My First Love Died, Now My Step Uncle Wants Me-Chapter 89: Giving Yourself Away

Nina Wynn stood at the entrance and saw Caleb Rhodes by the car, waving at her.

He wore a black, custom-tailored cashmere overcoat. He was tall, straight, and carried an imposing air. He stood in the wind and snow without an umbrella, and the snowflakes falling on his shoulders lent the cold, noble man a touch of worldly charm.

In a daze, she seemed to hear him say, "Nina, come here!"

It was as if, many years ago, someone else used to call her name just like that whenever it snowed. 𝙛𝓻𝒆𝓮𝒘𝙚𝙗𝒏𝙤𝙫𝓮𝒍.𝓬𝒐𝙢

She watched him, and a sharp pain suddenly pierced her heart. Still looking at him, she slowly walked over.

She clutched his coat, pressed her face against it, and murmured, "I missed you."

So much.

Cold, melting snowflakes trickled down her face, making it wet as if she were crying. Her lips moved silently.

’Evan Chapman, it’s snowing again.’

Caleb Rhodes was very pleased to see her so docile and obedient.

Today, she was wearing a black cashmere coat, her hair tied up in a high ponytail, revealing a long, slender, snow-white neck.

She looked delicate, youthful, and lovely.

Caleb Rhodes held her for a moment, then turned and took an elegant paper bag from the car. Inside were two gray and white plaid scarves.

He took the shorter one and tied it around her neck, then had her tie the other one on him.

Despite the stark difference in their builds, standing together like this, they looked inexplicably well-matched.

The aura between them, one of a thousand intricate connections, left Willson Lawson, sitting in the driver’s seat, feeling a little baffled. ’These two are already so entangled, you probably couldn’t fit a needle between them. And from the looks of it, they’ll be entangled for a long, long time to come.’

Nina Wynn touched the soft scarf and said in a small voice, "Uncle, you’re always giving me things, but I have nothing to give you."

Caleb Rhodes pinched her cheek, his tone uncharacteristically gentle. "Aren’t you the gift? When are you planning on giving yourself away?"

Nina Wynn’s face grew slightly hot. In a hushed voice, she said, "Uncle, we’re in public! Don’t say such things!"

Caleb Rhodes loved seeing her blush with embarrassment. He held her head and kissed her for a while before pulling her into the car.

In the car, Nina Wynn was a little nervous. She repeatedly asked Caleb Rhodes if he was going to make their relationship public.

Caleb Rhodes knew what she was afraid of. He patiently told her again and again that he wouldn’t, for now. Only then did Nina Wynn relax.

But when they arrived at the Rhodes family estate and got out of the car, she insisted on taking off her scarf before following Caleb Rhodes into the main hall.

The Rhodes family were all there; even Zyler Rhodes was home for a change.

The moment the two of them appeared, everyone’s gaze fell on Nina Wynn.

Scrutinizing, contemptuous, disdainful—even the gazes of the nannies and servants seemed to hold a measure of scorn.

Nina Wynn stood at the doorway, her feet feeling rooted to the spot.

Caleb Rhodes took her hand and said in a low voice, "Don’t be afraid. I’m here."

Nina Wynn clutched his sleeve and whispered, "I want to go back to my room to get something."

Caleb Rhodes’s expression was cold and stern. He said in a low voice, "I’ll go with you later. Everyone is here now, so let’s go have dinner first."

Nina Wynn kept her head down, not daring to look up. She refused to walk forward, just clutching his clothes tightly.

Caleb Rhodes stroked her hair and softened his tone. "Be good. Listen to me."

Nina Wynn just bit her lip, not saying a word.

Caleb Rhodes squeezed her soft hand and lowered his voice. "If you don’t start walking, believe me, I’ll kiss you right here."

Nina Wynn jumped, whipping her head up to look at him with terrified eyes.

Caleb Rhodes’s gaze softened even more. He pulled her forward by the hand. "Just sit next to me in a bit. Don’t go anywhere. I’ll go with you to get your things later."

To an unknowing observer, their interaction looked like Caleb Rhodes was showing pity and affection for the little orphan girl. This made every woman in the room, especially those of the younger generation, burn with envy.

Anyone could understand what it meant to win Caleb Rhodes’s favor.

This was especially true for Crystal Rhodes, who was so angry her eyes practically shot fire.

