Hearing that made my fury spring to life as well. I instantly jerked upright and glared at him. “You’re always using this same old trick. You’ll even betray the ones who are loyal to you. You’re shameless.
Do it then! Make the call! Once you make the call, I’ll bite my tongue and kill myself! Do it! Do it right now!”
Nathaniel, who had always been calm and collected, knitted his brows upon hearing that. His narrowed eyes were telling me that I was being ridiculous, but he was too furious to do anything but glare at me in silence.
He was a man born in a prestigious family; he was a drug lord. Both of his identities were high and mighty. No woman would ever try to mess with him. Perhaps he had indeed come across other fussy women but confidently thought he would be able to deal with an ever-changing woman when the time came.
However, the theory was unlike practical. In reality, he was panicking.
It was the same thing as him thinking that he could control Anthony’s life. That was nothing but wishful thinking on his part.
I smiled sweetly at him before leaning closer to give him a once-over. When I saw the traces of panic in his eyes—the panic of a teenager in love—I said, “Let me take a guess. You were the first person I saw when I woke, and that wasn’t because you were eager to do something to me, but because you wanted to see me at all times, right?”
Of course, Nathaniel was not going to admit to it. He gritted his teeth and forced a menacing expression back onto his face. “Don’t bother trying your trickeries on me. For me to be there when you woke was only a sign of how good the doctor was. It was but a coincidence. Did you think that I’m like those foolish men who’d waste an entire day waiting for an unconscious patient to wake?”
Without missing a beat, I asked, “You won’t?”
Nathaniel froze for half a second before replying, “Of course not.”
That half a second was more than enough to tell me what was the truth.
So he really did stay by my side for such a long time. Most importantly, he hasn’t realized that he’s explaining to me. He told me he wouldn’t waste his time on unimportant people and matters. He told me that himself, but now, he’s arguing with me about this. Good. The more lies he utters, the likelier he will do something that he eventually has to cover up.
“Okay. Then I’ve been overthinking this. I thought…” Instead of pressuring him into admitting it, I lowered my head and pretended to be disappointed.
“What did you think?” Nathaniel asked.
“Nothing.” I deliberately averted my eyes from his eager ones, pretending not to realize that he was starting to be interested in me.
As if he had been humiliated, Nathaniel questioned, “Did you think that I can’t read your mind?”
“So you can read my mind?” Despite knowing that he was warning me, I amped up my ridiculous act and leaned closer to him. Resting my chin on my hand, I continued, “But so what? The better you know my aim, the faster you’ll realize not to keep this up, right?”
According to the rules of the game, Nathaniel could not stop me even if he knew that everything I did was to test his limits.
Falling for someone was akin to a moth flying toward the flame. Even if one knew that a pit of fire awaited them, they would still jump down.
After hearing my words, Nathaniel narrowed his eyes. The fire in his eyes slowly faded away, and what replaced the angry look was a mysterious smile.
However, seconds later, his expression changed again—this time, his face was devoid of emotions. “That’s right. Interesting. You’re making me see you in a new light.”
“Can I assume that means you’re starting to get interested in me?” I asked with a smile.
After briefly studying me, he lowered his eyes and left the room silently.
Is he too annoyed to explain, or does he not want to admit to what he’s feeling?
Confidence still coursing in my vein, I decided that the latter was likelier.
My stay in the hospital lasted for a week. Nathaniel came to visit me almost every day, but he had become much more cautious. Other than watching me finish the food he brought to me, he did nothing else.
It seemed like he was determined to make us partners in a game instead of two people with a budding relationship like the start. It was as if he was trying to numb and remind himself we were only playing a game.
My discharge from the hospital was an abrupt one. I informed no one but Millie about it.
There was no one in the house at all. The silence amplified the sense of loneliness, and I could not help but think about the memories in this house. In fact, I could remember everything that happened in every corner of this house—Anthony playing action figures with Audrey, Gregory using his laptop on the couch, and Audrey coming up with all kinds of ways to mess with Shaun.
All of those things felt like they had just happened the day before, but in the blink of an eye, they were all gone.
Nathaniel was to blame.
“You shouldn’t overexert yourself right after your discharge from the hospital. Do sit down,” Millie reminded.
At that, I took in a deep breath to calm myself down and nodded before letting her help me to the couch in the living room.
After sitting down, I took out my phone and tapped into my conversation with Nathaniel. I then tossed the phone to Millie.
“Compose the message with my style and send him my schedule bit by bit today.”
Millie did not know what was going on, but she did not ask any questions before taking the phone and doing as I said.
Less than a minute later, she threw the phone back to me. “Done.”
I leaned back on the couch, not wanting to even open my eyes to catch the phone. Instead, I slowly moved my hand around to search for the phone. Just as I found it, the phone buzzed.
A glance at the screen told me that Nathaniel had returned the message.
Nathaniel: I’m not interested in these boring things.
Millie sent two messages. “I’m out of the hospital” and “I’ve reached home.”
True disinterest was to not reply instead of returning an annoyed message like Nathaniel had done so. The mere act of him returning the message told me what I needed to know.
Without spending too long mulling over it, I texted back: Is that so? I thought you’d want to know what I’m doing.
Two minutes later, no replies came back from him. Perhaps he was fuming from how I had read his mind.
That was what I wanted.
There was no reason for me to suffer the pain of having my family separated while he enjoyed the time of his life. After all, karma was always waiting around the corner.
After recomposing myself, I then decided to find out more news about Anthony through Holden. Although the latter might not reject lending me a hand to avoid crossing Nathaniel, money was what made the world go around. I was certain that there would be no deal he would not take up as long as what he was going to get was good.
Nevertheless, no one answered the call when I dialed his number.
After a long moment of contemplation, I decided to show him the card up my sleeve on WhatsApp. “Five percent of Featherstone Corporation’s shares. This is the highest price I can offer to you.”
Unsurprisingly, the person I could not get through earlier instantly called on WhatsApp.
The moment the video loaded, I was greeted by Holden’s greedy grin. “My, my, look at me. I’ve been so busy that I missed Ms. Stanhope’s call. What’s the matter? It seems like you’re interested in talking business with me.”
A question that he obviously knows the answer to.
Although we used to be on good terms, we were no best friends. Moreover, I had a favor to ask, so I was in no position to point out that he was playing the fool.
“I want to know whether Anthony is dead or alive,” I told him.
“That’s all?” Holden asked with a smirk.
“Of course not. I’m sure you know that’s not enough to cover the shares I’ll be giving to you.” We were talking business, after all, so I saw no need to be too polite with him.
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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