Chapter 163: Chapter 163: Just Mania
In a ditch by the roadside, Deuce Ward was pinned to the ground. Before he could even get a clear look at his attacker, a fist had already slammed into his face. The punch, filled with a furious rage, made Deuce Ward’s head spin violently.
Several more punches followed, all aimed squarely at his face. Deuce Ward felt as if his skull was cracking and his brains were about to spill out.
He collapsed to the ground like a sack of mud. In the brief pause while his attacker gasped for air, he finally saw his face.
It was a cold, menacing face, like a demon straight out of hell.
But he recognized him. He was from the compound; he’d heard others call him ’Mr. Shaw’.
"Wh-why are you hitting me?" Deuce Ward stared at him in terror.
Wyatt Shaw spat. It was mixed with blood. He was the one doing the beating, yet somehow, he was the one bleeding.
"Do you know who she is?"
"Huh?" Deuce Ward was baffled.
Wyatt Shaw slammed another fist into his forehead. It left him dizzy and disoriented, but it also, somehow, made him understand.
"I think... I think her last name is Sutton!"
Wyatt Shaw scoffed. "She’s my wife!"
Deuce Ward was even more baffled now. "But isn’t she that Stewart Pace guy’s girlfriend...?"
Seeing Wyatt Shaw’s expression grow even more menacing, Deuce Ward quickly swallowed the rest of his sentence and changed the subject.
"I didn’t do anything to her! I just said a few words to her, just teasing her a bit."
His rest over, Wyatt Shaw rolled his ankle slightly. This time he aimed for Deuce Ward’s stomach, delivering a series of brutal kicks.
Deuce Ward screamed in agony, but there was no one on the mountain road. No matter how loud he shouted, no one was coming to help him.
Just then, he saw Wyatt Shaw snatch up a fist-sized rock from the ground.
"What are you doing? Are you trying to kill me? Are you crazy?"
His face twisted into a savage expression, his eyes wild and crazed...
Deuce Ward was so terrified he wet himself. It was the first time—the first time he had ever seen such a horrifying expression on someone’s face.
"Sp-spare me, Mr. Shaw! I’ll never do it again."
"I’ll apologize to her! I’ll get on my knees and beg for her forgiveness!"
"Spare my worthless life! Please, spare me!"
As he spoke, he scrambled onto his knees and started kowtowing, his forehead thudding against the dirt.
Wyatt Shaw stared at the filthy heap on the ground, his mind replaying what the man had said while chatting with a few old loafers at the village entrance: "That daughter-in-law of the Pace family... don’t be fooled ’cause she looks like some untouchable goddess. I’m tellin’ you, all she needs is a man to break her in. Once she’s trained, she’ll get real slutty. The day I get my chance, I’m gonna teach her a good lesson."
’He hadn’t known the man was talking about Yvonne Sutton at the time. Otherwise, he would have beaten him until he was crawling on the floor right then and there.’
The rock still came down. Deuce Ward’s vision went black as he collapsed, feeling as if something was being ripped from his body. With his last ounce of strength, he forced his eyes open, only to find his vision stained red.
"Crazy... You’re a... lunatic..."
Wyatt Shaw crouched down in front of him and lit a cigarette.
"You’re not wrong about that."
Through a bloody haze, Deuce Ward watched the man. He was actually grinning, baring his teeth.
He watched him take a drag from his cigarette, then pull a small bottle of pills from his pocket, tip one out, and toss it into his mouth, crunching it down.
"You..."
"Anti-mania meds." He even had the decency to explain.
Deuce Ward’s eyes widened. Even though he was beaten to a pulp, he squirmed, trying to get away from him.
"Next time you see her, you know what to do, right?"
"I’ll-I’ll stay far away from her."
"Right. She’s probably not a fan of the whole ’on-your-knees-begging’ routine. Just make sure she never sees you again."
"I-I will."
"It’s damn cold out. Lie here for a bit, then go home. I didn’t beat you to death, so don’t you fucking freeze to death out here."
"..." Deuce Ward didn’t know how to respond to such a ’courtesy’. After a long, trembling moment, he managed a, "Thank you."
Yvonne Sutton glanced back several times but didn’t see Deuce Ward. It was as if she had just imagined him being there.
That evening, Yvonne Sutton personally cooked a few dishes and invited Daisy Shaw and Megan Hughes to join her.
The two women had spent the entire day in an awkward state, progressing from arguing the moment they saw each other to the other extreme of actively avoiding each other.
Yvonne Sutton poured each of them a glass of wine, then poured one for herself. She raised her glass to them and said, "I’m begging you two, please stop torturing me. I’ve been mediating your fights during the day and losing sleep at night. I’m at my breaking point."
Megan Hughes pursed her lips. "Who’s torturing you? Don’t be ridiculous."
Daisy Shaw couldn’t bring herself to argue with Yvonne, so she whispered, "I’ll listen to you from now on, alright?"
Yvonne Sutton smiled. "To be honest, I’m very envious of you both. You have such a sincere friendship. Many people go their whole lives without being so lucky, but you are. And while a misunderstanding has kept you apart for so long, I believe you still care deeply for each other, even if all you say are complaints. Life is fleeting and full of uncertainties. I hope neither of you lets this friendship become a source of regret."
With that, Yvonne Sutton downed her glass in one go.
Daisy Shaw shifted awkwardly, stole a glance at Megan Hughes, then lowered her head and said nothing.
Megan Hughes, however, picked up her glass and drank it straight down. Then she turned to Daisy Shaw. "You owe me anyway, so you have to listen to me this once. As soon as this shoot is over, you are checking into the hospital and cooperating with the doctors. I’ll go to Aethelgard to be with you. And if you dare to not fight, if you dare to give up halfway, I’ll... I’ll go tattle to the Grim Reaper himself that you bullied me!"
Hearing this, Daisy Shaw let out a sob and burst into tears, then stood up and threw her arms around Megan Hughes.
"Ingrid, I’m actually so scared."
Megan Hughes patted her on the shoulder. "Don’t be. I’ll be watching over you. Those little imps won’t dare take you away."
"All I could think back then was that if I died, my only regret would be not having reconciled with you."
"Don’t say that! What’s all this talk about dying? From now on, no one is allowed to say that word again."
The two of them clung to each other, bawling their eyes out. Seeing them like this, Yvonne Sutton breathed a huge sigh of relief. ’I’m not drunk this time, so I probably won’t black out, right?’
Once the two of them stopped crying, Yvonne Sutton told them she was returning to the city the next morning.
This time, neither of them tried to make her stay. They had both seen what had been happening these past few days.
"Wyatt Shaw, he... he..." Daisy Shaw didn’t know what to say, so she just shook her head. "Anyway, you’re right to leave him. I support you."
Yvonne Sutton hugged Daisy Shaw. "Thank you."
Even though the two of them had talked things out, they still ended up getting drunk.
Yvonne Sutton got them into their rooms. Just as she was about to go to sleep, she heard a commotion outside, like a large crowd of people.
She made a soft sound of surprise. ’What could be happening in the middle of the night?’ she wondered.
She hurried outside and saw a mob of villagers. They were mostly men, both young and old, and they were armed with hoes, shovels, and even kitchen cleavers.
Yvonne Sutton did a quick count—there had to be about thirty of them. They were blocking the entrance to the courtyard, yelling for the film crew to hand someone over.
