###Chapter 16: Heartache for Her Foolishness
Adrian Pemberton stood for a mont, phone in hand, before going back inside.
Hearing that the bathroom had gone quiet, he called out, "Nina, I’m going downstairs to buy sothing. Wait for ."
Nina Wainwright’s voice ca from the bathroom. "Okay."
He left with his phone.
Downstairs, he saw Silas Sinclair standing by a car.
He walked up to Silas Sinclair, hands in his pockets, and said with a grim face, "Are you threatening her?"
"No, this is just routine. She is Mr. Hawthorne’s wife. She shouldn’t be staying in the apartnt of a single man like you. That’s basic human decency, isn’t it?" Silas Sinclair said with a smile.
Adrian Pemberton threw a punch, hitting him in the face. "If Mr. Hawthorne actually treated her like a wife, he’d co get her himself! Then you can talk to about basic human decency!"
Silas Sinclair stumbled back two steps from the blow, bumping into the car.
He didn’t fight back, rely loosening his tie. "Dr. Pemberton, I know you’ve liked Miss Wainwright since you were young. You bought an apartnt in her parents’ complex just to get close to her, hoping for a chance encounter. But you never expected that she wouldn’t be living here...
If Miss Wainwright knew that your ’chance eting’ was actually a deliberate sche, would she still trust you enough to stay in your apartnt?"
Adrian Pemberton’s hands, hanging at his sides, clenched into fists. "I don’t care. My demand for tonight is this: if Zachary Hawthorne is a man, he’ll co get her himself! After what he did to her, leaving her to wander the streets alone... Is he even human?!"
Silas Sinclair had been following Nina Wainwright the whole ti.
On Zachary Hawthorne’s orders.
But there was no need to explain this to Adrian Pemberton.
"I am more than sufficient to escort Miss Wainwright," Silas Sinclair said.
Adrian Pemberton finally understood. Neither Silas nor Zachary Hawthorne understood why he was making this demand.
Because they simply didn’t care about Nina Wainwright’s feelings, or whether her heart had been broken.
Or perhaps...
Nina Wainwright was in so much pain because, to Zachary Hawthorne, she was completely disposable.
And his bullying of Nina tonight was nothing more than possessiveness and male pride at play.
Adrian Pemberton’s fists clenched even tighter. "She won’t go with you. If you want to wait here all night, be my guest. But if you dare take one step into my apartnt building, I’m calling the police."
"You’d best think twice, Dr. Pemberton." Silas Sinclair didn’t want to target the people around Nina Wainwright, but this Adrian Pemberton was too troubleso and didn’t know his place.
"I know Zachary Hawthorne is rich and powerful. It would be child’s play for him to deal with a doctor like . But if he does, Nina Wainwright will only despise him more." With that, Adrian Pemberton turned and walked off into the night.
A look of confusion crossed Silas Sinclair’s face.
’He’s not going back inside, he’s leaving the complex. Where is he going?’
*
After her shower, Nina Wainwright felt hungry. She took a piece of at, two eggs, and a couple of sausages from the fridge, preparing to make so noodles.
By the ti Adrian Pemberton returned, Nina Wainwright had already made two bowls of noodles with fried eggs and scallions.
The aroma of food filled the entire apartnt. Standing by the door changing his shoes, Adrian Pemberton looked surprised. "You made dinner?"
Nina Wainwright saw he was carrying sothing and asked, "What did you buy?"
Adrian Pemberton cleared his throat.
His ears flushing red, he handed her the bag and said, "Take a look. Take one if you want. It’s okay if you don’t. I was just worried you were so upset you might forget sothing important."
Nina Wainwright opened the bag and saw the morning-after pills inside. She sat down on a chair, visibly uncomfortable, her voice trembling. "Thank you..."
"You see as a big brother, so it’s my job to look out for your health. Let’s eat first," Adrian Pemberton said, sitting down and trying to sound casual.
Nina Wainwright humd in agreent.
While eating the noodles, she kept glancing at the pills.
