Her Marriage: The Night is Still Young-Chapter 194: Let Him Go, or I’ll Die With Him

Chapter 194: Chapter 194: Let Him Go, or I’ll Die With Him

"Ah--"

From the surveillance screen came the terrified scream of Josephine Thompson.

The lion made a flying pounce, heading towards the two.

"Josephine." Nathaniel Gallagher sprang to his feet as if scalded.

The coffee cup on the table was knocked over, the brown liquid soaking his expensive shirt.

"Damn it!" he cursed under his breath, turning and rushing out of the surveillance room.

The wound on his back was strained by the sudden movement.

The pain caused sweat to instantly bead on his forehead, yet his steps didn’t falter.

The assistant was stunned for a split second before reacting, quickly following, "President Gallagher! Where are you going?"

"Shut up!" Nathaniel’s voice carried an unprecedented panic, the usual calm and sinister demeanor gone.

What he wanted to see was Julian Grant torn to pieces by the lion.

But he never expected.

Josephine Thompson would awaken so quickly and leave the room.

The moment the lion lunged.

Julian shouted out, "Josephine."

Immediately, he grabbed her arm, pulling her to stand behind him.

At the same time, he couldn’t worry about the gunfire waking others. He instantly pulled out his gun from the lower back, "Bang bang bang," firing several shots at the lion.

"Roar... roar roar..."

The gunfire exploded in the silent villa, shaking even the air.

Bullets pierced through the lion’s thick fur, blood splattering on the floor, instantly blossoming into a striking red stain.

The violent beast let out a bleak howl, its massive body swaying before crashing heavily to the ground, twitching a few times before falling silent.

Julian’s hand holding the gun was still trembling, his back long soaked in cold sweat.

He quickly turned back, grasping Josephine’s shoulders and assessing her up and down, "Josephine, are you alright? Are you hurt?"

Josephine was scared out of her wits, her face pale as paper, her lips trembling and unable to speak. She only stared fixedly at the lion’s corpse on the ground, her pupils full of terror.

"Bang--"

A loud bang came from the direction of the surveillance room.

Nathaniel Gallagher slammed open the corridor door and rushed in.

Seeing the lion’s corpse on the ground and Julian, his eyes instantly blazed with overwhelming fury.

"Julian Grant! How dare you touch my things!" Nathaniel roared, immediately pulling out his gun and firing several shots at Julian.

"Bang bang bang--"

Josephine panicked, hurriedly stepping forward to intervene, "Don’t."

"Julian, watch out."

Julian’s gun was already empty.

Luckily, he was quick and agile, rolling to a wall behind him.

"Bang bang bang!"

Another volley of bullets followed.

"Ugh..." His arm got hit by gunfire, and he could only hide behind a glass wall.

Meanwhile.

A large group of bodyguards and mercenaries emerged.

The villa’s electricity restored, instantly lighting up brightly.

Harry and an accomplice had been captured, while two other bodyguards had been bitten to death by the beast.

"Julian Grant, come out and face death."

"Click click!" Nathaniel swapped magazines, the murderous intent on his face palpable.

Josephine rushed over, firmly blocking Nathaniel, "Nathaniel, don’t shoot, let him go..."

"Get lost!" Nathaniel gritted his teeth, grabbed her by the neck, and violently pushed her to the ground.

"Ugh..." Josephine fell heavily.

"Take her back to the room."

"Click click!"

The bullets loaded into the chamber.

Nathaniel walked gloomily towards where Julian was hiding.

The bodyguards behind him also drew guns to protect him.

Julian was trapped with no way out.

Two servants approached, forcibly lifting Josephine up.

"Miss Thompson, please come with us to the room."

"Let go of me, Nathaniel, I beg you, let him go." Josephine struggled against the servants, rushing again to block Nathaniel.

Seeing this, Nathaniel’s hatred grew more intense.

He slapped her backhand across her face.

"Pa" a crisp sound, piercing in the smoke-filled air.

Josephine was struck, turning her head, her cheek instantly reddening, blood oozing from the corner of her mouth.

"He can kill me, but I kill him and you can’t stand it, right?"

"Fine, since you love him so much, I’ll let you watch him die miserably."

He was truly driven mad by hate.

He couldn’t bear her caring so much for Julian.

The more she cared, the more he wanted to kill Julian in the most cruel way.

Nathaniel’s deep love was pathological, sneering coldly, "Julian Grant, don’t you love her? Come out and protect her! Why hide like a cowardly turtle."

After speaking.

He suddenly bent down, grabbing Josephine’s collar and lifted her up.

"Ugh, let go..."

Nathaniel encircled her waist with a backhand, biting her neck viciously like a madman.

The pain caused Josephine to gasp for breath, "Ah--"

"Nathaniel, you madman, let go of me."

"Josephine." Julian was tearing up, seeing this from behind the wall.

