Nina did not hear any response. She patted John on the shoulder and said, "If you don't answer me, then the painting stays."
"Take it down," John replied through clenched teeth.
That ugly painting had to go. It should not have a place in their bedroom.
It made John want to pluck his eyes out every time he saw it.
His father took that ugly photo of his, and his wife drew the painting and hung on the wall.
If it were not for the fact that he couldn't beat his father or wife, he would have taught them a lesson.
After putting Nina on the bed, John took the painting down himself.
He took the painting outside and started beating the hell out of it like a captured enemy. He guessed it was a healthier way to vent his anger.
Nina stayed inside the bedroom and listened to the snapping and ripping sounds her painting made under John's angry blows.
Her husband was fast, accurate, and ruthless in destroying her masterpiece.
At the rate he was going, he could rip apart anything, maybe even a person.
Nina bit her lip and clicked her tongue. She wondered how much darkness and distress the painting had caused John before he finally snapped at yanked it off the wall.
Then, the noise stopped. Nina looked up at their bedroom door and saw John step
l, where are Uncle John and Adrian?"
Only then did Nina notice that the two men were not in the living room. She guessed, "Maybe they're in the study. They may have something important to discuss."
In the study
Adrian sat on the chair in front of John's desk while John looked out the window.
With his back to Adrian, John was with an unreadable expression in his eyes. After brooding for a while, he asked Adrian calmly and vaguely, "Why did a woman keep silent while engaging in sexual congress with her man?"
Caught off guard by the nature of the question, Adrian spat out half of the tea he just drank. Slightly panicking, he stood up, sending the chair he was just sitting on tumbling backward.
He set his cup on the table. The clatter of the cup against the saucer was loud enough to turn John around.
Adrian started coughing violently. He was choking so badly that he had to reach out his hand and grab the nearest bookshelf for support. He alternated between coughing and laughing, and his face started turning red.
"What did you just say?" Adrian really doubted that he had heard or understood John correctly.
He had just basically told him that Nina was quiet in bed, and that was really not something one just casually threw out in the open.