My First Love Died, Now My Step Uncle Wants Me-Chapter 69: Good Baby

Caleb Rhodes reached out and took the little creature from her hands. Her eyes snapped open, and she sat up, saying, "You said it was a gift for me."

As soon as the words were out, she seemed to realize her voice had been too loud and lowered her head again.

Caleb Rhodes placed the kitten into a box the butler had brought over. "Let them take care of it for now," he said. "When you’re better, it’ll be a little bigger. You can raise it then."

Nina Wynn glanced at the butler, wanting to say something but holding back.

The butler stated impassively, "This kitten was selected from over a thousand tabby kittens. It took many days to find one like this. So, Miss Wynn, rest assured. I will have professionals take good care of it. Nothing will happen to it."

Nina Wynn said no more.

Caleb Rhodes bent down, scooped her up, and carried her toward the bedroom.

Nina Wynn rested her head on his shoulder, her gaze following the butler’s retreating back. Only after they were inside the room did she whisper, "You said you were giving it to me."

Her voice was soft, and Caleb Rhodes thought it sounded much like the little kitten’s meows from earlier. He couldn’t help but pat her head. "If it’s a gift for you, then of course it’s yours."

Nina Wynn was actually a little afraid he would take the kitten back, but she didn’t dare say it out loud.

Once in the bedroom, she drank her medicine. Her eyelids were drooping with sleep, but she kept looking over at Caleb Rhodes.

She looked like she had something more to say but couldn’t bring herself to.

Finally, as Caleb Rhodes finished getting his things together and was about to leave, she seemed to get anxious. "Uncle!"

Caleb Rhodes turned around, his bottomless eyes watching her intently. "You can tell me anything. I’m not going to eat you."

Nina Wynn bit her lip and clutched the thin blanket. "You can’t take it back," she said in a small voice. "It’s mine now."

After speaking, she watched Caleb Rhodes, looking rather nervous.

The look in Caleb Rhodes’s eyes softened considerably, though his voice remained light. "I won’t take it back."

But she just kept looking at him, refusing to sleep.

Caleb Rhodes looked at her. "Is there anything else you want to ask?"

Nina Wynn seemed to summon a great deal of courage, her voice rising slightly. "What if Crystal Rhodes sees it and wants to take it? Would you give it to her?"

Caleb Rhodes’s eyes darkened as he stared at her fixedly. "No!"

Nina Wynn seemed to let out a sigh of relief. Her grip on the blanket loosened, and she turned over, quietly closing her eyes.

In the time it took for Caleb Rhodes to step out and grab something, Nina Wynn had already fallen into a deep sleep.

She was truly too weak.

She had lost a lot of weight in just three or four days. The clothes she was wearing had only been delivered a few days ago, but today they looked loose and empty on her.

Caleb Rhodes felt that even her hands and feet had gotten thinner this time. Before, when he held her little hands and ankles, they had felt fleshy and soft. Today, when he held them, they felt almost bony.

His long fingers traced across her small, fair face, leaving faint red marks in their wake. This stirred her from her sleep, and she began to resist, grabbing his hand and hugging it close. She mumbled, "Evan, you’re annoying," then rolled over and fell back asleep.

Caleb Rhodes watched her for a moment before leaning down to press a kiss to her forehead, murmuring, "Good girl."

Just then, the butler’s low voice came from outside the door. "Third Lord Master, they’ve arrived."

Caleb Rhodes grunted in acknowledgment. "Take them to the conference room over there and have them wait."

Nina Wynn slept until it was nearly dark before she woke up.

As she walked into the living room, she heard Crystal Rhodes’s voice from outside.

"What do you mean I can’t come in? Move!"

The butler’s voice was as cold as ever. "Miss Rhodes, the Third Lord Master said no outsiders are allowed in here!"

Crystal Rhodes was probably furious, her voice sharp and shrill. "You’re calling me an outsider? Warner Zimmerman, who the hell do you think you are? Believe it or not, I can have you fired!"

The butler’s voice was restrained and unruffled. "Miss Rhodes, you can’t fire me. I don’t draw a salary from the Rhodes Family, nor do I take orders from them. I listen only to the Third Lord Master’s commands and the madam’s opinions. Your words are of no importance to me."

Nina Wynn walked to the window and peered through a gap in the curtains, coldly watching everything unfold outside.

Crystal Rhodes tried to enter the living room, but Warner Zimmerman held her back, preventing her. The young miss had probably never been treated this way before. Her face was twisted with anger as she pointed at Warner Zimmerman’s nose and screamed:

"Who do you think you are? You’re nothing but a dog in my eyes! This whole hotel belongs to my uncle! Where can’t I go? I’m going in today, and I’m going to see what kind of home-wrecking fox he’s hiding in there!"

As she cursed, she raised her hand to slap Warner Zimmerman across the face.

Warner Zimmerman caught her hand with a blank expression and pushed her back. "Miss Rhodes, please watch your words. You seem to be mistaken. I was brought here by my family’s young miss and serve only the young master. I do whatever the young master says. Before he left, he instructed that no one is to be allowed inside. This ’no one’ naturally includes you. I am only following orders. Please don’t make things difficult for me, Miss Rhodes!"

Crystal Rhodes stumbled back, nearly losing her footing. She shrieked with rage and charged forward, trying to hit Warner Zimmerman again.

"You old spinster! No wonder no man wants you! You’re over forty and as stiff as a brick!"

"Stop!"

Caleb Rhodes appeared behind her at some point, his voice as cold as if it had been frozen in an ice cave.

The moment Crystal Rhodes heard Caleb Rhodes arrive, her expression changed instantly. She turned around with a wronged look, tears welling in her eyes, and grabbed his arm. "Uncle, Butler Zimmerman won’t let me in! She even called me an outsider!"

Caleb Rhodes glanced toward the living room, his eyes dark and grim, his voice just as cold. "I was the one who said no one could enter. She was just carrying out my orders. She did nothing wrong."

Crystal Rhodes kept pulling at his arm, whining, "But I’m your family, not just ’anyone’!"

Caleb Rhodes pulled his arm away. "When I say ’anyone,’ that includes you," he said coldly. "What you just said to Butler Zimmerman was offensive. Apologize to her right now!"

Crystal Rhodes’s eyes widened in disbelief. "Uncle!"

Caleb Rhodes’s face was frosty. "Apologize!"

Crystal Rhodes started crying. "I wasn’t wrong! I won’t apologize! I just wanted to see what kind of vixen you’re hiding in here! There are rumors outside that you’re keeping a little temptress, that you’re so infatuated you won’t even come home! I want to see which shameless bitch dares to seduce you!"

"Uncle, don’t forget, you’re an engaged man! That kind of trash isn’t worth your..."

"Shut up!"

Caleb Rhodes’s eyes were colder than ever, his tone even more so. "Crystal Rhodes, you are not qualified to meddle in my affairs!"

Crystal Rhodes continued to cry and make a scene. "Uncle, you’ve changed! You never would have talked like this before! Are you really keeping a little temptress? Uncle, who is in there? You haven’t been home in so long!"

She suddenly spun around and ran toward the main hall. "I have to see who’s so shameless!"