My First Love Died, Now My Step Uncle Wants Me-Chapter 99: Caleb Rhodes, I’m in Pain

The snow fell harder and harder.

Soon, Nina Wynn was covered in a layer of white.

She closed her eyes, letting the snowflakes fall on her, feeling the warmth slowly seeping from her body.

’They say snow is the purest thing. If I die in the snow, will I become a little purer, too?’

She lay motionless in the snow, as if all life had already left her.

After some time, the rhythmic crunch of heavy footsteps approached, accompanied by several bright beams of light.

Through the blizzard, Caleb Rhodes and a few men moved quickly from the main gate.

The snow was heavy. In the short distance from the gate, his hair and shoulders were already dusted with flakes.

When he saw the person lying before the tombstone, his entire body trembled.

His face had never been so ashen. And he had never prayed to any god or buddha before now.

He begged them, begged for his girl to have even a trace of warmth left in her.

He walked over slowly and knelt, gently touching Nina Wynn’s face.

Her soft face, covered by a thin layer of snow, was nearly devoid of warmth.

A wave of anguish so sharp it stole his voice surged from his heart. "Nina Wynn!"

The name "Nina Wynn" was a seed planted in his heart when he was just a boy. As she grew, day by day, that seed took root and sprouted, eventually growing into a massive vine that was now deeply embedded in his flesh and blood.

To pull it out now was nearly impossible!

He brushed the snow off her body, gathered her up, and wrapped her in his overcoat.

The warmth of his body brought a flicker of life back to Nina Wynn. She knew who it was. She knew he would come.

But she felt it didn’t matter whether he came or not.

’I won’t die. Heaven doesn’t take people like me so easily.’

Caleb Rhodes held her tightly, with enough force to crush her into his very bones.

When he felt her stir, he called her name, his voice hoarse. "Nina!"

Nina Wynn’s voice was a mere whisper. "Caleb Rhodes, you’re here..."

Caleb hugged her, wishing he could meld her into his own flesh and blood. His voice was raw. "I’m here."

Nina’s voice sounded like it could break at any moment—faint and fractured. "Caleb Rhodes, it hurts so much..." 𝚏𝗿𝗲𝐞𝚠𝕖𝐛𝗻𝗼𝐯𝕖𝚕.𝚌𝗼𝗺

Caleb stood up and started walking, his steps unsteady in the heavy snow as he carried her.

He clutched her small, frail body tightly and said in a low voice, "I know."

Nina gently gripped the fabric of his shirt. Her voice sounded like she was crying. "My heart hurts. It’s like there’s a huge hole in it, and the pain is unbearable."

Caleb murmured, "It will get better. One day, it won’t hurt anymore."

Nina was exhausted. She felt so cold and wanted to sleep, but the pain in her chest kept her awake.

She tugged at Caleb’s clothes and said softly, "Caleb Rhodes, I don’t have a mother. She didn’t want me!"

Caleb didn’t speak, only held her tighter.

Nina added, "I don’t have a father either. He didn’t want me. Nobody wants me!"

As the blizzard raged, her voice grew weaker. "No one wants me..."

Caleb pressed her forcefully into his chest, his voice so ragged it nearly broke. "You have me."

’But you’re part of the Rhodes Family!’ Nina wanted to scream the words, but she had no strength left. Even the hand gripping his clothes slowly fell away.

It was only a few hundred meters, but as Caleb carried Nina, it felt like an eternity.

The woman in his arms was so light, so small, her body nearly cold.

His chest ached so much he could barely breathe. He felt she was doing this on purpose—trying to make him die of a broken heart!

He said in a low voice, "Nina Wynn, if you’re going to torture me like this, you’ll have to spend the rest of your life making it up to me."

This was a dead end, a path of no return. And from the very beginning, there had been no way to turn back.

After what felt like centuries, Caleb finally carried Nina back to the car.

In the light, her face was deathly pale, and her body temperature was frighteningly low.

Caleb wrapped her tightly in a blanket, cranked the car’s heater to the max, and then took off his own coat to press her against his body, trying to transfer his warmth to her.

Willson Lawson drove, glancing at the back seat from time to time in the rearview mirror.

’He felt that the Third Lord Master, whom he had always held on a pedestal, had finally fallen.’

’Sooner or later, this girl is going to be the death of him!’

When they arrived at the hospital, the doctor frowned, uttered a terse, "Hypothermia is incredibly dangerous," and wheeled Nina into the emergency room.

Caleb stood outside the emergency room for a long, long time.

He only snapped out of it when Nina was finally wheeled out.

This time, Nina Wynn was gravely ill.

The combination of hypothermia, severe psychological trauma, and a body that hadn’t fully recovered from her car accident—these three factors nearly cost her her life.

Within a month, tens of millions worth of state-of-the-art equipment was brought into the small private hospital.

Top experts from home and abroad were frequently flown in on private jets to stay for a few days.

Gradually, rumors began to circulate.

Some said the hospital was housing an incredibly important foreign dignitary who was seriously ill and had come seeking traditional Chinese medicine.

Others claimed a political figure was staying there, given that the Rhodes Family’s Third Lord Master was often seen on the premises.

There were even rumors that Master Rhodes’s lover, Rosalind Lowell, was in poor health, so the Third Lord Master had bought the entire hospital for her to recuperate in.

But rumors were just rumors. After a month of being the talk of Elysian City, the gossip slowly died down.

By the time the rumors had faded, Nina Wynn was finally well enough to go outside.

Over the past month, her hospital room had practically been turned into a hothouse.

Caleb seemed to have developed a severe trauma from seeing her freeze in the snow. He barely let her leave the room and wouldn’t allow her to be exposed to the slightest draft.

Not only had multiple new heaters been installed in her room, but the windows were also sealed tight. They were never to be opened, except for brief moments of ventilation.

One time, a nurse forgot to close the door after entering for a check-up, just as Caleb was returning.

He saw the open door and Nina sitting on the bed in just a knit sweater. He walked over, took her hand, and felt how cold it was—ice-cold!

His face darkened instantly.

The next day, that nurse and her entire team were sent home, packing their things in tears.

After that, two air purifiers were installed in Nina’s room, running 24/7. No one dared to casually open the door or windows again.

Nina was forbidden from going out or even stepping onto the balcony. On the rare occasion she was given permission, Caleb would personally accompany her. They would walk in the small garden downstairs for a short while at most before he would forcibly carry her back upstairs.

So, when she was finally discharged from the hospital, Nina felt an unprecedented sense of relief.

After her discharge, Caleb’s surveillance seemed to loosen slightly.

During breakfast one morning, Nina suggested she’d like to go for a walk outside.

She had been terribly cooped up in the hospital. As a living, breathing person, wanting to go out for a stroll was the simplest of requests.

However, she was afraid Caleb would refuse. After speaking, she snuck a glance at him from the corner of her eye.

He was as expressionless as ever. The high-quality, custom-made, fine-textured white shirt he wore only accentuated his cold, stern, and noble air.

He seemed not to have heard Nina’s request and was busy reading the news on his phone.

His well-defined fingers held a delicate white bone china teacup. A silver ring on his middle finger glinted with a cold light.

Nina’s gaze paused for a second on the "Y" on the face of the ring before she lowered her eyes, her soft, pale fingers tightening around the silver spoon.

After a few seconds, she pushed her plate away and stood up.

The moment she was on her feet, Caleb set down his cup.

He rose, bent down, and swept her off her feet!