Chapter 4 Chapter Four

Arriving in Thunderwind Gardens, Alex immediately said good morning to Penny and her parents.No matter by anyone's standards, Master Luo and his wife are a strange couple. George is a scholar-type man who concentrates on studying Greek and Latin. Sometimes he will lock himself in his study for several days and give him three meals Go inside and have no interest in the outside world.Such recklessness and carelessness led to his mismanagement of the family estate and inherited wealth. As for his wife Dolly, she is a charming but often flustered woman.Round eyes, curly hair that flicks from time to time, loves social gossip and banquets, and has always wholeheartedly expected her daughter to have a spectacular and luxurious wedding, making a sensation in the social circle.

Alex could see how they could have produced a child like Penny, quiet, shy, cute - Pinnie was the perfect combination of those traits.As for Lily...it's hard to imagine how she came from this family.Alex couldn't blame them for driving Lily out of the house, otherwise everyone would be in trouble. He had no doubt that she was born out of conflict, disturbed everywhere, turned the people around her upside down, almost crazy before giving up.Since meeting Milton, Alex couldn't stop himself from thinking about her, secretly glad that she was expelled from the family.With luck, he could never have to suffer her presence again.

Mrs. Dolly happily informed him that the wedding arrangements were going well, and that the vicar would be visiting after evening. "Very well," Alex said, "let me know when he comes." "Lord Ray." Dolly said enthusiastically, pointing to a long cushion between her and Penny, "won't you have tea with us?" Alex was keenly aware that suddenly, Penny looked as flustered as a bunny in the presence of a wolf.He declined the invitation, not wanting to put up with Dolly talking about flower arrangements and wedding details. "Thank you, but I still have to deal with some business matters. I'll see you at dinner."

"Yes, my lord." The two women murmured: one was disappointed, the other barely concealed the relief in her heart. Alex locked himself in the study, looking at the pile of documents and account books. Originally, he could let the property manager handle it, but after Lorraine died, he worked far more than necessary, and used work to escape loneliness and remember.He is most often locked in the study, enjoying the tranquility and order here.All kinds of books are classified in detail and arranged neatly, and the furniture is also carefully arranged. Even the wine is arranged according to the region of origin.

The inside of the study is spotless everywhere, as is the entire Thunder Wind Garden, there are a total of fifty servants in the house, and another thirty are in charge of the land, gardens and stables outside the house.When visitors come to visit, they are full of praise for this garden-like mansion. The mansion is not only magnificent, but also has a collection of many works of art. The whole mansion includes summer hall and winter hall, breakfast room, coffee room, two A large dining room for dining, countless bedrooms and dressing rooms, a spacious kitchen, library, hunting room, and two large living rooms that occasionally merge into one large banquet hall.

Penny should be able to manage such a large mansion, and Alex firmly believed that having been taught this since she was a child, she would undoubtedly be able to play the role of wife without any difficulty.She was intelligent by nature, quiet and submissive, and although he had not yet met his younger brother Henry, he was a well-behaved boy, and they were likely to get on well. A knock on the door broke the silence of the library. "Who is it?" Ali asked bluntly. The door swung open, and Penny poked her head in, much to his chagrin with her overly cautious attitude.God!As if she felt that meeting him was a dangerous undertaking.Is he really that scary?Maybe his attitude is occasionally abrupt, but even if he wants to change it is difficult.

"It's you," he said. "Come in." "My lord," said Penny timidly. "I—I wonder if the hunt was a success? Did you think it was fun?" Alex suspected her mother had sent her to ask, since Penny had never reached out to him. "It's okay." He put the documents aside and turned to face her.Penny wobbled uneasily, as if his gaze made her nervous. "A rather interesting thing happened on the first day." There was a hint of faint interest on her face. "Ugh, my lord? Was it some kind of accident? A collision of horses?"

"So to speak," he said sarcastically. "I collided with your sister." Penny gasped. "Lily is there! Ugh, my God..." She was speechless, closed her mouth, and looked at him helplessly. "She stands out." Alex's tone was definitely not a compliment. Penny nodded. "Usually there's no such thing as a middle-of-the-road in Lily, anyone either likes it very much, or—" She paused, shrugging helplessly. "Yes." Alex said sarcastically. "I fell right into the latter category." "Oh." Penny frowned slightly. "Of course, you're both quite insistent on your opinions."

