Is he infuriated?
Looking at him calmly, I retorted, “No matter what he did, I couldn’t bring myself to hate him. What can you do about that? Perhaps the person who should accept the reality is you. You can’t make me fall out of love with him. As for you, even if you don’t do anything, people will still hate you and despise you. No one will ever love you and be willing to sacrifice for you.”
“Who said so?” Out of the blue, Nora stood up, trying to restore Nathaniel’s pride. She lifted her chin, looking like a proud peacock showing off its feathers. “As long as he needs it, I will die for him at any time.”
What a romantic confession, but unfortunately, it was ostentatious. She forgot that I was an old friend who knew of her obsession with Armond. “I believe in you. I’m not sure if I should tell you this, but I’ve identified the whereabouts of your son.”
In an instant, the noble and elegant look on her face disappeared. Turning into a loving mother, she hurriedly queried, “When? Where is he? Are you sure he’s my son?”
I did not answer and stared at her with a smile on my face.
Humans tend to show their truest feelings subconsciously. Even though Nora could sacrifice her life for Nathaniel, the people she cared about the most were still Armond and her son. There was no place for Nathaniel in her heart at all.
Soon, Nora realized that her lies had been exposed and she sat back embarrassedly. Lowering her head, she apologized to Nathaniel, “I’m sorry.”
However, Nathaniel was deep in thought and he ignored her.
What could be more exciting than making a powerful and wicked man speechless?
I was thrilled and confident that my words had struck a chord with him, so I decided to take advantage of the situation to tear down his facade. “You’re looking down on Anthony because you’re jealous of him. He’s surrounded by people who love him, but you aren’t. That’s why you want to destroy him. However, that isn’t all. You want to destroy him, but at the same time, you want to take over his place and become another Anthony Featherstone. Nora’s face is the best evidence.”
Nathaniel’s eyes flickered under the glasses. Gritting his teeth, he ordered, “Watch your woman.”
As if he was beguiled, Anthony reached out and pulled my hand. “Sit down.”
Shoving him aside, I continued, “Why? Can’t listen to it anymore? The only reason you wanted Anthony to disappear from this world is that you knew that no matter how hard you try, you will never be better than him and you’re afraid to admit it.”
Nathaniel was enraged by my words. He swept the glass in front of him to the ground and glass shards strewn all over the floor.
I swallowed a lump in my throat and took a deep breath, maintaining a calm appearance.
I knew that jealousy and self-esteem had burnt away the veil of his confidence. His ego was slowly leading him into my trap.
Silence ensued in the room, and the atmosphere was tense. I pressed my lips tightly and stopped provoking him.
It was the same as fishing. After the fish bit the bait, one should not reel in the line while the fish was swimming away, as the line would snap if it was tight. Instead, one should relax and wait until the fish stopped struggling.
Later on, Emery told me that it was the first time she felt that a minute seemed to last forever.
A minute later, Nathaniel seemed to have regained his composure. Lifting his head, he said dissatisfiedly, “Do you think that this will irritate me and make me lose control like those incompetent men? You’re too naive. I’m perfect, so I don’t have such flaws. Similarly, everyone knows that I’ve defeated Anthony, and I’m better than him. This is an indisputable fact.”
“Is that so? Then let me ask you a question. Do you think Anthony has ever loved me?” I asked calmly.
“Of course.” A hint of delight flashed across Nathaniel’s eyes. “Unfortunately, it was ruined by me.”
“Oh, really? Then he should show you his gratitude. Otherwise, he would need to give up his life and pride because of love and live in agony. Anthony Featherstone, you’re so lucky.” Both Anthony and Emery were confused and could not comprehend what I was doing.
Luckily, Nathaniel took the bait. “What are you trying to say?”
I quickly turned around and fixated my gaze on him. “It’s very simple. You don’t even dare to love someone. How can you say that you’re better than him?”
Listening to that, Nathaniel lowered his head, seemingly mulling over my words.
