My First Love Died, Now My Step Uncle Wants Me-Chapter 26: Who Gave You the Letters?

Caleb Rhodes watched her fidgeting, his voice cool. "You can skip family dinners like this in the future, but you need to learn proper etiquette for banquets. I’ll have a professional coach come teach you in a few days."

Nina Wynn had no idea what he was talking about. ’He must have had a few drinks and is just rambling,’ she thought, so she simply replied in a small voice, "Okay."

Her obedient demeanor made Caleb Rhodes’s gaze darken. He pressed his thin lips together and said faintly, "Follow me."

Then, he turned and walked toward his private villa. 𝒻𝘳ℯℯ𝑤ℯ𝒷𝘯ℴ𝓋ℯ𝘭.𝑐ℴ𝑚

Nina Wynn froze, thinking she must have misheard.

’What does he mean?’

’Is Caleb Rhodes telling me to follow him? To his villa?’

After a few steps, he noticed she wasn’t following. Caleb Rhodes stopped, his voice laced with a hint of ice. "Do you want me to carry you?"

Nina Wynn jumped, startled, but didn’t dare take a step.

All the members of the Rhodes Family lived in the main house; only Caleb Rhodes had his own separate, two-story villa. Spanning several hundred square meters, it was for his exclusive use on the rare occasions he returned.

Furthermore, aside from the family’s elderly butler, he forbade anyone from entering his rooms—not even Crystal Rhodes was allowed. Rumor had it that in all these years, the only other person who had ever been inside was Rosalind Lowell.

More importantly, if the elderly butler was the only one who entered the villa to clean during the day, that meant no one else was inside right now. Going there meant she would be alone with Caleb Rhodes.

She didn’t want to go. She was terrified.

Seeing that she remained motionless, Caleb Rhodes turned and walked back toward her.

He was tall with long legs and closed the distance in a few strides. He snatched the box straight from Nina Wynn’s hands and, before her astonished eyes, turned and strode away toward his villa.

With the little box gone, Nina Wynn broke out in a nervous sweat. Not daring to cry out, she had no choice but to hurry after Caleb Rhodes.

Less than two minutes later, they arrived at the entrance to Caleb Rhodes’s villa. Nina Wynn hesitated, not daring to go inside.

After lingering at the doorway for two seconds, a large hand grabbed her and pulled her inside.

Once inside, Caleb Rhodes released her and shut the door.

The heavy THUD of the door closing seemed to land right on Nina Wynn’s heart. She was both terrified and tense, but her eyes remained glued to the box in Caleb Rhodes’s hand. Her voice trembled. "Uncle, that box is mine."

Caleb Rhodes held up the box, noticing it was caked with dried mud.

"What’s inside?"

Nina Wynn didn’t answer, merely staring at the box, wanting to reach for it. But her strength was no match for Caleb Rhodes’s. He held it with ease, and she couldn’t wrench it free no matter how hard she pulled.

She could only bite her lip, her voice soft but firm. "It’s mine."

Caleb Rhodes watched the small mole on her lip turn pale from the pressure of her teeth. He narrowed his eyes. "Tell me what’s inside."

Nina Wynn had no choice but to say, "Some letters."

Caleb Rhodes’s gaze darkened, his voice taking on a cold edge. "Who are the letters from?"

’Who would send her letters so important they had to be hidden away in a box?’

Nina Wynn said nothing, but she looked up at him.

It was the first time she had ever looked directly at him from so close. Even though she was afraid, and even though it was only for a few seconds, she still spoke softly but insistently, "Uncle, this is a private matter. Please give me back my box."

The coldness in Caleb Rhodes’s eyes deepened. He stared at Nina Wynn for a few seconds, noting her intense nervousness. Abruptly, he turned, walked over to a large safe, and keyed in the code. When the door swung open, he casually tossed the muddy box inside.

Nina Wynn cried out in alarm and lunged forward to retrieve the box, but Caleb Rhodes was faster. With a loud SLAM, he shoved the door shut.

By then, Nina Wynn’s hand had already closed around the box. The heavy steel door slammed against her arm with a sickening thud.

A sharp pain shot through her, and Nina Wynn’s face went white in an instant. Still, she clung tightly to the box, quickly hiding it behind her back as she watched Caleb Rhodes with a wary expression.

Caleb Rhodes hadn’t expected her to be so reckless as to risk her arm for a small box. Judging by the sound alone, the impact must have been severe.

But she didn’t seem to care in the slightest; her entire being was focused on that box.

His expression darkened. His thin lips slowly tightened into a hard line. The bright lights cast his handsome features in a sharp, intimidating relief that made it impossible to meet his gaze.

Nina Wynn lowered her head and slowly began to inch her foot to the right.

Toward the door.

Caleb Rhodes narrowed his eyes. "Just you try and run."

His voice was ice-cold and heavy with pressure. Nina Wynn shuddered and instinctively drew her foot back.

Caleb Rhodes advanced on her, one step at a time. "Let me see it."

Nina Wynn thought Caleb Rhodes wanted to see her box. Her palms grew slick with nervous sweat as she retreated several steps, until her back hit a piece of expensive wooden furniture, leaving her nowhere else to go.

But Caleb Rhodes kept advancing, step by step, until his tall frame completely engulfed her small body in his shadow.

The overwhelming pressure made Nina Wynn shrink into herself, wishing she could melt into the piece of furniture behind her.

His crisp, cool scent of cedarwood seemed to wrap around her completely. She felt as if she were breathing it into her very organs, as if it were spreading through every vein and was about to take root inside her.

She began to tremble with fear and subconsciously clapped a hand over her mouth and nose, trying to block out his scent. The next second, Caleb Rhodes grabbed her wrist.

A deep red indentation marked where her arm had been struck. The skin was broken, and it was already starting to bruise, but she showed no reaction, as if she couldn’t feel the pain at all. Her other hand was still clutching the box tightly.

Caleb Rhodes’s eyes darkened, his voice laced with a hint of anger. "Can’t you feel pain?"

Nina Wynn, assuming he was after her box again, paid no mind to her arm. She continued to watch him warily. "The box is mine."

Caleb Rhodes pressed his lips into a thin line, his gaze suddenly turning bitingly cold.

’Is she willing to die for some worthless box?’

He stared at her pale, delicate face and enunciated each word, practically grinding them out between his teeth, "Put the box on the cabinet!"

Nina Wynn said nothing, only biting down hard on her lip. She bit so hard that the small mole on her lip was starting to break the skin.

The cold in Caleb Rhodes’s eyes deepened, and his grip tightened. "Put the box on the cabinet. Don’t make me say it a third time."

The warning was crystal clear. Nina Wynn’s eyes widened in terror. "No! Don’t!"

"Put it there yourself!"

The immense pressure made it almost impossible for Nina Wynn to breathe. A fine sweat broke out on her forehead from sheer terror. Caleb Rhodes was furious—truly enraged.

She knew perfectly well that Caleb Rhodes was not a man of great emotional swings; for him to speak like this was a sign of absolute fury.

She was terrified he might just strangle her to death on the spot.

But the contents of the box were too important; she couldn’t let them be taken from her.

Suddenly, Caleb Rhodes twisted her arm behind her back and used his free hand to snatch the box from her grasp.

Nina Wynn’s pupils constricted, and her heart clenched painfully. "Uncle!"