"Put it softly." Alex stared at her carefully, and seeing Lily's shadow on Penny's sweet, gentle face was disturbing. "We're talking about you," he said abruptly. Her eyes widened apprehensively. "My lord, I should make it clear that what Lily said does not represent me or my family." "I know." "What did you say?" she asked timidly. "Your sister's claim that I must have frightened you, hasn't it?" Under his calm scrutiny, her face flushed. "A little, my lord," she admitted. Alex found her sweet shyness irritating, and wondered if she dared to contradict him.Especially when he did something that displeased her, would she dare to lose her temper with him.

He got up and walked over to her, noticing immediately that she flinched involuntarily.He stood beside her with his hands on her waist. Although Penny lowered her head, Alex noticed that she took a quick breath. At that moment, he waved away the disturbing scene in his mind!He lifted Lily from the ground, and her petite body lay in his arms.Even though Ping Ni is taller and plumper than her sister, she gives the impression of being softer and smaller. "Look at me." Alex said quietly, and Penny obeyed immediately, and he looked into those black eyes that were exactly like Lily's, except they were full of amazing innocence instead of deep flames. "You have no reason to be upset, I will not hurt you."

"Yes, my lord," she whispered. "Why don't you call me Alex?" he'd asked before, but it seemed difficult to get her to call him by his name. "Oh, I... I can't." He tried his best to suppress his impatience. "Try it." "Alex." Penny murmured. "Very good." He lowered his head and kissed her lips lightly.Ping Ni didn't move, she just brushed his shoulder with her hand.Alex extended the kiss, increasing the pressure on his mouth slightly.It was the first time he had tried to ask for a reaction other than compliant acceptance, and her lips were still cool and unresponsive.Dazed and bewildered for a split second, Alex realized with exasperation that Penny considered his embrace a duty she had to live with. He raised his head and looked down at her calm expression, he looked like a child who obediently took a mouthful of medicine, and was enduring the bitter taste of the medicine at the moment.In his life, he had never touched a woman, and he thought that kissing him was an inescapable responsibility. Alex's bushy eyebrows frowned. "Damn it! I don't have to be put up with!" he said darkly. Penny stiffened in alarm. "My lord?" Alex knew he was supposed to be a gentleman, treating her with tenderness and respect, yet his hot-blooded nature demanded a response from her. "Kiss me!" he commanded, pressing her against his body. Ping Ni screamed, turned away, and slapped him. It wasn't really a slap, it was like a pat on his face, and Penny stepped back to the door, watching him with tears in her eyes. "My lord, are you testing me?" she asked hurtfully. Alex looked at her for a long time, deliberately pretending to be expressionless, but he knew in his heart that he was too unreasonable to expect what she couldn't or wouldn't give.He cursed himself silently, wondering why he had such a wicked emotional reaction. "Sorry, I didn't understand." Penny nodded uncertainly. "I think the thrill of hunting is still alive, and I've heard that primal atmosphere has a great effect on men." He smiled mockingly. "maybe." "Can I resign now?" Wordlessly he waved her away. Penny stopped at the door and turned her head. "My lord, please don't underestimate Lily, she is not an ordinary woman. Lily is brave and stubborn by nature, and she used to protect me when I was a child, lest anyone or anything frighten me." What Penny said was beyond Alex's expectation, he rarely heard Penny say so much in one breath. "Is she close to your parents?" "She only got along with my Aunt Sally, who was just as unorthodox as my sister, always looking for adventure and doing unconventional things. When she died a few years ago, the entire estate went to Lily." So Lily's way of making a living came from this.This information does not help to improve Alex's opinion of her. Perhaps she deliberately wins the old woman's favor, and lingers on the sick bed, thinking in her heart that she can inherit the old woman's inheritance. "Why isn't she married?" "Lily used to say that marriage is a terrible situation, designed for a man's benefit." Penny cleared her throat. "As a matter of fact, she doesn't think much of men, although she seems to enjoy their company. Such as hunting, shooting, gambling, etc..." "Wait," Alex repeated sarcastically. "Does your sister have any special friends?" This question seemed to puzzle Penny, and she didn't