Chapter 11: My Husband is Dead
Nina Wainwright found Zachary Hawthorne to be quite a confident man.
And while he certainly had the capital to back up that confidence, that capital was of no use to her anymore.
"Are you saying only you are allowed to co to good restaurants?" she asked coolly.
Zachary’s expression didn’t change, his tone as cold as ever. "Are you throwing a tantrum because we didn’t finish what we started last night? Nina, using a trick once is enough."
Nina found herself staring at him.
Her gaze was sharp enough to see right through him.
She realized he had never truly understood her. Perhaps he never wanted to, or perhaps he just felt it wasn’t necessary.
He let out a short, dismissive laugh. "Think whatever you want."
She was about to leave, but Zachary stepped forward and grabbed her wrist. "Nina, I allowed you to be seen with another man to spite once, but that doesn’t an I’ll allow it a second ti."
"You won’t allow it?"
Nina didn’t even bother to look up. "Zachary, don’t talk about being my husband. As far as I’m concerned, my husband is as good as dead."
"Your husband is standing right in front of you, alive and well, and you’re cursing to be dead?" Zachary’s face darkened.
Nina impatiently shook him off. "If you’re so uncomfortable with eating with another man, then divorce . I haven’t asked you for anything. I even transferred the hundred thousand from last night back to you."
"Haven’t asked for anything? Over all these years of marriage, do you have any idea how much your father has taken from ? Can you ever pay that back?" Zachary shot back.
Nina was speechless.
Even three years of her youth couldn’t make up for all the benefits her father had demanded from him over the years.
Zachary looked down, reaching out to smooth a stray strand of her hair. He said softly, "Nina, there’s a limit to these tantrums. We’ve been married for three years. You need to start acting like Mrs. Hawthorne."
With that, he turned and left.
Back in the restaurant, Nina didn’t eat much.
Her appetite had been dwindling ever since she decided to divorce Zachary.
She was clearly hungry, but because of him and what he’d said, she’d lost her appetite.
"Is it not good?" Adrian Pemberton asked, his tone tinged with concern.
Nina shook her head. "No, that’s not it. It’s delicious. I’m probably still full from last night. Not that hungry."
"You look very pale. Don’t worry about your father’s situation. Bridge loans like that are illegal. Next ti they use violent tactics to collect the debt, call the police imdiately," Adrian soothed her gently.
Nina forced a smile. "No matter what, the principal still has to be repaid."
"If you’re really short on money, you can tell ," Adrian said.
"I couldn’t possibly do that!" Nina was so startled she imdiately refused. "Please don’t worry about this. You should eat up. Doctors are so busy every day, you need to eat more."
’This wasn’t a matter of a few thousand or tens of thousands; it was millions.’
’Besides, Adrian hasn’t been a doctor for long. After buying a house and a car, how much could he have left? He’s probably still saddled with a car loan and a mortgage.’
The corner of Adrian’s mouth twitched upward, but the smile vanished as quickly as it appeared.
After they finished breakfast, the two of them headed to the hospital.
As soon as Mrs. Wainwright saw Nina, she grabbed her hand and whispered, "What are we going to do? This morning, a few n ca to the hospital pretending to be patients, asking for your father’s room. Do you think they’re the debt collectors?"
Nina didn’t say anything.
’More than likely, they were collectors for the bridge loan.’
’But what could she do?’
’She couldn’t even find a job. How was she supposed to pay back two million?’
"Nina, you have to talk to your son-in-law! Get him to figure out a way to pay it off first. Once your father recovers and the company starts turning a profit—"
"Profit? What profit?! It’s been losing money for three years, and you’re talking about profit!" Nina cut her off impatiently.
Just today, Zachary had tallied up how much he’d lost over the past three years.
She couldn’t even get a divorce because of these financial entanglents, and now there was a two-million-dollar debt on top of it all...
Nina felt like her family was suffocating her.
Seeing Nina looking like she was ready to wash her hands of the whole affair, Mrs. Wainwright started to cry. "But we’ve already sunk so much into it! Without the company, what will we eat? Where will we live?"
"Mom, for all these years, Zachary has been the one filling Dad’s financial holes. The food we eat, the roof over our heads—it’s all from Zachary. I can’t even hold my head up high in front of him anymore. Can’t you please think about my situation for a second?"
In that mont, Nina suddenly understood Zachary.
Saddled with in-laws like the Wainwright Family, even the deepest love between her and Zachary wouldn’t be able to withstand their constant draining.
It was only natural that Zachary didn’t like her.
No man wants his wife’s family to be a bunch of leeches.
Mrs. Wainwright pouted, her attitude one of pure entitlent. "You’re his wife. If he doesn’t spend the money he earns on you and us, who is he supposed to spend it on?"
Nina was so furious at this statent she could barely breathe.
Shaking off her mother’s hand, she said coldly, "I’ll get a job and slowly help Dad pay this money back. Besides, I’m planning to divorce Zachary. When that happens, if he gets upset and demands compensation, Dad can just give him the company!"
"What? Divorce?!" Mrs. Wainwright’s voice rose uncontrollably.
Afraid of causing a scene, she quickly lowered her voice again. "What’s going on?"
"He won’t get involved with Dad’s bridge loan. Just rember that. I have to go find a job, so you take good care of Dad." After saying her piece, Nina still planned to go job hunting.
Mrs. Wainwright grabbed her, her eyes red. "He wants to divorce you?"
"I’m the one who wants to divorce him! Mom, I’m so tired. These past three years have been exhausting. Can you and Dad please just let be? Every ti I have to ask him for money, it’s agonizing. I feel completely useless, like I have no value at all.
It’s like I can only survive by relying on him, and I wasn’t like this before," Nina’s voice was pleading.
At first, Zachary didn’t care about the money.
But as Raymond Wainwright’s appetite grew, Nina knew Zachary was getting annoyed.
That annoyance seed to peak when Luna Sterling returned.
To use his money, she had to submit a formal request.
And when he gave her money, he demanded she pay with her body...
The humiliation was suffocating.
Mrs. Wainwright looked at her, tears streaming down her face. "At least get him to help with the two million."
"Can you just shut up?!" Nina snapped in frustration. "Does he owe us this? I have so self-respect. I can’t bring myself to say sothing like that."
Nina pulled away from her and left the hospital directly.
She knew that if she didn’t ask, her mother wouldn’t either.
Every ti they needed money, they would push her to be the one to ask.
They didn’t even dare to look Zachary in the eye.
Nina walked around outside the hospital for a while to clear her head, then started looking for a job.
She first looked at dance training studios.
The first one saw she hadn’t danced in three years and rejected her outright.
After running around all morning, Nina still hadn’t found a job.
But she knew jobs were hard to find these days; it would take so ti.
She sat on the street, holding a bottle of mineral water.
Just then, her phone rang. It was Adrian Pemberton.
She pressed the answer button, and before she could say a word, she heard Adrian’s voice on the other end. "Nina, get to the hospital, quickly! The debt collectors found your dad’s room."
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