rhodes froze for a moment, a barely perceptible hint of softness in his eyes.

He raised a hand and ruffled her hair, his voice as cold and deep as ever. "Finished with the cake?"

Nina Wynn buried her face in his chest, her hands tightly clutching his shirt. Her voice was muffled. "Uncle, I don’t want to be here anymore."

In Caleb Rhodes’s eyes, Nina Wynn was the type to endure things silently and rarely show her true feelings. For her to act like this today, something must have happened.

His brow furrowed slightly. "What’s wrong?"

Nina wrapped her arms tightly around his waist, her face buried in his shirt. Her breathing seemed a little unsteady.

After a long moment, she said in a muffled voice, "Crystal Rhodes is coming to pick out a gift."

Caleb Rhodes frowned.

The call he had just received was from Leo Rhodes.

Somehow, Crystal had found out that he and Nina were here shopping. She had thrown a huge tantrum at home, smashing many things, and was now on her way over, claiming she wanted to help pick out a birthday gift for the old madam’s upcoming birthday.

Of course, he had no intention of dealing with Crystal’s affairs anymore.

But because of Lana Shaw’s miscarriage, he had made some compromises, so he had tacitly approved of Crystal coming over.

A few days ago, Lana Shaw had insisted that Nina Wynn had pushed her, causing the miscarriage. Crystal Rhodes and Ivy Lawson both swore they had seen Nina do it with their own eyes.

The three of them were united, determined to send Nina to prison.

Furthermore, the miscarried fetus was a five-month-old, fully-formed baby boy. This sent Leo Rhodes into a rage, and he swore to hold Nina accountable.

Caleb Rhodes’s stance on the matter was, naturally, just as firm.

The Nash Group’s hundred-person legal team was ready, poised to protect one of their own to the very end.

For those few days, the two brothers were at loggerheads, and the Rhodes Family was in chaos.

Walter Rhodes was furious over this. He called the two brothers together, gave them each a harsh scolding, and finally forced them both to back down.

But backing down came at a price.

Walter Rhodes would no longer hold Nina responsible, but in return, Caleb could not, for the time being, stop his investment in and support of Crystal Rhodes and Zyler Rhodes. 𝒇𝒓𝙚𝒆𝔀𝓮𝓫𝒏𝓸𝙫𝓮𝓵.𝓬𝙤𝙢

So, Crystal’s credit card was now restored, and everything seemed to have returned to square one.

He gently patted Nina’s back, his eyes turning cold and dark. He said in a low voice, "We won’t run into her. If Nina’s tired, we’ll go home."

Nina kept her head buried in his chest, refusing to look up. She mumbled, "But you said you wouldn’t buy her a gift."

Caleb lifted her up and gave her a quick kiss on the lips. "Is Nina feeling jealous?" he asked in a low voice.

Nina turned her face away and bit her lip. After a long moment, she said in a tiny voice, "You broke your promise!"

As he carried her toward the elevator, Caleb said in a deep voice, "She won’t be able to pick a single thing today. Her credit card has been restored, but it has a limit. From now on, any charge over ten thousand will require my personal signature."

He paused, then said coldly, "She doesn’t have the guts to come to me for a signature."

Caleb wasn’t a man of many words, but his meaning was crystal clear. Crystal’s finances were, for all intents and purposes, frozen.

The young lady had been draped in luxury since birth, using only top-tier brands. Even a casual meal could cost over ten thousand. How could anything under that price possibly catch her eye now?

Besides, this shopping center was almost exclusively high-end luxury brands; even a hair tie cost several thousand. The young lady probably wouldn’t be able to choose a single thing.

Nina could almost picture Crystal’s furious expression when she inevitably failed to pick anything out.

She said no more, burying her head in Caleb’s shoulder and letting him carry her into the elevator.

When they reached the parking garage, Caleb’s phone rang before he could get in the car.

He answered, said a few words, and walked around to another car.

Nina stood by their car door, waiting for him.

Two minutes later, a black SUV screeched to a halt in the adjacent parking spot. Three young men got out.

They all looked to be in their mid-twenties and had a thuggish air about them. One was even shirtless in the dead of winter.

The three of them were swearing as they got out of the car.

Nina glanced at them once, then froze as if in a trance. She stared at them fixedly, her hands clenched into tight fists, her palms slick with sweat.

After a moment, she slowly reached into her small purse and pulled out the little Swiss army knife she had just bought.

’These three men... I saw them when I gave my statement after Evan Chapman’s death!’

’I’ll never forget their faces from back then—contemptuous, disdainful, without a shred of remorse.’

’It was as if, to them, killing Evan Chapman was no different from crushing an ant.’

’Evan Chapman was dead. Why are these men out walking around freely after just a few years in prison?’

Her mind buzzed. The image of Evan Chapman’s mangled, bloody body at the time of his death filled her vision, and she seemed to lose all ability to think.

The three men quickly shut their car doors and walked off, talking and laughing.

As they walked, Nina followed. The Swiss army knife in her hand was now open—she didn’t know when—and blood was dripping from it.

She had only taken a few steps when Willson Lawson, who had been waiting in a nearby car, noticed something was wrong. He rushed out and grabbed her.

"Miss Wynn, where are you going?"

Nina stared fixedly at the three men and said robotically, "They’re bad people!"

Just then, Caleb Rhodes returned. Seeing the blank stare in Nina’s eyes, he frowned and reached out to pull her back, only for his hand to touch a sticky liquid.

He looked down and saw that Nina was clutching the small, diamond-encrusted Swiss army knife they had just bought.

The blade was extended, and she was gripping the sharp edge. Blood dripped from her lacerated palm.

A deep gloom flashed in his eyes. "Nina, let go," he said gravely. "This knife is too sharp."

Nina didn’t seem to hear him, her eyes fixed on the backs of the three men.

Caleb pried her soft fingers open one by one.

She was surprisingly strong and refused to let go. By the time Caleb managed to get the knife out of her hand, he saw a deep gash sliced across her palm, with blood pouring out.

But she seemed to feel no pain at all, simply staring at the three men without moving.

Caleb felt as if someone had grabbed his heart and yanked it outward—a dull, painful, suffocating sensation.

The cold darkness in his eyes deepened, taking on a reddish tint. He looked up sharply at the three men.

As it happened, the three men turned back at that exact moment. The instant they saw Caleb, they were startled by his powerful aura and ruthless gaze.

One of them, defiant, muttered a curse, but was immediately pulled away by the other two, and they quickly left.

Just then, Willson Lawson said in a low voice, "Third Lord Master, there’s no need for you to personally deal with such scum. It would dirty your hands."

Seeing them leave, Nina seemed to want to chase after them, but Caleb held her tightly in his arms, stopping her.