quite understand what he meant, but she still answered it leisurely. "Special? Uh...uh... Lily is often with a man named Kerrick, who she mentioned to me in a letter." "Korik?" An obscene scene clearly emerged, and Alex pursed his lips in disgust. He himself was a member of the Keshi Club and had met its operator, Ke Ruike, twice.There is also a reason for Luo Lili's choice to be with the kind of lower-class Londoners who are secretly called "hooligans" in social circles.She undoubtedly has the moral outlook of a "prostitute", because making "friends" with Koshi cannot have other meanings.How could a woman who was born in a country gentleman's family, educated, and had everything she needed could be willing to degenerate to such a state?This is undoubtedly Luo Lili's own choice, step by step to the extent of humiliating the family today. "Lily is just too lively," Penny guessed what he was thinking. "If she hadn't been abandoned many years ago, she might be very different today, that betrayal and humiliation ... I believe it led her to do many reckless things, at least that's what mum said." "Why didn't she—" Alex kept silent and looked out of the window, the sound of the carriage alerted him. "Has your father had a visitor today?" Penny shook her head in agreement. "No, my lord, it's probably the tailor's assistant. Come and measure my wedding dress. But I thought they were making an appointment tomorrow, not today." Alex couldn't say why, but there was a feeling... a very bad premonition, a sixth sense that seemed to send a spark of warning. "Let's go see who it is." He opened the library door and strode out into the gray and white marble foyer, with Penny following him."I'll take care of it," he said to the elderly porter, Steve, and walked to the front door. Steve didn't agree with his master's unusual behavior, but he didn't object. A luxurious black and gold carriage rolled over and parked in the driveway ahead, without any recognizable family emblem on the carriage. "I don't recognize this carriage." Standing beside Alex, Penny murmured. The porter opened the door and set up a small square step on the ground for passengers to go up and down. Then she appeared. Alex seems to have turned into a stone man. "Lily!" cried Penny, and hurried to her sister. Lily laughed heartily.Go down the stairs. "Pinnie," she said, hugging her tightly, and pushing her out of her arms. "My God! What a beautiful little thing, in all its splendor, which has been gone for years—when you were little, and now look at you! Becoming the most beautiful girl in all England!" "Oh, no, you are the beauty!" Lily smiled and hugged her again. "It's kind of you to flatter your old maid's sister so much." "You're no spinster." Although Alex was taken aback and was emotionally prepared for battle, he still had to agree with Ping Ni's words.Lily, beautifully dressed in a dark blue gown and velvet cloak, with ribbons in her hair, looked hard to believe she was the same eccentric woman in trousers astride.She was rosy-cheeked and smiling, like a well-to-do aristocratic lady on a social call, or like a courtesan. Lily watched him over Penny's shoulder, then pulled away, without a trace of embarrassment or unease, and walked up the curved staircase to where he stood, holding out her right hand to him and smiling cheekily. "Attack the enemy camp directly." She murmured.There was a gleam of contentment in her eyes in the sullen and frowning way he looked. Lily sensibly refrained from laughing too obviously, it was no good provoking Ray into a rage.He was angry, though, because of course he hadn't expected her to come and barge into his door uninvited.Oh, she didn't expect that she would enjoy this moment so much; she didn't expect to have such pure joy in provoking this man!After she finished Lord Wolverton, his whole world would be turned upside down.She feels no guilt about what she plans to do.Lord Wolverton was so different from her sister that a mere glance could see the glaring error.Penny was like a frail white anemone, her blond hair gleaming like a child's buttocks, and she had no defense against the rascals who frightened her, and had no other way to do it than to bow and bow like a reed in a gale. As for Earl Wolverton, who was ten times worse than Lily remembered, his facial features were cold and indifferent, a pair of clear silver-gray eyes, and his jawline was severe... There was no trace of pity or tenderness on that face, and his body muscles were strong and tight. Civilization still cannot hide that cruel force.He needs a woman who is as cynical as he is, not to be stung by his thorns. Alex ignored Lily's hand and stared at her coldly. "Leave