With the help of her crutch, Nora Ainsworth got to her feet and watched as the other woman’s figure disappeared into the villa’s living room. Nora waited there for over half an hour, but she didn’t reerge.
She held her ground and waited another half an hour. A full hour passed, and Catherine Callahan still hadn’t co out.
She placed her crutch on the bench and, enduring the excruciating pain, slowly walked into the living room herself.
The living room was empty. She made her way up the familiar staircase to the second floor.
Not daring to make a sound, Nora had just reached Quentin Grant’s bedroom door when a gasp made her heart clench.
But this gasp didn’t belong to Quentin.
"Quentin, I just want a child. Maybe a child is the only way to keep you."
Drawing closer, Nora trembled as she peered through the crack in the door. Quentin was lying on the bed, seemingly asleep, his shirt still properly on. But Catherine’s hands were wandering restlessly over him.
From what Nora knew of him, he was a very cautious man. The only way he’d fall for a trap was if it was set by soone he let his guard down around.
Catherine Callahan seed so frail, with her heart condition and eye problems. Nora never imagined she would resort to such despicable thods to try and conceive a child with him.
For so reason, Nora’s anger flared to new heights.
This was far worse than the incident with Leon Lynch.
’Although, this Quentin isn’t much of a man... no, that’s not right, he’s not a *normal* man.’ Nora’s lips twitched as she recalled his extraordinary abilities. ’All you can say is that he has a normal body but doesn’t do normal things with it!’
But! Her inner champion of justice couldn’t allow a woman to molest a man like this. If she hadn’t known about it, that would be one thing, but this was happening right under her nose.
How could she just stand by and do nothing!
Enduring the pain, Nora opened the door to the room across the hall and quickly knocked a few tis. The pain in her leg made a thick layer of cold sweat break out on her forehead.
Despite the pain, she scrambled to hide in the room across the hall.
Her heart was THUMPING wildly. She didn’t dare to move, didn’t even dare to breathe.
She clearly heard the sound of high heels erge from the opposite room, then head toward the staircase.
Nora quietly opened her door just in ti to see Catherine Callahan heading down the stairs, apparently going to see who was knocking.
Though her leg hurt so much she barely dared to move, she rushed back into Quentin’s bedroom.
And locked the door from the inside.
Next, Nora patted Quentin’s face. No reaction.
Hearing the high heels returning, she had no ti to think. She pressed one hand on the spot under his nose and pushed down with all her might.
She finally jolted Quentin awake.
Unfortunately, the spot under his nose was now bleeding.
She guiltily turned her head away.
Quentin slowly sat up. He saw Nora at once and was about to speak. "What are you—"
But Nora clamped a hand over his mouth and whispered, "Don’t talk. Soone’s outside."
Soone tried the doorknob several tis, but it wouldn’t open.
The sound of high heels receded again.
Only then did Quentin rub the spot under his nose. "Why did you dig your nail into ?"
Nora finally let out a breath of relief, then cried out, "My leg is killing ."
Quentin got up, walked to the mirror, and imdiately spun around. Through clenched teeth, he said, "Nora Ainsworth, look what you did! You made bleed!"
"If I hadn’t, would you have woken up? You didn’t even know you’d been drugged! You didn’t even know soone was trying to harm you! If it weren’t for , you might have been taken advantage of by now!"
"Drugged?" His brow furrowed tightly. "By who?"
Nora sucked in a breath. "Don’t you have security caras in your house? You can just look for yourself."
"But not in my bedroom."
Nora had no choice but to explain. "I was getting so air on the bench when I saw your ex-girlfriend go into your living room. She didn’t co out for over an hour, so I ca up to check. Who knew that when I got to the door, I’d see her... doing *that* to you." Her expression stiffened. "She was saying she was just doing it for a child."
"Quite a smooth story you’ve woven." He suddenly gave a strange, cold laugh. "Don’t tell *you* were the one trying to do sothing indecent while I was asleep?"
At his words, Nora almost exploded with anger.
"What—did you say? *I* was doing sothing indecent?"
"Isn’t that the case? Nora, no one drugged . I ate dinner around six, and I cooked it myself. It’s eleven o’clock now. What kind of sleeping pill takes until after ten to kick in? Besides, would I drug myself?"
Nora’s expression went blank. "What?"
"Go back and rest. Don’t run around with an injured leg. Also, rember your place. I’m not getting back together with Catherine, but you won’t beco my wife either. Don’t covet things that aren’t ant for you."
Nora’s lips moved, but she said nothing. She just pulled open the bedroom door.
The mont the door closed, Nora froze completely.
She saw Catherine Callahan standing at the top of the stairs, a triumphant smile on her face. Catherine mouthed a sentence at her, "I’ve known it was you for a while. I just pretended not to know, so I could watch him abandon you."
The pain in Nora’s leg felt like a knife stabbing into her thigh, over and over again.
But she still walked to the top of the stairs. "When did you know?"
Catherine smiled. "Don’t be so nervous. I’m not going to expose you. After all, Quentin doesn’t want you brought into the light, and why would I do sothing he doesn’t want? Your ending is predictable; you’re no threat. I knew you were there the mont you sat down on that bench. That little show was just for you. Did you really think I had to be there in the middle of the night just to question soone? Little girl, I’m a few years older than you, after all. You’re not on my level, so don’t try to play gas you can’t win. Don’t worry, I’ll bury what happened tonight deep in my heart. I’ll even pretend I never knew about your relationship with Quentin. We’ll be seeing a lot more of each other in the future, don’t you think?"
The long speech sent a chill down Nora’s spine.
She wanted to say sothing, but she suddenly felt that any words she could say would be powerless.
Finally, to maintain her last shred of dignity, she lifted her head and smiled. "You’re absolutely right, Miss Callahan. I never expected a happy ending for myself. But... I still hope to outlive you."
She went downstairs, one step at a ti, the smile never leaving her face. She kept it there all the way back to the bench, where she picked up her crutch and returned to her room.
Closing the door, she leaned against it, and the smile finally vanished completely. She reached up to touch her face and was surprised to feel that it was wet.
’Had she been crying? Why was she crying? It wasn’t her fault. She had no right to cry!’
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