Today, she had originally planned to mend her relationship with Caleb Rhodes and, while at it, rally the family to convince him to kick that little bitch out.

But she never expected him to actually bring that little bitch back to the Rhodes estate, speaking to her in gentle tones and showing her such care.

In her memory, Caleb Rhodes had never taken care of anyone like this, not even Rosalind Lowell.

And now, Caleb Rhodes, the uncle she had worshipped since she was a child, was pulling out a chair for Nina Wynn to sit beside him. The tenderness in his actions was something she had never experienced.

’Things I’ve never gotten to enjoy... what right does that bitch Nina Wynn have to them?’

After watching for a while, Crystal Rhodes’s expression grew uglier and uglier. She couldn’t stop herself from wanting to erupt, but the person next to her tugged at her arm and whispered, "Crystal, bear with it."

The one who spoke was Ivy Lawson, Peter Lawson’s granddaughter, who was also Zyler Rhodes’s soon-to-be fiancée.

She shot Nina Wynn a contemptuous glance and whispered, "It’s not worth falling out with your uncle over someone like her. I have a good idea, though. We can try it later."

Although Crystal Rhodes and Ivy Lawson were sitting diagonally across the large table from Nina Wynn, she could still feel their hostile gazes.

But Crystal Rhodes and Ivy Lawson weren’t the only ones with unfriendly looks.

The expressions on the others’ faces weren’t much better.

Lana Shaw, in particular, looked so furious her face could have dripped ink.

These past few days, because of Nina Wynn, she’d had a terrible time at home. During the day, she was picked on by the old madam and Crystal Rhodes, and at night, she was condemned by Leo Rhodes. Even the servants dared to gossip about her behind her back.

Naturally, Lana Shaw blamed all of this frustration on Nina Wynn. She hadn’t given her a single pleasant look since she’d walked in.

Nearly everyone’s eyes were fixed on Nina Wynn. She kept her gaze lowered, sitting quietly beside Caleb Rhodes, not speaking or making eye contact with anyone.

It was as if their presence had nothing to do with her, and she was completely unbothered by their expressions.

Her demeanor only served to further infuriate those who despised her.

Among the whole family, only Walter Rhodes’s expression remained calm.

As a man of high status, he didn’t usually concern himself with such trivial matters. However, he still felt it was somewhat inappropriate for his favorite youngest son to want to adopt this little orphan girl.

He planned to have a serious talk with his son later.

With Walter Rhodes as the head of the family, no one dared to say anything if he didn’t speak first. Dinner proceeded smoothly enough.

After the meal, Walter Rhodes had the two brothers, Caleb Rhodes and Leo Rhodes, go to the study to talk business.

Seeing that Caleb Rhodes was about to leave, Nina Wynn grew anxious, clutching his sleeve and refusing to let go.

Caleb Rhodes patted her back reassuringly. "Warner Zimmerman is outside. Go back to my place with her. Ignore everyone else."

As he spoke, Warner Zimmerman had already come in. Only then did Nina Wynn release him. She looked up at him and said in a small voice, "Uncle, please come back soon."

Caleb Rhodes didn’t say anything, just ruffled her hair before getting up and heading to the study.

Seeing Caleb Rhodes leave, Warner Zimmerman said to Nina Wynn, "Miss Wynn, let’s go."

Nina Wynn had just stood up when Zyler Rhodes walked over and asked in a low voice, "Nina, I heard something was wrong with your eyes. Have they recovered now?"

Nina Wynn lowered her eyes and nodded slightly. "They’re fine now."

After speaking, she started to walk out with Warner Zimmerman.

Seeing her about to leave, Zyler Rhodes’s face showed a hint of panic.

From the moment Nina Wynn had walked in, his gaze had been fixed on her.

He didn’t know if it was because she was wearing nice clothes or because she had spent so much time by Caleb Rhodes’s side, but he felt that Nina Wynn was even more beautiful than before. The more he looked at her, the more he liked what he saw.

But with his family and Ivy Lawson here, he could only suppress his feelings, no matter how much he liked her.

It wasn’t until Nina Wynn and Warner Zimmerman reached the steps of the main hall that he couldn’t hold back any longer and ran after them.

"Nina!" Zyler Rhodes grabbed Nina Wynn’s clothes.

"Nina, I want to talk to you alone for a moment."

Zyler Rhodes looked a little desperate.

