Chapter 4. See If I Don’t Kill You

“Shall I do something, Young Master?”

Bruce asked in a low voice as he turned to Ethan. Ethan glanced at Toby’s hands groping Jane’s hips. A glint entered his mild, gentle gaze.

“Look again”.

Beneath them, Jane took in the sight of Toby’s body trapping hers with visible disgust . With finality she said, “For the sake of your older brother, I’m warning you one last time: Get away from me”.

Paying her threat no mind, Toby gripped her chin again, savoring the texture of her porcelain skin. He had had his fun with countless daughters of noble families but never one like Jane whose doe like appearance belied her feisty temper.

He allowed himself to contemplate what she would be like between the sheets.

“Isn’t a life with me better than one in the kitchen, pretty little thing? The work here gets all dirty and tiring, come with me and I’ll...”

Without hesitation, Jane kneed him between the legs, cutting him off.

Toby let out a howl of pain, doubling over and staggering back. “How dare you...”, he seethed, “I’ll kill you, you stupid little sl*t”.

 Jane whirled around and snatched up a knife lying on the chopping board, pointing it at Toby. Despite her small frame, in that moment, her ferocity was unmatched.

“Try it. See if I don’t kill you first”.

Watching from upstairs, Bruce unconsciously clenched his thighs together as he gulped. Jane could clearly knee a man where it hurt with a vicious amount of force.

“Young Master, look how wild this woman is, she incapacitated Young Master Toby just like that!”.

Ethan was shocked that Jane was bold enough to attack his brother, but... “Get me downstairs”. If Toby had dared to lay a hand on his wife, he deserved whatever he got.

Bruce raced to push him towards the elevator. Before Toby had even recovered from the attack to his groin, Jane was already advancing on him, pressing her knife to his throat. He nearly collapsed due to the rage and pain coursing through him at the moment.

In that instant, he heard the noise of a wheelchair approaching from behind him and he knew it could be no one but his feeble wretch of an older brother.

His pride would not let him display such weakness before that worthless creature so he bit back the pain and straightened himself to his full height.

“Your servant girl is out of hand brother, she dared to raise a hand against me. You’d best teach her a lesson”.

At the sound of the wheelchair, Jane had put away her knife. When she heard Toby’s accusations however, she hurled it down on the chopping board violently and it stuck a few inches in.

Bruce swallowed and grimaced, he clenched his thighs together again as he wondered how it would be turning out if she had used the knife instead of her knee.

“I’m out of hand? Your hands were all over me within seconds of us meeting! I’d say you got off too lightly, you sick, retarded bast*rd”.

“You...”, Toby could scarcely believe the audacity of this servant girl.

“Come here”, Ethan beckoned to Jane who hesitated before walking to his side. He looked at his brother with concern, “Where did she hurt you brother? Are you alright?”

The question made Toby choke. How was he supposed to tell his brother that this tiny had kneed him in a man’s most... vulnerable area? Would he still have any dignity left to spare?

 “It’s nothing”, he forced himself to lie, “but the fact remains that she dared to attack me. You ought to put her in her place brother. If it’s any trouble, I’ll gladly assist you”.

It was clear from Toby’s manner of speech that he held a certain disdain for his older brother. That must mean that there was little love between them. Jane considered this for a moment.

The stubborn set of her features suddenly melted into distress as she tugged on Ethan’s arm, her chin jutting out.

“He started it hubby. He spoke to me like I was some kind of pet, offering to buy me expensive gifts and even grabbed my chin with his filthy paws”.

Hearing Jane call him ‘hubby’ in that soft, sweet voice of hers gave Ethan a pause... this coquettish woman. He raised his hands in a gentle caress over her chin, as though to remove any imprints that Toby had left on her skin.

“I know”.

Toby’s eyes bulged out of his head when he heard her refer to him as her husband. “What did you say? How shameless can you get, woman? My brother is a married man!.

Ethan took Jane’s little hands in his and after a cough, he said in a hoarse voice, “Brother, she is my new wife”.

Toby was visibly taken aback. How could this be? When he had heard from his father that his brother was to be married, he had deliberately suggested the ugly, unruly Stacy Harrison for a bride.

Stacy was plump, which had displeased the old man but Toby had assured him that her heavy figure was a symbol of goodluck; plus she was less likely to attract trouble that way so they could feel safe leaving her around Ethan.

It had been the only thing he was able to say to convince his father. But this woman, with her slender figure and pretty face, was not Stacy!

“You must be joking brother, I personally helped pick out your bride, do you think I wouldn’t recognize her? I know Stacy’s no real looker but that doesn’t mean you can go about cheating on her, on the first day of your marriage nonetheless”.

Stacy had been Toby’s choice of a bride for his brother? Jane hid her scorn for this man’s petty malice. And yet... Why wasn’t Ethan denying the accusation?

It would do them both no good for word to spread about her husband cheating on his wife as a newlywed.

 Jane bent down so she was eye level with Ethan, “What should we do? He doesn’t believe that we’re married”.

With half his features obscured by the mask, all she could see was his eyes. Their dark depths were guileless and innocent.

Jane’s thoughts raced silently. What should I do?

She could brandish the marriage certificate as proof. But she didn’t believe that her husband was incapable of coming up with such a simple situation; the wounds to his face and legs hadn’t affected his mind.

Did this mean that he wanted her to demonstrate the evidence of their marriage instead? Only... how was she supposed to do that?

Ethan studied the flicker of emotions across her face with some enjoyment, watching her oscillate between nonplussed and bewildered. This little wife of his was an interesting one, he noted silently.

Right then, a gleam of inspiration lit up Jane’s eyes. She pulled down Ethan’s mask and kissed him on the lips.

“Is this proof enough?”