Chapter 3 He Woke Up

It was late into the night.

This evening was meant to be Ariana's wedding night, yet her husband, Theodore, was in a coma, teetering on the brink of death.

"From today onwards, you will be responsible for bathing Mr. Theodore Anderson. He values cleanliness greatly. Make sure he is cleaned thoroughly."

A servant instructed Ariana on how to wash Theodore meticulously before leaving without any expression, leaving her with a wet towel in her hands.

Clutching the towel, Ariana stared at Theodore's exposed form, feeling unsure of what to do next.

She was painfully aware that she was alone in this, with no one in the household to support her.

Was she Theodore's wife? No, she felt more like a mere instrument for childbearing.

After mentally bracing herself, Ariana hesitantly moved closer to the bed.

Despite being in a comatose state for a long time, Theodore's physique remained strong and well-defined; his muscles did not show the typical wasting seen in long-term coma patients. Even a gentle touch with the towel left his skin with pink marks.

As Ariana continued to wipe down his body, her cheeks flushed deeper with every stroke.

She couldn't shake the feeling that the body she tended to was as vibrant as that of any healthy man.

Just as she nervously began to clean Theodore's lower body, the door suddenly burst open, and Jasper stormed in.

Ariana quickly covered Theodore with a blanket, turning to face Jasper with a sharp glare. "What are you doing here?"

Jasper didn't reply directly, his eyes locked on Theodore's naked upper body, a look of anger crossing his face. "Ariana, do you find this exciting? Do you even want to be intimate with a man in a vegetative state?"

"What nonsense are you talking about?"

Ariana caught on to Jasper's insinuations and, in a fury, threw the towel at him, pointing sternly towards the door. "Leave this room immediately! I am your sister-in-law now!"

At her words, Jasper's face twisted into a sneer, and said, "You think you'd be here without my help? How dare you act so arrogant with me?"

Ariana's face was flush with anger. To Jasper, however, she seemed all the more alluring. Recalling the three years they spent together without intimacy, he grew agitated.

"Theodore is nothing more than a shell now. How could he possibly satisfy you?" Jasper made no effort to hide his desire and said, "You've been around me for years. Today, I'll take Theodore's place and show you what a real man is like."

Ariana had never thought Jasper would be even more despicable than she had imagined.

They had shared three years together, yet his true nature had been well hidden!

Before Ariana could react, Jasper locked the door and dimmed the lights, closing in on her with each step.

Ariana backed up to the bedside, on high alert, but before she could defend herself, Jasper was upon her, pinning her to the bed and sliding his hand up her skirt.

"Jasper!" Ariana fought back, exclaiming, "Don't you remember I'm pregnant?"

Jasper paused, taken aback, then scoffed, "You just jogged my memory. The procedure might not work, but if you sleep with me tonight and you get pregnant, whose child will it be? If the baby is mine, that would be perfect. He could inherit the Anderson fortune as well."

"You're despicable!"

Ariana felt a mix of terror and disgust at Jasper's vile words, struggling even harder.

However, the strength difference between a man and a woman was too significant, and having just undergone surgery, she was too weak to resist.

Just as despair set in, Ariana noticed Jasper freeze, then quickly pull his hand back from beneath her skirt.

"Theo-Theodore..."

Jasper hastily got off her, his expression one of sheer terror as he looked behind Ariana, and he hurried out of the room.

Ariana was left in utter confusion. She turned her head quickly, but all was quiet behind her.

Tensely, she switched on the light and saw Theodore lying there, seemingly unconscious as ever, except that one of his hands had moved out from the blanket, likely during her scuffle with Jasper.

"Mr. Theodore Anderson?"

Ariana called out tentatively a few times, then gently placed Theodore's hand back under the blanket.

There was no response from Theodore, and Ariana let out a sigh of relief.

It appeared that Jasper's sudden retreat was sparked by a hallucination from his guilt and excessive alcohol consumption.

Regardless, it had driven him off and preserved her virginity for the moment.

After pondering her next steps, Ariana decided she would wait and watch for two days before acting.

It was late, and Ariana thought it best to get some rest and prepare for what was ahead.

The room had only one bed, clearly indicating the Anderson family's expectations for her to share it with Theodore.

However, after the night's events, Ariana was too scared to climb into the bed, so she settled down beside Theodore's bed to spend the night.

The following morning, Ariana woke up still beside the bed, right where she had fallen asleep.

So much had happened, and she hadn't even managed to cover Theodore properly, so she sleepily rubbed her eyes and prepared to dress him.

As she got up, however, her wrist was suddenly grabbed, and she trembled with fright, instinctively lowering her head to meet a pair of piercing eyes.

Theodore had woken up!