###Chapter 20: You Want a Child?
Nina Wainwright didn’t answer, rely straightening her clothes.
After a mont, she stood up. "I’ll figure out the debt myself."
From the mont he started keeping a tally with her, she had given up on ever relying on him.
She had been terrified when her mother threatened to jump off a building, but Zachary Hawthorne’s words just now made her realize that relying on herself was better than relying on anyone else.
’If I give in this ti, this will just keep happening. And I’ll always be under his thumb. I’ll never be able to hold my head high around Zachary.’
Just as she turned, Zachary Hawthorne grabbed her wrist. "Nina, do you want a child?"
"No," she denied imdiately.
Zachary let go of her wrist. "Good. It’s best not to have such unrealistic ideas."
Nina truly didn’t expect them to have a child.
But for him to say it like that still sent a chill through her heart.
’Unrealistic ideas...’
Clenching her fists, she took a deep breath, silently swallowing the sorrow in her heart.
Zachary leaned back on the sofa and asked in a light, airy tone, "Silas Sinclair said your mother chased you to the hospital, pressuring you to ask for money, and even knelt before you?"
A profound sense of sha washed over Nina at his question.
Sothing so outrageous would be absolutely impossible in a family like Zachary’s.
Her mother’s actions had given Zachary yet another reason to look down on the Wainwright Family.
"Bowing your head to is better than having your mother kneel to you in public, don’t you think?" Zachary’s voice was laced with amusent.
But to Nina, his words were incredibly jarring.
"If there’s nothing else, I’m leaving." Not wanting to hear another word, Nina fled toward the door.
She had only taken two steps when Zachary wrapped his arms around her waist from behind. "Are you staying at Adrian Pemberton’s place again tonight?"
Nina’s body stiffened.
He asked casually, but she understood it was a warning.
"I’ll stay at the hospital," she said, struggling against his embrace.
"I’ll wait for you to co back for dinner tonight." Zachary released her.
Nina pulled away from him. "I have to get to the hospital."
After leaving Avelon Residence, she quickly hailed a cab. Only after she was inside did her body slowly begin to relax.
That afternoon, she went to the bank, but because she couldn’t provide proof of steady inco, they wouldn’t give her a loan.
She tried several banks, and as the sun began to set, Adrian Pemberton called.
"Where are you? It’s ti to head to the Aldridge Family’s house." His voice was gentle over the phone.
Nina stood at a bus stop, licking her chapped lips. "I was running so errands. I’ll head straight to their place. Are you going too?"
"Yeah, I’ll see you at Diana Aldridge’s house," Adrian said in a relaxed tone.
Nina got on the bus. Thinking about how the entire day had yielded nothing, and rembering the words of the inpatient departnt director, her heart felt as heavy as a stone.
Just as the bus started to move, her phone rang again.
It was Zachary.
Nina clutched her phone, staring at it for a mont before pressing the answer key.
"Where are you?" Zachary’s tone was sour.
"I have sothing to do. You can eat by yourself." Nina hadn’t agreed to have dinner with him that night.
Zachary laughed in exasperation. "You don’t listen to a single word I say, do you? Where are you? Give the address."
"I really do have sothing to do," Nina said before hanging up.
She didn’t want to abandon the path she was trying to forge just for a single al, nor did she want to spend the rest of her life asking Zachary for money.
When Nina arrived at Diana Aldridge’s house and saw Adrian Pemberton waiting for her by the door, she imdiately walked over. "Am I late?"
"No, co on."
Adrian’s gaze softened imperceptibly. "I... I can get you three hundred thousand. If you need it, I’ll give you the card."
Nina turned to look at him, her hands clenched tightly.
She desperately wanted to accept Adrian’s help, but when she thought of Zachary’s words, she felt she couldn’t.
If she took his money, Zachary would definitely find out.
He would surely misunderstand and think she was having an affair with Adrian, which could cost Adrian his job.
"Thank you, but I asked the bank today. I’m going to see if I can get a loan tomorrow by mortgaging my family’s house." Nina finished with a smile and averted her gaze.
Adrian was about to say more, but Diana Aldridge was standing in the entryway, smiling at Nina. "I’ll leave Lynn in your hands. I have sothing to take care of, so I won’t be going upstairs."
"Okay," Nina replied at once.
After Diana left, Nina changed into her dance clothes and followed Lynn Aldridge to the dance studio on the third floor.
Lynn, dressed in ballet attire, did a pirouette in front of the mirror, then turned to Nina. "Can you choreograph your own dances?"
"I used to. Do you want to learn?" Nina stood before the mirror, and upon seeing her own exhausted reflection, she instinctively tried to pull herself together.
"Let see first." Lynn walked to the side and sat down.
Nina found a spot, then rose onto her toes and began moving toward the center of the studio.
The wound on her lower abdon throbbed with her every movent.
Nina danced until she was drenched in sweat, her face pale.
When she finally finished, she looked at Lynn. "So, what do you think, Ms. Lynn?"
"The dance itself is fine, but you’re not in good form today. Ms. Wainwright, I respect you, but I hope you can respect too. Don’t teach dance when you’re in such a poor state." Lynn rested her elbows on her legs, her small palm propping up her chin.
Being lectured by a little girl, Nina looked a bit embarrassed. "I’m sorry."
"At least you’re not making excuses. That’s not bad," Lynn said. As she stood up, preparing to dance gracefully, the studio door was pushed open.
Diana Aldridge looked at her with a strange expression. "Co downstairs with for a mont."
Nina didn’t know what she had done wrong, but she followed her downstairs respectfully.
When she reached the first floor, she saw Zachary Hawthorne sitting in the living room, and her pupils trembled violently.
When Zachary saw her in her ballet attire, a flicker of amusent crossed his eyes. "So this is the ’sothing’ you had to do? Tutoring soone?"
Nina bit her lip, her body trembling uncontrollably.
The last ti, he had also personally found her employer and ruined her job.
"How much do you make an hour for tutoring?" Zachary stepped closer, his eyes dark and deep.
Nina knew he was angry.
"Zachary," she began, her voice slightly hoarse. "Can we talk outside, please?"
"Fine." Zachary took her hand, his tone gentle, but he imdiately turned to Diana and said, "She won’t be tutoring anymore. If you need a tutor, I have plenty of people I can recomnd."
It was the sa trick again.
Nina’s eyes reddened, and she wanted to lash out right then and there.
Adrian, who was standing nearby, frowned slightly. "You shouldn’t make decisions for her. This is sothing she wants to do herself. Why are you stopping her?"
"This is our business," Zachary shot him a cold glance, his eyes filled with a warning.
Seeing Nina’s utterly dejected expression, Diana spoke up with a smile, "Mr. Hawthorne, what if I insist on having her? She and my daughter get along well. I hope you’ll give her a chance."
Zachary gave a half-smile. "Let her speak for herself."
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