MIDNIGHT Bride The CEO's TEMPTATION

Crystal nodded, and then she turned to a servant. "Go and cook a large pot of porridge and keep it hot. If he does not eat now, maybe he will eat later." Then she took wet clothing that was on the night table and wiped off the blood around Nathan's mouth.

"I tried to do that," one of the servants said apologetically, "But he wouldn't let me. He even spat blood on my uniform. It should be easier now that he is asleep."

Crystal turned and saw that it was true. He was asleep, after all. "Nathan. Nathan, Nathan," she murmured. Then, she sighed and said, "You are such a troublemaker. And so stubborn too." She knew that he would not let either of them bathe him while he was awake, so she quickly fetched a new basin of water and began to unbutton his clothes. Once he was naked, she started to clean his body.

Suddenly, as she was scrubbing his legs, he woke up, and he grabbed her wrist.

Crystal felt his slight grip and trembled all over. She looked up and saw that Nathan was smiling. Unbeknownst to her, he had started waking up while she was washing his mouth. Up until now, though, he had been playing possum.

"Crystal," he said. "Is that you, or do I have a beautiful dream?"

Crystal's body froze. She was speechless.

"Crystal, is that you that is taking care of me?" Nathan asked again.

"Yes, it's me." She took a step away from him. "You've startled me. That is all. "Anyway, you've got blood in your mouth. Will you rinse your mouth for me?"

"I will if you help me," Nathan replied.

A servant handed Crystal a glass of water, but as she stepped closer to the bed, Nathan knocked the glass out of her hand. "You don't care about me, do you?" he hissed. "If you did, you would have visited me by now!"

Crystal rolled her eyes and said, "Hush, now, and don't talk stupid."

"I will not hush," Nathan growled. "Why didn't you want to take care of me? Are you ashamed of me? Or are you afraid that Eric will be unhappy?!?!"

"You think too much!" Crystal scoffed. She threw the bloody rag in his face and said, "I am not your nurse, and I am not your wife, so I do not owe you anything! I only came because I thought you were dead. Now, I almost wish you were. Now that I can see that you are not, it seems like a good time for me to leave!"

Nathan silently seethed. If he had his strength, he would have put her in her place with the back of his hand. As it was, though, he didn't even know if he could sit up.

Crystal took a deep breath to help calm herself down. "I will say one more thing before I leave," she said. "If you want to live, you are going to need to be more agreeable. Eat the food that is offered to you. Take your medication. And chill out."

Nathan smirked and said, "Ah, so you want me to live after all."

"Oh. My. God." Crystal clenched and unclenched her fists. "You are infuriating." Then, without saying another word, she turned and stormed out of the room.

****

As Crystal reached the doorframe, a final thought occurred to her, and she spun around to face Nathan. "You are going to recover," she said confidently. "I will make sure of it, and it will not be because I love you. Rather, it will be because I hate you. I am sure that you remember how I promised to torture you? Well, that is still on the docket."

"You w-wouldn't," Nathan stammered. "That's indecent…" She had said that she would make love to her husband before him, and he knew that this was the one form of revenge he could not bear.

Crystal saw the look of anguish on his face, and she chuckled. Then she turned to a servant and said, "It's late. Take good care of him and remember to give him something to eat. I'm going back to my room."

"What if I refuse to eat?" Nathan shouted. "I can do that, you know!!!"

Crystal froze mid-step. "What do you want?" she asked. "You must know that I'm not going to let you go, and I am not going to change my mind about your punishment. Of course, I could strap you to a tube, but I don't think either of us wants that."

Nathan was silent for a moment, and then he said, "I understand, and I will eat. All that I ask is that you visit with me after my meals..." 

Crystal gave him a skeptical look. "That's it?"

"That's it," he replied. "There are no tricks up my sleeve. If you sit with me, I will eat, and as I recover, you can do whatever you want to me."

"Fine." Crystal nodded and said, "I will come as soon as you finish your meals. If you do not eat, I will not come."

"And I would like it if you would make me a puppet," Nathan added. "I think that is also fair."

"A puppet?" Crystal's brow furrowed. He is audacious as ever - she thought - Even now, he is calling the shots... And I am actually considering his request!

"I want to put a recording in the puppet," Nathan explained. "In the recording, I want to hear the most beautiful sounding words in the world. Can I have one?"

"Don't push your luck!" Crystal replied. "I have agreed to visit you, which is more than you deserve after everything that you have done to me. Now, why don't you focus on eating and getting better?"

Just then, a servant appeared with a bowl of porridge. She came to stand by the side of the bed, and Nathan accepted the food that she offered. He chewed, swallowed, and asked for more. All through the meal, though, his eyes remained fixed on Crystal. It was as if he were afraid that she would leave him at any minute.

Crystal frowned. She felt like he was holding her hand to swim, and she suddenly felt very confused. She thought - If he didn't care about me, why did he come to my wedding? And why does my love for Eric irritate him as much as it does?

She thought that it might be because he was possessive by nature, but she was not convinced.