Chapter 129: BAIT
Days passed and Ethan continued visiting the Davis mansion to hang out with Jasmine until one day, the both of them were at their usual play spot, when Mr Davis suddenly barged in and yelled at Jasmine,
"You failed your test again?" His voice made the two kids flinch in fear. "Why can’t you just be intelligent and pass your tests?!" he continued to vent his anger on her.
"D-dad, am sorry", little Jasmine stuttered as her body shook in fear, unable to stay still.
"You are sorry? Your sorry is not going to help you pass your tests", said Mr. Davis as he reached out his hand to grab hers and drag her away while saying, "I think I need to teach you a lesson so that you can focus on your studies more. I don’t want other influential people out there to find out that I have a dumb daughter, you are going to bring disgrace to this family".
Mr. Davis continued to drag Jasmine who was not starting to tear up until Ethan stood in front of him with a folded hand.
"Uncle, please don’t do this. It’s not her fault that she wasn’t able to learn", he tried to reason out but unfortunately for him, Mr Davis was not in his right state of mind to listen to anyone. He pushed Ethan out of the way and threw Jasmine into her room.
"Dad please", Jasmine begged as more tears streamed down from her eyes but her father turned deaf ears to her pleading and unlocked his belt.
Ethan quickly stood up to try to catch up to them but he wasn’t fast enough and Mr. Davis had already locked the room.
In less than a second, he heard the sound of the belt hitting her skin as she screamed in pain.
"Dad please", he heard the muffled pleasing of Jasmine as she tried not to cry out loud but Mr Davis continued to whip her.
Ethan bolted from there to go look for Mrs Davis but unfortunately, the servants informed him that she wasn’t around. They all felt bad for Jasmine but there was nothing that they could do for the little girl.
The beating continued for another 10 minutes until Mr. Davis unlocked the door and stepped out, giving Ethan the chance to enter, and what he saw baffled him. Jasmine’s skin was torn and she was also unconscious.
Scared, he quickly ran towards her and lifted her. The servants didn’t need to be told what to do and they immediately brought out the first aid box and started treating her. They couldn’t take Jasmine to the hospital or call the doctor to the mansion because Mr Davis would object to that idea.
In Jasmine’s bedroom, Ethan sat down beside her as he stared at her while she slept.
As in sensing his gaze, Jasmine’s eyelids fluttered open and her gaze landed on him.
"Ethan", she mumbled softly.
"You are awake", he commented with a smile. "Don’t try moving too much", he warned her when he saw her moving her body before she moaned in pain. "I’m sorry for what happened to you", he suddenly apologized, which made her frown.
"Why are you apologizing?" she asked him. "It’s not your fault that I failed the test", she added.
Ethan sighed helplessly before he spoke,
"I know but how about this? I will tutor you from now on so that we can improve your grade?" He offered.
Jasmine’s eyes lit up in happiness and she vigorously nodded her head, totally forgetting about her pain.
"Ahh", she moaned in pain.
"I told you to take it easy, you never listen", Ethan reprimanded her.
Outside the room, Mr Davis was listening in to their conversation and he couldn’t be any happier when he heard Ethan say he would be tutoring Jasmine. This only means that he has a soft spot for her already, he thought to himself.
It wasn’t the first time that Jasmine had failed a test but Mr Davis used the test as a way to bring the two of them much closer to each other and it worked.
Just as Ethan had promised, he visited the Davis mansion every day, tutoring Jasmine.
Whenever Jasmine committed the slightest mistake, Mr. Davis would thrash her until one day, Ethan informed his parents of the thrashing and they visited the Davis mansion.
"Jasper, you do know that if you continue to thrash Jasmine even for the slightest mistake, she might just run away from home and you wouldn’t want that, no?" Mr Anderson asked his friend who was seated across from him.
"That girl has turned into a brat because I didn’t reprimand her, I was only teaching her a lesson", he concluded.
"But there are other ways that you can do that", Mrs. Anderson said this time. "You could take away her toys and games if she doesn’t behave but if you continue to act this way towards her, she might just detest you and what would people say when they see her body full of beating marks given to her by her father?" she questioned him.
Mrs Davis, who was seated beside her husband, wore heavy makeup to hide the scars that she had received from the same person that they were reprimanding.
"I will take your advice and try as much as possible to not thrash her anymore", Mr. Davis agreed.
The Anderson couple gave each other a look, hoping that Mr Davis would stay true to his words.
"Well, if you say so", said Mr. Anderson. "Ethan will be traveling overseas to complete his education", he suddenly announced and the facial expression on Mr. Davis changed in a blink of an eye.
"But why?" He asked.
"To complete his education, that’s what I said ’’, Mr. Anderson repeated his words.
"But he can study here, right?" Mr Davis questioned.
"Of course he can but I want him to learn some new things and have a change of environment, you know? I want him to be more exposed", Mr Anderson answered.