now!" Lily felt a chill run up her back, but she still smiled demurely. "My lord, I want to meet my family, I haven't seen them for a long time. Before Alex could respond, he heard the exclamations of Dolly and George from behind. "Nina!" "Lily...God..." There was a moment of silence, and they froze there, staring at Lily's petite face.The slyness and confidence on Lily's face immediately disappeared, and she looked like a hesitant little girl. She bit her lower lip nervously. "Mom?" she asked softly. "Mom, can you try to forgive me?" Dolly stepped forward suddenly, tearfully, and opened her fat arms. "Nina, you can come back sooner, I have been afraid that I will never see you again in this life!" Lily cried and laughed, and flew into her mother's arms. The mother and daughter hugged each other and spoke in unison. "Mommy, you haven't changed a bit...look how well you've made Penny...she's the one to congratulate this season..." "Honey, we've heard all about your horrible ways...I've been so worried...God! What's the matter with your hair?" Lily reached out her hand to touch her short, curly hair consciously, and grinned. "Isn't it scary, mother?" "It suits you very well," Dolly admitted. "It sets you off quite well." Lily saw her father and hurried to him. "dad." George patted her on the back awkwardly and pushed her away gently. "Well, well, there's no need to do it again. God, Lily, you're setting off such a show, in front of Sir Ray. Are you in trouble? Otherwise why are you here? And at this time?" "I'm not in trouble," Lily said, smiling at his father, who stood almost facing each other like similar statuettes. "I could have come earlier, but I'm not sure if I'm welcome. I wanted to share in the joy of Penny's wedding, and if the Earl wasn't welcome, I could leave right away so as not to trouble anyone. I thought I might be able to stay for a time or two." A week or so." She glanced at Alex and added cautiously, "I'll put on my best behavior, like a true saint." Alex's eyes pierced her like icicles, and all he wanted was to push her back into the carriage and send the driver straight back to London, or to hell. Facing his silence, Lily feigned uneasiness. "Or is there no spare room here for me to stay?" She raised her neck and stared at the huge manor, her eyes flicked across the rows of windows and balconies. Alex gritted his teeth. His greatest joy in this life would be to strangle her. Her tricks could not be hidden from his eyes and ears.Rejecting her at this moment would put up a sign of indifference and discord for herself in front of her family, and besides, Pinnie was already looking at him with anxious eyes. "Alex." Penny came over and begged with one hand on his arm.It was the first time she had voluntarily touched him. "Alex, there's enough room here for my sister, right? If she says she'll be careful, I'm sure she'll keep her word." "Pinnie, let's not embarrass your lord. I'll come to see you some other day, I promise." "No, I want you to stay." Penny yelled, her fingers gripping Alex's arm. "Please, my lord, please allow her to stay!" "No need to beg," murmured Alex, how could he refuse when his fiancée begged him in front of her family, the porter, and all the servants within earshot? He glared at Lily angrily, thinking that she must have a smug look on her face and a triumphant gleam in her eyes.However, she has a cautious and repressed expression on her face, she has turned into Joan of Arc, God damn it! "Whatever you want," he said to Penny. "Just keep her out of my sight." "Oh, thank you!" Penny turned around happily, then hugged Lily and Dolly with a smile. "Mom, isn't this awesome?" Lily walked towards Alex calmly. "Lei Juetu, I'm afraid you and I got off to a bad start," she said. "It's all my fault, can we just forget about that bloody hunt and start over?" She was so sincere and frank and pleading, but Alex didn't believe it at all. "Miss Luo," he deliberately said slowly. "If you dare to do anything to endanger my interests..." "What will happen to you?" Lily smiled at him provocatively. No matter what he did, he couldn't hurt her. The worst thing happened a long time ago, and she was not afraid of him. "I will make you regret it for the rest of your life." He strode away, Lily's smile disappeared, and suddenly Rick's warning to her... listen to me, Gypsy, don't meddle... don't provoke him... Lily pushed the warnings out of her head and shrugged impatiently.Lei Yali is just a mortal, and she can bypass him to avoid seeing him at that time.Hadn't she just won for herself an invitation and permission to live under his roof for a few weeks?She looked at her mother and sister, and smiled to herself.