The next second.

He tore open his shirt, plunging it into the wound.

And then, calmly walked out from behind the wall.

"Nathaniel! Have the guts to come at me! Bullying a woman, what kind of man are you?"

"Ha~, indeed, you have some guts."

The bodyguards immediately stepped forward, aiming their guns at Julian.

Julian looked coldly at Nathaniel, "Nathaniel Gallagher, if you kill me, you better think clearly about the consequences."

Nathaniel laughed sinisterly, saying playfully, "I know your identity."

"Don’t worry, I’ll make sure you die ’fair and square’."

Josephine panicked, ignoring the pain in her body, "Nathaniel, I’m begging you, let him go! I’ll do anything for you, as long as you let him go..."

Nathaniel coldly chuckled, withdrawing his hand to push her towards the servants, "Take her away! If she steps out again, you’ll join the lion in the grave!"

"Yes, President Gallagher." The servants didn’t dare hesitate, carrying the staggering Josephine and dragged her to the room.

"Let go--"

Josephine struggled hard against the servants.

Following closely.

She picked up the broken glass shard from the ground.

Then, aimed the sharp edge at her own wrist, "Everyone stay back."

"Miss Thompson."

"President Gallagher."

Upon hearing it, Nathaniel turned to look at Josephine.

Josephine was standing shakily, exerting force with her hand, the glass shard sharp as a blade cut into her wrist.

Fresh blood dripped and flowed out.

"Josephine--Thompson--" Nathaniel’s eyes narrowed, veins popping at his temples.

Seeing this, Julian grew even more panicked, "Josephine, stop, I forbid you from doing this."

"Don’t come over." Josephine Thompson’s furious yet piercing gaze fixed straight on Nathaniel Gallagher.

"Nathaniel Gallagher, if he dies today, so do I."

"You wouldn’t dare!" Nathaniel Gallagher’s voice was like it had been worn down by sandpaper, hoarse and terrifying.

He instinctively took a step forward, yet was pinned in place by the resoluteness in Josephine Thompson’s eyes.

The sharp pain of glass shards embedded in flesh was acutely felt.

Blood slithered down her wrist, dripping onto the smooth floor, blooming into sinister red patterns.

Josephine looked at him, a trace of a bitter smile tugging at her lips: "Nathaniel Gallagher, isn’t this the scene you most want to see?"

"Once I’m dead, your son can legitimately inherit all my assets. You can gain hundreds of billions without lifting a finger; wasn’t this always part of your plan?"

She knew Nathaniel Gallagher’s weakness all too well.

Not power, not revenge, but this body he had firmly grasped within his palm.

Julian Grant, trembling all over from anxiety, found even the searing pain of his wounds could not overshadow the panic in his heart: "Josephine, don’t be foolish! I’m not worth this!"

"Whether you’re worth it or not, it’s not your decision to make."

Josephine didn’t look at him, her eyes fixedly locked on Nathaniel Gallagher, "Let him go, I’ll stay. You can lock me up for however long you want, do whatever you want. But if you harm a single hair on him, I’ll die with him..."

She applied a slight pressure to her wrist, and blood surged forth even more fiercely.

Nathaniel Gallagher’s pupils shrank to pinpoints, the pain from his back wound and the agony in his heart attacking together, causing him almost to falter.

He watched as the expanding red, like watching a precious treasure carefully held in his hands fracture bit by bit, as he could only watch helplessly.

"Josephine Thompson, you... you ungrateful woman."

Josephine drew a sharp line, opening a fresh trail of blood on her wrist, "Will you let him go or not?"

"Alright... I’ll let him go."

He forced these words out through clenched teeth, each word seemed like a poisoned ice pick, piercing his mouth with a bloody taste, "Julian Grant, take your people and get out! Leave now!"

Julian Grant was stunned, clearly not expecting Nathaniel Gallagher to compromise.

"Leave!"

Josephine screamed, the blood on her wrist splattering onto her skirt, "Do you want me to die here?"

Julian Grant gave her a deep look.

In that gaze, there were a thousand unspoken words, yet it ultimately transformed into a hoarse sentence, "Josephine, wait for me."

He was escorted out by bodyguards.

As he passed Nathaniel Gallagher, their gazes collided, sparks flying, yet both adhered silently.

Until the villa door slammed shut.

Josephine’s hand finally relaxed in exhaustion.

The glass shards clattered to the ground.

Her vision darkened and she fell straight backward.

Nathaniel Gallagher reacted swiftly, rushing to catch her, his palm instantly soaked with the blood from her wrist.

He held her cold, limp body, feeling the faintness of her breathing, and for the first time tasted what it meant to be powerless.

"Josephine Thompson, you’re truly... heartless."

His voice carried with it a bone-chilling coldness, and a twisting pain in his chest.

