A Night of Desire

Chapter 624: Chapter 621: The Price

On the veranda ahead, Ewan Stratton sat in his wheelchair, his gaze fixed on her.

Judging by the look in his eyes and the expression on his face, Sarah Shelby certainly didn’t think he had come out specifically to welcome her.

After a moment’s hesitation, she walked over and stood before him.

Before she could even open her mouth to speak, Ewan Stratton said lightly, "Run twenty laps around the courtyard."

"What?" Sarah Shelby had heard him clearly, but she didn’t understand.

"I’ve said it before. I don’t like repeating myself." Ewan Stratton didn’t even look at her as he turned his wheelchair to go inside.

"Why?" Sarah Shelby asked hurriedly. "Why do I have to run twenty laps?"

’The courtyard is huge. Forget twenty laps, even ten would be enough to half-kill me. The point is, he didn’t explain anything. He just opened his mouth and ordered me to run twenty laps around the courtyard. I at least deserve to know why, don’t I?’

Ewan Stratton looked at her, a half-smile playing on his lips. "Why? Do you really need to ask? No one has ever refused my orders. Since you want to be the first, you’ll have to pay the price. This will help you remember that."

Sarah Shelby understood. This was clearly punishment for her defiance this morning!

’No wonder he’d been so agreeable,’ she thought. ’He had this up his sleeve the whole time.’

’In any case, what he did today already stopped Clara from worrying so much about me. So, if he wants to punish me, so be it.’

Without another word, Sarah Shelby turned and prepared to start running.

But then, Ewan Stratton’s chilling voice came from behind her. "Don’t even think about cutting corners, or I’ll double it."

Sarah Shelby’s pace faltered for a second, but she didn’t turn back. She just started running.

Ewan Stratton watched her run for a moment with an unreadable expression, then turned and steered his wheelchair into the living room.

Novaria was still hot in September, and it was now high noon.

As she ran, Sarah Shelby glanced up at the blazing sun, squinting the instant the light hit her eyes.

Perhaps the sunlight was too intense, because it made her head throb with a sharp pain again.

She quickly looked away and glanced back at the veranda. Ewan Stratton was gone.

She thought back to that morning in her small apartment, remembering what she had said to Clara.

She had claimed she was going to fight for her own happiness, but a large part of that was just to reassure Clara and stop her from worrying.

’In reality, she hadn’t figured out how to deal with Ewan Stratton, or what to do about their marriage.’

’She had no clear answer for what the future held or where she should go from here.’

...

After just two laps, Sarah Shelby knew she had been too naive. She had said ten laps would be enough to half-kill her.

Well, after just two laps, she already felt half-dead.

A single lap was more than 800 meters. For someone like her, who had never liked exercising, running so far all at once was practically a death sentence.

’Excessive exercise is dangerous. Ewan Stratton should know that. Forcing me to run twenty laps all at once... isn’t he afraid something will happen to me?’

’Maybe he’ll tell me to stop when he sees I can’t take it anymore.’

But ideals are beautiful, and reality is cruel.

She realized this by her fourth lap, when she was so exhausted she could barely move her feet.

When she finished another lap and collapsed, unable to get back up for a long time, she felt even more keenly how naive and overly optimistic she had been.

As she lay on the ground gasping for breath, her throat on fire and all strength drained from her body, the living room door was pushed open. A middle-aged woman who appeared to be a servant walked out and shouted at her in a robust voice, "The Young Master has given his orders. You are not to stop. Get up and continue. Otherwise, it will be doubled."

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