Chapter 101: Chapter 101: Flesh and Skin Torn Open
At the Old Master’s command, a male servant picked up a whip and brought it down hard on Tristan Sterling’s back.
WHIP!
"Hss..."
Tristan Sterling sucked in a sharp breath.
The color instantly drained from his face, and a thin layer of sweat broke out on his forehead.
The servant was strong. The single strike split Tristan’s skin, and blood began to seep through his white shirt.
"Do you know what you’ve done wrong?!"
The Old Master’s face was ashen as he roared the question.
Tristan frowned, looking at Holly Sinclair, and explained in a low voice, "I told you, I didn’t know it was your brother who was in trouble."
Holly’s face was expressionless. She didn’t even look at him.
"Whip him!"
the Old Master bellowed again.
WHIP! WHIP!
The servant raised the whip.
Three bloody welts now crisscrossed Tristan Sterling’s back.
Tristan’s face grew a shade paler, and he secretly clenched his fists.
"You bastard! So you still don’t realize what you did wrong?"
The Old Master was livid, his chest heaving with rage.
Holly remained silent.
She just sat by the bed, continuously rubbing her grandfather’s back to soothe him.
"I don’t know, Grandpa. Please enlighten me."
’This punishment is completely baffling,’ Tristan thought.
He refused to accept it.
But his grandfather was furious, so he had to endure the punishment whether he accepted it or not.
"Holly wants to divorce you!!"
The Old Master was disappointed beyond measure, grinding his teeth in frustration.
If his body weren’t so weak, he would have taken the whip and beaten him to death himself.
"I didn’t agree," Tristan said coldly.
He had never considered divorce.
’Marriage is a serious matter. How can you just get married and divorced on a whim?’
’She was the one who came after me in the first place.’
’She has no right to call it quits now!’
"Whip him!!"
The Old Master was so angry he slammed his fist on the edge of the bed twice.
WHIP! WHIP! WHIP!
The servant obeyed, and three more lashes fell.
Blood.
It quickly stained his tattered white shirt red.
Tristan clenched his jaw, enduring the searing pain in his back as beads of sweat slowly formed on his forehead.
"Is this a matter of whether you agree or not?"
the Old Master roared. "You idiot! You should be reflecting on why you’ve made Holly so utterly disappointed in you!"
Tristan raised his eyes to look at Holly again.
’Utterly disappointed?’
’What is she disappointed about?’
’Is it just because I took a little extra care of Vivian?’
’From the day we married until now, I’ve been faithful. I’ve never done anything to wrong her.’
’How could I have made her so utterly disappointed?’
’She’s so desperate for a divorce... who knows if she’s fallen for someone else...’
Thinking of her intimate behavior with Brandon Sterling, Tristan felt a knot of frustration tighten in his chest.
The Old Master shouted, "What? Do I have to remind you of the stupid things you’ve done?!"
Tristan’s gaze remained fixed on Holly’s face. "What did I do? Why must you have Grandpa punish me like this?"
Holly finally looked up.
She stared at him coldly, her lips pressed into a thin line, and said nothing.
Her gaze was like a frozen lake, without a single ripple.
Tristan was taken aback.
’In her eyes, aside from coldness, there wasn’t a trace of pity.’
’Why doesn’t she feel sorry for me?’
’She’s supposed to love me so much, isn’t she?!’
He still remembered how, in the past, she would get frantic and cry with worry if he even had a simple headache.
Today, he was being beaten until his back was a bloody mess, and she was completely unmoved?!
Although he didn’t feel he was at fault regarding what happened to Noah Sinclair, he knew she cared for her brother more than anyone. So, he accepted this beating.
He had thought that after he took this beating, her anger would subside, and she would stop fighting with him.
’She loves me so much. Seeing me covered in blood, she’s bound to soften.’
But now, her indifferent expression clearly conveyed one fact to him—
She would no longer feel sorry for him!