"Do you really think I care about your money?"

The person in his arms did not respond, barely clinging to life.

Only the warm blood continued to flow, staining his shirt red, coloring this imprisonment in the name of love.

"Is everyone dead? Why are you still standing there?"

His assistant panicked, hurriedly saying: "President Gallagher, the doctor is already waiting at the door, ready to provide treatment."

Nathaniel Gallagher’s eyes stung, and he rushed towards the bedroom with Josephine Thompson, dragging a long trail of blood along the corridor.

He kicked open the room door, trembling fingers barely able to release her onto the bed.

"Get the doctor in here, hurry!" he shouted towards the door, his voice altered by fear.

His usual commanding presence was entirely absent, only the panic of fearing her disappearance remained.

The servants were already terrified out of their wits, scrambling to get the doctor inside.

Nathaniel Gallagher tore open his own shirt, pressing it against Josephine Thompson’s bleeding wrist, his warm palm swiftly soaked through with her blood.

He stared at her paper-white face, his voice harsh yet pleading, "Don’t you dare die, Josephine Thompson, I dare you to try dying."

Her wrist’s wound was deep enough to see bone, blood relentlessly oozing between the fingers, as if mocking his helplessness.

A minute later.

The doctor rushed in.

Nathaniel Gallagher clung rigidly to her wrist, his knuckles white as if embedding into her flesh. "Save her."

He spoke hoarsely, the command in his voice transforming to a plea.

"President Gallagher, please step aside, we need to stop Miss Thompson’s bleeding right away."

The smell of antiseptic filled the air.

Under the influence of anesthesia, Josephine Thompson furrowed her brows slightly but never awakened.

Nathaniel Gallagher stood in the corner, watching the doctor stitch up the wound, the pain from his back flared again, yet compared to the emptiness in his heart, it was insignificant.

...

As morning approached.

The doctor finally finished treating the wound, transfusing blood for Josephine Thompson, pulling her back from the gates of death.

"Mr. Gallagher, Miss Thompson has lost a lot of blood and needs a good rest, she mustn’t experience further stress."

Nathaniel Gallagher said nothing, only waved for everyone to leave.

The room was left with just the two of them.

Sunlight seeped through the curtain gaps, casting a shallow glow on her face.

He walked over slowly, sat at the bedside, his fingers gently brushed over her bandaged wrist, the movement light as though fearing he might shatter a treasure.

"Do you think you can threaten me with death?"

He spoke softly, his voice tinged with self-mockery, "Josephine Thompson, you’ve already won."

"When you recover, we’ll return to Caldwen."

Sunlight crawled through the curtain gaps, leaving dappled shadows on Josephine Thompson’s pale face.

Her eyelashes fluttered, as if disturbed by the light, and she slowly opened her eyes.

Her vision was initially blurry, but the dull pain from her wrist was strikingly clear.

She moved her fingers, touching a thick band of gauze, only then slowly recalling everything that happened last night.

The lion’s roar, gunshots, Julian Grant’s bloodied figure, and Nathaniel Gallagher’s eyes burning with anger and fear.

"Awake?"

A deep voice sounded from the bedside, carrying a subtle tension not easily noticed.

Josephine turned her head to see Nathaniel Gallagher sitting there.

The bloodstains on his shirt had long dried to a deep brown, stark circles under his eyes showed clearly he hadn’t slept all night.

She said nothing, only turned her head away to look outside the window.

The sky was a very light blue.

A few seabirds were gliding over the tops of palm trees, their freedom unsettling.

Nathaniel Gallagher watched the tense side of her face, his Adam’s apple moved before he hoarsely said: "The doctor said you need to replenish your nutrients."

He brought over a bowl of porridge from the bedside table, scooping out a bit, blowing it slightly, and offered it to her lips, "Have some?"

Josephine turned her head aside to avoid, her voice raspy like sandpaper scraping: "Where is Julian Grant..."

"He’s gone." Nathaniel Gallagher paused, his tone turned cold, "As you wished, he left alive."

She finally turned to look at him, her eyes bereft of gratitude, holding only a calm like dead water: "Nathaniel Gallagher, did you win?"

His hand gripping the spoon tightened abruptly, his knuckles turning white.

Did he win?

Trapping her by his side, keeping her in an almost obsessive manner.

Yet seeing her so utterly desolate, he felt more like an idiot that’s lost completely.

"Once we return to Caldwen, I’ll grant you freedom." He avoided her gaze, his voice stiff.

Josephine twisted her lips slightly, in a smile or perhaps a cry: "Really?"

Nathaniel Gallagher said nothing.

He only knew, if this continued.

Either she would be utterly destroyed, or he would completely go insane.

He placed the porridge bowl down, stood up, and walked toward the window.

"We’ll talk when you’re better." he left this sentence, turned, and walked out of the room, gently closing the door.