Zachary Hawthorne hadn’t used any protection this ti. It was on her to take the pill, just like all the other tis.
A sharp pain stabbed at Nina Wainwright’s heart at the thought.
"If you don’t want to take it, don’t. That stuff is harsh on your body," Adrian Pemberton said suddenly, having finished his bowl of noodles.
"I have to," Nina Wainwright said in a low voice.
"Did he tell you to take it?" Adrian Pemberton asked, a hint of anger in his voice.
"I want to. I don’t want to get pregnant. We’re getting a divorce, after all," Nina Wainwright said nonchalantly.
’Since we’re planning to divorce, there shouldn’t be any lingering ties.’
After finishing her noodles, she took out a pill and swallowed it dry.
Adrian Pemberton desperately wanted to ask how many tis she’d taken those pills over the past three years, but they had only just reunited. He couldn’t pry into her private life.
"Now that you’ve eaten, get so rest and don’t overthink things. I’ll wash the bowls and then I’ll go." Adrian Pemberton stood up and began clearing the dishes.
"I’ll wash them." Nina Wainwright reached for the bowls in his hands.
Adrian Pemberton moved them away and pressed a hand on her shoulder. "You cooked, I’ll wash. Isn’t that fair? Go watch TV or take a walk."
Seeing he wouldn’t let her touch the bowls, Nina Wainwright gave up.
She started practicing her dance steps in the living room.
Adrian Pemberton went to the kitchen and placed the bowls in the sink, but he didn’t move for a long ti.
His eyes downcast, his hands gripping the edge of the counter clenched tightly.
He wished he could turn back ti, back to high school. Then he never would have listened to his parents and left Nina Wainwright.
When he turned his head, he saw Nina Wainwright spinning in the living room.
Even in slippers, her steps were so fluid, without a hint of hesitation.
Nina Wainwright was panting from the exertion when Adrian Pemberton finished the dishes and ca out of the kitchen.
Wiping the sweat from her chin, she gave a wry smile. "Showered for nothing... I was just thinking about teaching Lynn tomorrow, so I’m doing a little rehearsal."
"It’s not like I’m short on money for the water bill. You can always take another shower." Adrian Pemberton walked over to her and ruffled her hair.
Nina Wainwright’s body stiffened. She tugged uncomfortably at her clothes and forced a smile. "Okay... thanks."
After Adrian Pemberton left, Nina Wainwright was about to resu her dancing when her phone rang.
Seeing it was Zachary Hawthorne calling, she answered impatiently. "What do you want?"
"Nina Wainwright, so Silas Sinclair couldn’t get you to co back? You just had to stay at another man’s house?!" Zachary Hawthorne no longer suppressed his anger, questioning her directly.
"What’s it to you?" Nina Wainwright shot back. "You left after one phone call! Do you have any right to care where I go?!"
"Get in Silas Sinclair’s car and co back right now, or you’ll face the consequences." Zachary Hawthorne was about to hang up.
Nina Wainwright spoke before he could. "Zachary Hawthorne, are you threatening ? If I don’t co back, are you going to go after Adrian Pemberton?"
"Nina Wainwright, I don’t have that much patience," Zachary Hawthorne warned.
Nina Wainwright couldn’t help but ask hoarsely, "You’re using him to threaten ?!"
It was the first ti she had ever loudly confronted Zachary Hawthorne.
"So what if I am?" Zachary Hawthorne said flippantly.
Nina Wainwright said, word by word, "Zachary Hawthorne, if you dare to lay a hand on him, I’ll expose our relationship to the dia. Aren’t you trying to maintain your single-guy image for your one true love? Then let’s see who gets hurt more!"
"Nina Wainwright, you’re defying for another man," Zachary Hawthorne said in a low, dangerous voice.
Nina Wainwright was sick of him. A wave of exhaustion washed over her as she ground out through clenched teeth, "If you think I’m defending soone else, then just divorce ! That way, you won’t have to feel like I’m embarrassing you anymore!"
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