Afraid that he would see through my trick, I immediately continued and interrupted his thoughts, “Didn’t you say that you can’t understand my foolish behavior of sacrificing everything for love? Perhaps you’ll only understand how difficult it is to control your emotions when you really fall in love with someone. Even so, Anthony managed to break free from it. How can I not love such a man? If you don’t have confidence in yourself, then you don’t have to try. Not everyone can get out of it without getting hurt. Admitting that you’re inferior to others is better than falling for someone, right?”
Never had I imagined that I was so good at bluffing.
Just as I was about to breathe a sigh of relief, Nathaniel stood up abruptly and left the private room without saying a word. It happened in a split second, and Nora could not react immediately. She only snapped back to reality and chased after him after a moment.
As a result, my heart missed a beat, and I started to grow anxious. I was not sure whether the words I had said earlier could persuade him. If he found out that I was setting him up and decided to deal with us in a fit of anger, then we would be doomed.
On the contrary, if he accepted the challenge, then we would be one step away from victory.
Once he fell in love with someone, she would become his weak spot, and when he had a weak spot, he would no longer be indestructible.
As the sound of Nora’s heels gradually faded away, I slowly calmed down. Losing strength, I propped myself up with my hands on the table to support my body.
“You’re always so reckless.”
Hearing Anthony’s voice, I remembered that he was still there. I raised my head and looked at him. “I’ve always been like this. You only realize that now?”
His black eyes glittered under the light. For some reason, I felt that it was because of me. However, in the next second, he ignored my words and walked away.
My gaze was fixated on him until his tall figure disappeared from my sight. Feeling discouraged, I fell back into the chair.
While sighing, I lifted my hand to press my temple.
“What a bluff. Why didn’t I realize that you have such an ability before?” Emery was greatly shocked by the scene earlier.
“Nathaniel forced it out of me.” I waved my hand and continued weakly, “I’m not sure if I can succeed or not. We’d better not count the chickens before they hatch. Nathaniel is always acting out of the norm.”
“I think you’ve been quite unpredictable as well recently. The two of you are a good match,” Emery joked.
“Ew!” I was jolted awake by her words. “What nonsense are you saying? I’m doing all this to survive. Don’t curse me.”
“What’s the matter? If Nathaniel does use you as his test subject, you can take this opportunity to get your revenge.”
I shook my head vigorously. “The situation is already complicated enough. Nathaniel is such a scary man. I don’t think I can handle him. Besides, there are so many women in this world. Why would he choose a woman who is divorced and has given birth?”
“Well, that does make sense.” Emery quirked her eyebrows and did not continue the topic. She lowered her head and started to eat.
I looked at her and remembered about Hunter, so I queried, “What about you and Xavier’s father?”
“What about us?” Emery did not even lift her head and was all focused on eating.
If she was being so open about it, it proved that there was nothing between them. If something was up, just like Alexander, she would have acted awkwardly.
Thinking of that, I did not pursue the matter any further. “Oh, it’s nothing. I happened to meet him earlier today.”
Emery was unbothered. She placed a piece of abalone on my plate and commented, “I’ve hired a new chef, and he’s really good at cooking seafood. Hurry up and try it…”
When I left The Jade, my phone rang. It was a message from John: How is it? Was it successful?
It seemed that it was the same for everyone. No one knew what Nathaniel would do and could only wait for a relatively safe time to ask about the result.
Even though I was not utterly confident, my intuition told me that it was not much of a problem. Thus, I replied jokingly: Have confidence in your acting skills.
Soon, I received a text from him: Then it’s done.
After a while, he sent me another message: You can’t have possibly used the excuse of acting to voice out your true feelings, right? When you said that you would choose Anthony over me, I felt so upset.
New Book: Back Home to Marry Off Myself
Loredana’s father left the family for his mistress, leaving them to fend for themselves abroad. When life was at its toughest, her father showed up with “good news” after 8 years of absence: To marry off Loredana to a paralyzed son of the wealthy Mendelsohn family.
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