Chapter 56: Saviour

Alex gently patted Nova’s hand. "Brother, don’t scare her, that’s not cool enough. You just got back, you should go inside and rest," he said, a light, mocking smile appearing on his lips.

Edward’s brows knitted more tightly. The air in the hallway instantly grew volatile, thick with unspoken violence. "Are you spouting this nonsense to me? You entered my room and took my girl with you, and now you stand here spewing garbage," his voice filled with burning anger.

Alex snorted, completely unbothered by the suffocating atmosphere. "She’s mine now. You should stay away from her from now on, or else I won’t be polite to you."

"I see you are asking for a good beating, aren’t you!" Edward shouted, the tension snapping as he raised his fist high to punch Alex.

But Nova immediately stepped forward, shielding Alex.

"D... don’t h... hurt m... my s... savior!" she stuttered. Even though she was visibly shaking in fear, her eyes were filled with the fierce determination to protect Alex at all costs.

Edward paused, his fist freezing in mid-air as his eyes filled with shock. "Your savior?" He stared at Alex and held Nova’s hand immediately. "Don’t let him lie to you, Beauty. I am your real savior. He wasn’t the one who saved you," he explained, desperation creeping into his tone.

"It was... was you?" Nova’s expression was now filled with pure confusion.

Before Edward could reply, Alex immediately held Nova’s other hand. "Aren’t I the one you saw when you woke up? He hasn’t been at home for the past three days. He just wants to claim the credit. It wasn’t him," he explained.

Nova nodded in agreement and violently snatched her hand away from Edward. She started using hand signals to convey her words, not bothering to speak.

"You shouldn’t claim someone else’s credit, it brings bad luck. I know he was the one who saved me, not you." She glared at him with an unfriendly gaze.

Though neither young master could formally understand sign language, they could roughly guess what she was conveying and understood perfectly.

"Why aren’t you talking to me anymore, Beauty? Talk to me," Edward commented, feeling his heart tighten painfully in his chest.

Nova looked away, tears suddenly escaping her eyes.

Alex, seeing Nova’s tears, immediately wiped them away. "Why are you crying? Did he do something to hurt you?" he asked, his voice soft but laced with a dangerous undertone aimed at his brother.

"He... he... at... at t... the b... bar I worked at, hi... his fr... friends mo... mocked me and c... called me a st... stutterer," she replied, staring at Alex as more tears escaped her eyes.

Edward clenched his fists tightly. "She was deeply hurt by that? I should have killed those bastards. Now it will be so hard to win her over," he thought. "About that, Beauty... I will definitely teach them a lesson for you. Come with me, okay? You still need more rest," he said softly.

Alex immediately pulled Nova behind him, glaring coldly at Edward. "Brother, you and your people should stay away from Beauty from now on, otherwise I won’t be polite with you. Actually, they won’t even have the chance to cause her trouble again," he said, his gaze turning deadly cold.

Edward gritted his teeth together and violently grabbed Alex by the collar. The tension in the room exploded into a dangerous, crackling animosity. "I brought her into this house, and you are trying to steal her from me? Do you think she’s that foolish Nina girl? Leave Beauty and forever stay away from her, otherwise I will forget we share the same blood," he warned in a venomous whisper.

Alex chuckled. "Speaking of her, you just reminded me. Your heart should settle on her, but unfortunately, you killed her. You’re supposed to be hugging her picture day and night. As for Beauty, sorry, she can only be mine," he replied, smiling cunningly.

"This is the last warning I’m giving you, Alex. You should know what’s good for you."

Nova immediately interrupted, forcing Edward away from Alex. She glared at him with her wet eyes and started signaling with her hands again. "Don’t injure my savior, otherwise I will call the police."

Edward gritted his teeth together, the frustration boiling over. "Talk to me, Beauty!" he shouted in uncontained anger.

Nova froze, looking scared stiff by Edward’s shout. More tears escaped her eyes, and she opened her mouth to speak, but then her eyes rolled back and she suddenly collapsed, fainting.

Alex immediately caught Nova before she could hit the floor, lifting her horizontally in his arms. He glared dangerously at Edward. "You are such a beast, Edward. I’m not done with you," he commented, and immediately left to call the doctor.

Edward frantically ran his hands through his hair, messing it up completely. "Why did I scream? Why? She’s such a delicate thing, too fragile. I was supposed to be gentle with her, but... what have I done! I just scared her more!" he murmured, getting incredibly pissed with himself.

.....

The doctor arrived and thoroughly checked on Nova’s body before turning to Alex, lightly shaking her head. The silence in the bedroom was heavy and clinical.

"I must say, Alex, you are usually a gentle type. How come you are like this to your girlfriend?" she asked, staring at Alex with a displeased expression on her face.

"What happened to her?" Alex asked immediately in worry.

"This lady is suffering from severe post-traumatic stress, and there are signs of untreated physical trauma—severe bruising and minor internal hemorrhaging—likely caused by repeated blunt force or beatings. But the worst part is her nervous system is in a constant state of hyper-arousal," the doctor explained, staring sharply at Alex.

"She cannot handle sudden, loud noises. Did you shout at her? That sudden spike in adrenaline triggered a severe panic attack and sensory overload. Her heart rate spiked dangerously high, which caused her to go into shock and faint. If her fragile system is pushed like this repeatedly, she could suffer a cardiac event. She might not make it alive," she said, giving Alex a judging glare.

"Just set her free, and set yourself free if you don’t like her. Why torture her like this? You are obviously going to be the death of her," she added.

Alex clenched his fists even more tightly until his knuckles turned deathly white. "I wasn’t the one who did this to her. And you should never, in your entire life, mention that I should set her free. She’s mine," he said coldly, walking closer to the bed and gently caressing the unconscious Nova’s face.

"I couldn’t even bear to hurt her, but that bastard actually dared to almost make me lose her," he murmured, thinking of Edward. "He must have been the cause of this," he said.

The female doctor sighed, the tension in her shoulders relaxing slightly. "I am relieved it’s not you. But you must pay extra attention to her. I have given her a sedative injection to stabilize her heart rate and ease the shock. She should be able to wake up in an hour. Call me later when she is awake," she said as she carried her medical box, leaving the room.

Alex’s eyes flashed with pure, murderous intent. The atmosphere in the room remained suffocating and lethal. "Edward... it seems like if I don’t kill you, you will forever be a thorn to both of us," he thought.