You Are The Apple of My Eyes
Chapter 576 A Privileged Man

The heat in mid-September was intense. Nina had only been outside for a short while, but it felt as if she was near a hot charcoal grill.

She didn't know how long John had been standing in the scorching sun.

In the morning, John had told her not to surf the Internet. Later that day, the entire network of Scher Mountain went offline. Then, she saw John standing in the sun, his lips dry.

Nina thought that something must have happened. 'Why is everybody trying to keep me off the internet? There must be something there that they don't want me to see,' she wondered. "Your Highness..." Rebecca called out to her, rushing over with the servants.

Nina turned around and walked towards her. "What happened this morning? Where is John?"

Rebecca motioned for a servant to hold an umbrella over Nina. She had already made up an excuse.

"Her Majesty invited Mr. Shi to have dinner with you tonight."

"Do you think I'm stupid? He almost passed out. What kind of invitation is this?" Nina said angrily.

Respectfully, Rebecca lowered her eyes away from Nina's gaze. "Your Highness, you misunderstood it," she answered calmly.

Nina was growing more and more worried about John.

She didn't really want to talk to Rebecca anymore.

"Tell me where he is now."

Rebecca looked up and answered, "I don't know either." She really didn't know.

With a fake smile, Nina gritted her teeth and declared, "Well then, if no one here knows where he is, I'll look for him myself. I'll search everywhere if I have to."

With a look of concern, Rebecca stood in front of her and said, "But it's hot outside. You might get heatstroke. Let's come back inside."

Ignoring Rebecca's plea, Nina continued to walk on another road. Rebecca signaled to the guards to block all paths.

"Your Highness, please go back," Rebecca pleaded again.

'They're quite determined to stop me. It's no good forcing my way out now. I'll concede for the time being,

Nina thought. Raising her chin proudly, she turned around and went back.

At this moment, Vicente called out from a distance, "Nina, wait!"

"Vicente?" Nina turned around and saw Vicente walking towards her.

"Count Nangong," Rebecca and the others said respectfully.

.

"Queen Anne asked me to bring Princess Nina over," Vicente declared. No one would dare to question what she said, even if it was fake. She took the umbrella from the servant and stood beside Nina. Rebecca examined Vicente's face for a while and thought that she wasn't lying. She signaled to the servants to follow her, and they left Vicente and Nina alone.

Nina narrowed her eyes and asked, "Did my mother really ask you to call me over?"

"Of course not,"

Vicente answered. "You didn't call back or sent a message after I sent you some messages. I haven't received any messages from John either since this morning, either. I knew something must have happened. Come with me quickly so I can show you where they took him."

Vicente recalled the look on John's face when she saw him being taken away. John must have been tortured.

"I saw that he didn't look too well. It was as if he had heatstroke and couldn't stand on his own feet. I came to you so we could get him out of trouble. It turns out that you were trapped here," Vicente said, glancing at her.

"Okay." Nina knew that she had no time to lose. She walked faster, her heart pounding in her chest.

'John came here in the morning, and now it's two o'clock in the afternoon. He's been out in the sun for a couple of hours now.

How could he stand it?

And why didn't I find out about this earlier?'

As Nina's pace got faster and faster, Vicente felt that she had to jog to catch up. 'Strange! My legs are longer than Nina's.'

"I don't think they should hide it from you, even if they were just thinking of protecting you," Vicente said as she walked.

"The real relationship between you and John has been exposed to the public. Cali went to pick you up yesterday, and she accidentally saw him kissing you. Unfortunately, she told a friend about it, and her friend posted it online. Now everyone's saying things about you and how you have an affair with John."

Nina frowned and thought deeply. 'I knew it. I knew it wouldn't stay a secret forever.'

"But don't worry. I have explained to everyone that we have divorced. It will be clear to everyone that there is nothing wrong with your relationship with John." Even so, Vicente was still worried. "I've clarified your status to the public, but it will be a different story if they find out more. So we shouldn't let that happen."

Nina was as cold as her mother, Anne. Anne belonged to the nobility and was once a controversial international star. She was used to dealing with the public, so she just let rumors sort themselves out. As long as the gossip didn't harm the people she cared about, it didn't matter. But if it hurt the people around her, she would fight back at all costs.

Now that Nina was under attack, Anne naturally blamed John.

When Vicente and Nina arrived at the meeting room, they heard Anne's voice.

"So, is this how you protect Nina? She is a princess. The apple of my eye. Even if not everyone likes her, no one should be allowed to insult her. Now thousands are ridiculing her on the Internet because of you!"

As soon as Anne finished speaking, Nina pushed open the door and came in.

The first thing she saw was John kneeling on the floor. Even though he was on his knees, he kept his back straight with dignity.

Standing in front of John, Anne and Bruce just looked at him grudgingly.

John looked willing to receive the punishment.

For John, swallowing his pride was also a punishment for failing to protect Nina. Another reason is that he had to show respect to his in-laws.

"Nina, why are you here?" Anne's voice was naturally warm when she saw her daughter. However, she quickly turned to look at the guards who failed to keep her daughter out. No one could bear to look at her cold gaze.

Without answering, Nina ran straight to John and bent down to help him up. "John, stand up."

John held her wrist firmly, and Nina could feel the heat radiating from his palm.

John had been standing in the sun for five hours, sweating profusely.

"Honey, it's okay." A comforting smile appeared on John's face. His lips were chapped because of dehydration. His voice was dry and hoarse as if he had sand inside his throat.

Even at this moment, John's first thought was to comfort Nina.

"What's wrong with your throat?" Vicente took a closer look and was shocked by John's pale face. She had expected that John would be a little dehydrated, but she was appalled to see that he was almost dried up.

"I'm going to get some water. Vicente, his body needs salt. Go find some," Nina said in a hurry while pouring water for John. "Okay.

I'll get it," Vicente replied, hurrying off to the pantry.

Standing next to them, Bruce and Anne didn't say anything. They weren't pleased that their daughter took John's side.

Nina added some salt to the water and gave the glass to John. She insisted on helping him, but he refused.

Angrily, Nina loosened her grip and knelt with John.

The three people standing were all stunned. At first, Vicente looked worried, but she smiled discreetly when she realized what Nina was doing. "What are you doing?" Anne asked furiously.

Even Bruce, who had always spoiled his daughter, was angry. He stood in front of Nina and said, "Why are you kneeling? Stand up."

Nina held John's hand and looked at him with tears in his eyes. "I'm sorry."

"No..." John wanted to say more, but Nina cut him off. "It's not his fault alone."

Nina's chest felt heavy. John had always been arrogant and proud, yet he was willing to get on his knees and be held responsible for what happened. Tears rolled down from her eyes as she looked at John's face.

"Mom, I know that you are mad at him because you feel sorry for me. But I know that John didn't want this to happen."

By now, tears flooded Nina's eyes.

"John is also a privileged man. But now he is kneeling for my sake."

She grasped his hand tightly. Her heart hurt so much.