Never again!!
Realizing this, Tristan’s heart suddenly clenched.
A strange, dull ache spread through his chest.
"You... you... you—"
Seeing him dare to blame Holly, the Old Master was enraged. "Whip him! Whip him hard!"
WHIP! WHIP! WHIP! WHIP!
Four more lashes struck Tristan’s back.
Every strike drew blood.
Tristan’s body pitched forward. Large beads of cold sweat dripped from his face, which was slightly contorted in pain.
Even with his strong constitution, he was starting to find it unbearable.
The Sterling family’s punishment was cumulative.
If one didn’t realize their mistake or refused to admit fault, the punishment would continue to escalate.
"You haven’t done anything? Ever since that girl from the Linton family came back, your heart has been out in Glacior! You’ve made Holly suffer endlessly, and you still say you haven’t done anything?"
The Old Master roared, but his frail body robbed the shout of its intimidating force.
Holly listened with a numb expression, not saying a word.
In the past, she would have felt wronged and hurt.
But now, she didn’t care about any of it.
"I owe Vivian," Tristan said through gritted teeth.
If it weren’t for Vivian Linton, he would have died in that car crash, with not even a body to be found.
"Even if you owe her an enormous debt, that’s no excuse to hurt your own wife!!"
The Old Master’s teeth nearly shattered from clenching them. "Whip him!"
WHIP! WHIP! WHIP! WHIP! WHIP!
Five lashes.
THUD.
Tristan collapsed heavily to the floor.
His back was a bloody, mangled mess.
His back was spasming from the pain, but he bit down hard and refused to make a sound.
With trembling arms, he pushed himself up from the floor, struggled back to his knees, and unsteadily knelt upright once more.
"Do you admit you were wrong?!"
The Old Master looked at his stubborn grandson, feeling both angry and heartbroken.
Tristan remained silent.
’If I admit I’m wrong, Grandpa will definitely force me to cut ties with Vivian Linton.’
’But I promised Vivian I would always look after her.’
"Fine, fine, fine..."
Seeing his grandson’s unrepentant expression, the Old Master nodded his head repeatedly in fury and yelled at the servant, "Whip him! Whip him until he’s dead!"
Just as the servant raised the whip, the door was thrown open.
"Dad! You can’t hit him anymore!"
Stella Grayson rushed in and protectively stood in front of her son.
Seeing her son’s back, soaked red with blood, tears streamed down her face.
"Get out!!"
the Old Master roared.
’A doting mother spoils the child!’
"Dad."
How could Stella Grayson dare to leave? She was terrified her son would die here tonight, but she didn’t dare defy the Old Master. All she could do was tearfully plead with her son, "Tristan, stop being so stubborn. Hurry up and admit you’re wrong to your grandfather..."
"Why should he apologize to me? I’m not the one who doesn’t want him anymore!"
The Old Master, mustering his strength, snapped irritably.
’Doesn’t want him anymore...’
Tristan looked at Holly.
Holly’s expression was still wooden.
Stella also knew that Holly was the key.
Her son was being severely punished, and in her heart, she held some resentment toward her daughter-in-law. But with the Old Master present, she could only soften her tone and persuade her. "Holly, you know what they say: lovers’ quarrels are soon mended. These are matters for you young people to resolve in private. Why let it escalate to this? Grandpa isn’t well. Can you really bear to make him worry like this?"
Holly lowered her gaze.
’A dense, prickly pain spread through her heart.’
’It’s not that I don’t feel for Grandpa!’
’I don’t want this either!’
’But what choice do I have?’
’Tristan refuses to grant a divorce. Besides asking Grandpa to step in for me, what else can I do?’
"Holly, for my sake, please forgive him this once, won’t you?" Stella Grayson pleaded, swallowing her pride for her son’s sake.
Holly said nothing.
"Holly, what do you say?"
The Old Master patted the back of her hand and asked in a hoarse voice.