For some reason, he felt that Nina Wynn was different from before. He didn’t know how, but his intuition told him she was slipping further and further away from him.

She had been hurt before, had disappeared before, had stayed away from the Rhodes estate for days on end, but he could always find her if he wanted to.

But this time, during the days she was gone, he hadn’t heard a single piece of news about her.

It was only then that he clearly realized he liked Nina Wynn. He really, really liked her.

He liked her so much that he couldn’t sleep at night without news of her, so much that he wanted to defy his family to go find her.

He was beginning to regret the things he had done to her in the past, beginning to want to help her live a better life, but it seemed Nina Wynn no longer needed him.

He was actually starting to regret agreeing to the marriage with the Lawson family. He didn’t want to marry Ivy Lawson; he wanted to be with Nina Wynn.

But Nina Wynn’s background was simply too humble to be presentable. For now, he could only think long-term.

Nina Wynn turned, looked at him, and said lightly, "Master Weston, if you have something to say, say it here. It wouldn’t be appropriate to speak alone."

The hazy light made Nina Wynn’s face look exceptionally delicate and beautiful. With her dark hair, snowy skin, and crimson lips, even every strand of her hair seemed to exude a trace of beauty.

Zyler Rhodes was moved, grabbing her hand and pulling her aside. "Come here, just for a few words."

The housekeeper’s face grew cold as she was about to step forward to intervene, but Nina Wynn shook her head at her and said in a low voice, "Miss Zimmerman, let me speak with him alone for a moment."

The housekeeper nodded in tacit approval.

Nina Wynn followed Zyler Rhodes to a corner and stopped. Her expression was cold as she said, "Zyler Rhodes, I know what you want to say, but you might have misunderstood. I have never had any feelings for you."

Zyler Rhodes was stunned. "Impossible. Are you just saying that to make me angry because I’m getting engaged?"

Nina Wynn’s expression was utterly indifferent. "I wouldn’t like someone who poured ice water on my bed in the winter, put thumbtacks in my food, and hired people to corner and assault me in an alley."

Every single word, every bit of punctuation, was an indictment of the past.

Her voice was soft and quiet, yet it cut into Zyler Rhodes like a knife.

With every word she spoke, Zyler Rhodes’s face grew a shade paler. He didn’t dare look at Nina Wynn. "Yes, I did those things in the past... but I didn’t know back then that I would come to like you. Nina, I..."

As he spoke, he grabbed Nina Wynn’s hand. "Nina, I was wrong before. I’ll make it up to you. I’ll give you anything you want."

Nina Wynn didn’t speak, just raised her head and watched him quietly.

She had beautiful eyes, with pupils as dark as lacquer, and she fixed them on Zyler Rhodes.

Her gaze seemed to be full of deep affection, as if her love for Zyler Rhodes was already deeply rooted.

Zyler Rhodes was a bit dazed. He murmured, "Nina, you do like me, don’t you? You only said that to make me angry, right? Because I’m getting engaged, and to someone who has always bullied you, right?"

The dim light outlined Zyler Rhodes’s handsome profile.

He actually looked a bit like Caleb Rhodes. Both were exceptionally good-looking. However, Zyler Rhodes lacked Caleb Rhodes’s cold, noble aura that made people afraid to look at him directly, nor did he possess that powerful presence of someone in a superior position.

To put it bluntly, he was a budget version of Caleb Rhodes.

A flash of sarcasm appeared in Nina Wynn’s eyes as she looked at his face.

’This uncle and nephew pair... not only do they look alike, but their habit of wanting what’s on the stove while eating what’s in their bowl is also quite similar.’

’Both of them have fiancées, yet they still want to be entangled with me.’

Suddenly, a fleeting thought emerged in her mind, and as soon as it appeared, it took root.

She would use his feelings for her to bury him!

’Go on and like me, Zyler Rhodes. The more you like me, the closer you get to the abyss!’

Nina Wynn lowered her eyelids. Her thin bangs danced on her smooth forehead, hiding the emotion in her eyes.

In the hazy light, the small section of her pale, fair neck exposed to the air looked exceptionally long and lovely.

From Zyler Rhodes’s angle, he could see this lovely stretch of her neck and her trembling eyelashes perfectly.

Delicate, beautiful, and possessing a brokenness that made one want to possess and torment her.

