Chapter 912 Who Allowed You To Protect Her

"Ahem."

Carla coughed, rolling her eyes. After a pause, she said, "No, I didn't see anything. Because of the angle from my periphery, you were completely out of my scope vision so don't worry, Steven. Don't take it to heart so much, Steven. I know it is difficult. But I'm sure you can move on sooner or later."

The best part was that communication in Yu Sea City was not as developed as they thought. Hence, people outside the city knew nothing about what had happened here.

Steven lowered his head and smiled bitterly. An inexplicable pain spread all over his face.

From last night to now, what he had gone through was an unimaginably dreadful catastrophe that left a deep scar in his heart and could never be healed.

Steven's heart wrenched at the very thought of it. He had never done anything to hurt anyone in his entire life. Yet this was what he got in return!

His heart was bitter and filled with hatred. He hated why he was fated to go through this- being naked all night and exposed to the public as an animal. The humiliation and shame that he had gone through could never be expressed through words. How could he ever get over this in his lifetime? It was a nightmare that he would have to live with for the rest of his life.

However, when he saw Carla and when he painted for her, he somehow felt that everything happened for a reason.

"I don't care what people think of me. All I want is to have a clear conscience,"

Steven said a calm and feeble voice.

At the very beginning, he was angry and frustrated. But now, he felt calm in his heart. As if what happened in the past few days only made him better and stronger. Probably having Carla beside him at this time also helped him a lot. He was now able to face everything calmly.

"Steven, you have to learn to keep your head down. What I mean to say is that not all situations are the same. Not all the people we meet in the course of our lives are the same. Sometimes you need to make compromises depending on the situation and the people you are dealing with. Yes. Your dignity is important, but it is not as important as your life,"

Carla looked at him compassionately and whispered to him.

Steven had a very strong mind. He even held his craft with high respect. Had it been someone else, that person would have given in to Pamela long before in order to save his own life.

But a person like Steven could not stoop that low in that manner.

"I know. If it was for something else, I might have said yes. But Lucia wants me to marry her and settle down here in Yu Sea City forever. And Pamela asked me to sell my dignity and paint for her guests. How could I make a choice? Both are the things that I value the most. And they show no respect for art,"

Steven said and let out a heavy sigh.

"If I could do what Pamela demanded me to do, I don't know if I could use my paint brush ever again..."

Passion for one's craft and their commitment towards it is built over a long time. These values become so much ingrained in the soul that they define the entire course of one's life.

If thes

've ever heard!"

Lucia laughed aloud till there were tears in her eyes. Then all of a sudden, she lifted the whip and hurled it at Carla and screamed in a domineering manner.

"Who do you think you are? How dare you talk to me like that? !"

As the whip was about to hit Carla, she did not even have time to dodge it.

Steven rushed to Carla immediately and covered her with his body. The whip landed on his back.

"Steven!"

Carla shouted holding his arms that he used to shield her from Lucia.

"I'm fine."

Then he let go of her and said, "Please just leave. Leave me here. Please. I'm begging you!"

The longer Carla stayed here, the worse it would be for both Carla and Steven. Lucia would make use of her against him. Once Lucia realized that Carla was his weakness, he would have no other option than to give in to the whims of Lucia in order to protect Carla.

"Steven, who asked you to protect her? !"

Although Lucia was mad at Steven, she didn't want to hurt him at all. But here he was. Ready to be whipped by her in order to save another woman?

Jealousy and anger started seething in Lucia's heart. Her eyes turned red and her face looked grim.

Unable to contain her anger, Lucia suddenly stepped forward, grabbed Steven's shoulder, pulled him back and pushed him to the wall. "Answer me! Who asked you to protect her? Tell me! Who told you, you could do that?"

Steven remained calm and didn't resist when Lucia grabbed his collar. Then he said slowly, "She came here to save me. If she gets hurt again because of me, I will owe her more."

Lucia looked into Steven's eyes breathing heavily. But his reply seemed to pacify her to some extent. However, the next moment her face changed. "Really? So you mean that you don't love her at all. You only did all this just for friendship?" Lucia asked, raising one of her eyebrows.

"I…… I guess so," Steven replied

After hearing Steven, Lucia looked up and laughed. She pinched his chin and said, "Really? Then prove it to me!"

Saying this, she suddenly kissed his lips.