Zyler Rhodes reached out to touch her, but she took a step back and said in a small voice, "Liking someone is the most worthless thing in the world. If liking someone means enduring being bullied by him since childhood, enduring him hiring people to humiliate you again and again, helping his sister torment you to death’s door, and now he’s going to marry the person who has always bullied you... tell me, what’s the point of a love like that?"

Nina Wynn turned away, the coldness in her eyes more obvious than ever. "I don’t like you, Zyler Rhodes. Don’t come looking for me again."

Zyler Rhodes froze for a moment, then was overcome with immense joy.

He excitedly stepped forward, wanting to hug Nina Wynn, but she dodged him.

He had no choice but to grab her hands. "Nina, you really do like me! Nina, I was wrong before. It was all my fault."

Nina Wynn didn’t turn back. She stood motionless, the coldness in her eyes exceptionally clear.

But of course, Zyler Rhodes couldn’t see her expression.

She spoke slowly, enunciating every word. "Zyler Rhodes, I will not forgive you, and I will not forgive Ivy Lawson. What you two did to me is something I will remember for the rest of my life."

Zyler Rhodes grew frantic. He forcefully pulled her into a hug and said in a low, urgent voice, "Nina, I was wrong. Please keep liking me. Don’t stop liking me. Keep liking me, and I’ll promise you anything you want."

Nina Wynn didn’t push him away. She said in a low voice, "You’re going to marry Ivy Lawson, what else is there to say? Do you have any idea what she’s done to me? What she did was ten, a hundred times more vile than anything you ever did!"

She closed her eyes, tearing open the bloody wounds deep in her memory.

It seemed only by doing this could she appear more sincere, and only by making herself feel more pain could she gather more strength.

If what she said just now was half-truth, half-lie, then every word she was about to say was a nightmare from the depths of her memory.

"She hired people to corner me in an alley. Three men tore at my clothes. If a passerby hadn’t called the police, I don’t know how many times I would have been humiliated by now!"

"In the dead of winter, she had someone pour cold water over my head in front of the whole school. Because of that, I ran a fever of 104 degrees and had pneumonia for three months before I recovered."

"She hired people to beat me, to kick me in the stomach. The reason I often spit up blood now is all because of them."

With every word she spoke, Zyler Rhodes’s anguish grew. Finally, he cut her off, "Stop talking! Nina, I’m begging you, please stop!"

The chill in Nina Wynn’s eyes was as cold as ice.

’These people not only abused me for so long, but they also got Evan Chapman killed!’

’Why should these people get to live happy lives? The only person in this world who showed me warmth had to die!’

’The people who abused me, and the people who caused Evan Chapman’s death... I won’t let a single one of them go!’

Seeing her silent, Zyler Rhodes grew anxious and turned her around to face him.

"Nina, I didn’t know about any of this. I thought they were just bullying you, the kind of thing you could endure. I never thought they would do something like that... I didn’t know..."

Nina Wynn let out a low, slow laugh. "What kind of bullying is ever ’endurable’?"

She looked up, her eyes glistening with unshed tears, as if she were crying. "Brother, I can understand you. You think my aunt killed your mother, so you wanted to take your anger out on me. I can understand that. Maybe one day I could slowly forgive you. But I can’t understand Ivy Lawson. What right did she have to do those things?"

"Now you’re going to get engaged to her. From now on, you’ll be my enemy too!"

With that, she turned and walked away.

Her expression was exceptionally resolute, as if she intended to sever all ties with him for the rest of her life.

A pain shot through Zyler Rhodes’s heart. He reached for her but grabbed only air.

Nina Wynn walked away quickly, almost at a jog.

Before she had even stepped out of the shadows, she saw Crystal Rhodes, Ivy Lawson, and Lana Shaw standing by the steps, arguing about something.

Suddenly, Crystal Rhodes gave Lana Shaw a forceful shove from behind. Lana Shaw tumbled down like an uncontrollable puppet.

The steps weren’t high, but for Lana Shaw, who was pregnant, the fall could be fatal.

Witnessing the whole thing, the blood drained from Nina Wynn’s face. She rushed out straight toward Lana Shaw on the ground.

"Auntie! Auntie, are you okay?"

Lana Shaw was on the ground, clutching her stomach, her face terrifyingly pale.

She let out a terrified scream. "My stomach! My stomach! My baby!"

Just as Nina Wynn was about to help her up, she heard Ivy Lawson shriek in horror from the top of the steps, "Nina Wynn, why did you push your aunt?"