###Chapter 84: You’re as Stubborn as a Mule
Zachary Hawthorne returned ho a little before eight o’clock.
The housekeeper took his suit jacket and was about to leave when he stopped her. "Did anyone else visit the villa?"
"Yes, a very beautiful woman," the housekeeper replied.
Zachary Hawthorne’s eyes were cold. After changing his shoes, he asked again, "What did they talk about?"
"I wouldn’t know about that. I was cleaning at the ti," the housekeeper said, keeping her head down.
She had learned her lesson. Even if she told Mr. Hawthorne what she had heard, she would surely be accused of not knowing her place and end up getting kicked out of the villa.
Not unless he was truly desperate to know.
Zachary Hawthorne said no more and went straight upstairs.
He opened the door, entered their room, and gently closed it behind him.
On their third wedding anniversary, their relationship had hit an absolute freezing point.
Zachary Hawthorne sat on the edge of the bed and gently pushed Nina Wainwright’s shoulder. "Are you still angry?"
"There’s no need to be," Nina Wainwright replied, her tone indifferent. "You’re already so tolerant of . I should be eternally grateful that you even let go out and work."
He knew she was finding new ways to mock him again.
"I promised her the ring a long ti ago. I got you a necklace. Why don’t you get up and try it on?" Zachary Hawthorne leaned over, his voice laced with a hint of affection.
Nina Wainwright didn’t refuse. She sat up obediently and turned to face him.
Zachary Hawthorne pulled a small box from his pocket. He opened it to reveal a very delicate necklace.
Nina Wainwright barely glanced at it. She couldn’t muster any interest in anything Zachary Hawthorne gave her.
Zachary Hawthorne took out the necklace and fastened it around her neck himself. His fingers gently grazed the chain, and her collarbone. "Nina, you said you’d make a cocktail. Are you not going to anymore?"
They had argued so fiercely outside, yet back ho, he acted as if nothing had happened.
Nina Wainwright found it laughable, but at the sa ti, she told herself not to care so much.
She went downstairs with Zachary Hawthorne, took out the bartending tools she had bought, and sat at the bar. Looking at him, she asked, "What kind would you like? I only know how to make a few."
"Then make the one you’re best at," Zachary Hawthorne said, leaning back on the sofa and turning to watch her fair face.
In three years, her looks hadn’t changed, but her affection for him had vanished completely. Zachary Hawthorne waited patiently for a mont before Nina Wainwright served him a Bamboo cocktail.
He took a sip. He didn’t particularly like it, but the finish was quite strong. After finishing it, he savored the aftertaste for a mont and told her, "It’s not bad."
Nina Wainwright rembered that everyone who had tried her Bamboo cocktail said it contained a story.
But perhaps Zachary Hawthorne had tasted better drinks and couldn’t discern the emotion contained within.
Or perhaps, he had never approved of her doing these things in the first place, so he wouldn’t bother to savor anything she made.
"Alright, I should go to bed," Nina Wainwright said, standing up. Her tone was cool and detached.
’This set of bartending tools, along with the liquor I spent my own money on, had all been for today. But now, it all seems completely unnecessary. An expensive bottle of red wine from their cellar would have pleased him more.’
"Nina, did you have dinner?" Zachary Hawthorne stood up, blocking her from going upstairs.
"I don’t really eat at night. Just worry about yourself; you don’t need to worry about ," Nina Wainwright said, walking around Zachary Hawthorne.
"What did Luna Sterling say to you when she ca over?" Zachary Hawthorne grabbed her hand.
Nina Wainwright turned her head to look at him, her tone feigning indifference. "She said you’ve been in a bad mood lately and that I should prepare a nice anniversary gift. But I didn’t think it was necessary. And now, it seems my decision was indeed the right one."
’After all, I’m not the one who’s going to spend her life with him. Soone else is.’
’Dating anniversaries, the anniversary of the day they t... as long as their hearts are close, every day is a celebration for them.’
"Then how did you know to go there?" Zachary Hawthorne continued to question.
"I asked Luna Sterling. I just wanted to see how much you care about her. Now I’ve seen it, and I know," Nina Wainwright said with a self-deprecating laugh.
"A ring doesn’t an I value or care about her that much," Zachary Hawthorne said in a low voice. "What’s important is the three years of companionship, of supporting each other through thick and thin."
But Nina Wainwright said no more.
"You’re just upset because I wouldn’t give your parents the money they wanted, yet I could buy such an expensive gift for Luna Sterling, so you think I don’t value you—"
"Zachary, I can’t even be bothered to explain this anymore. You’ll always think I’m angry because you won’t give them money. Three years together, the physical intimacy, the countless nights we spent tangled in each other’s arms—in your mind, it was all for money. If that’s the case, what is there left for to explain?" Nina Wainwright pushed him away and hurried upstairs.
Zachary Hawthorne stood downstairs, his expression dark.
’It seems Nina and I can never see eye to eye. I once thought she was gentle and good-tempered, but now I know she’s as stubborn as a mule.’
Nina Wainwright returned to the room, washed her hands, and lay back down on the bed.
After Zachary Hawthorne finished his shower, he saw she was asleep. He pulled her into his arms, placed a hand on her lower abdon, and asked softly, "Are you feeling better?"
"I haven’t been to the hospital yet. I’ll go for a check-up this Saturday," Nina Wainwright said, sowhat resistant to his touch.
Zachary Hawthorne turned her to face him and buried his head in the crook of her neck. He whispered, "Nina, I want you."
Nina Wainwright opened her eyes to look at him. "But I’m still not better."
"Then we can do it another way?" Zachary Hawthorne pinched her chin, his voice low and sensual. His deep, dark eyes were filled with a predatory hunger for her.
’It had been a long ti since they’d been intimate; it was no wonder he was thinking about it. Even I’ve been craving it, thanks to my pregnancy hormones. But he can be rough, and I’ve only just gotten pregnant, so I have to suppress my body’s desires.’
"Like at the villa before?" she asked him.
Zachary Hawthorne humd in agreent, but he couldn’t resist asking, "Don’t you want to?"
"I can’t..." Nina Wainwright refused imdiately, afraid he would get the wrong idea.
Zachary Hawthorne kissed her lips. "Then how can you stand it?"
Nina Wainwright’s cheeks flushed red. "Whether I can stand it or not is none of your business!"
Zachary Hawthorne let out a low chuckle and captured her lips again. "I can help you, too," he murmured, his voice muffled.
Nina Wainwright opened her mouth to speak, but he only sealed her lips more tightly with his.
Kissed until her brain was starved for oxygen, her mind grew hazy.
Nina Wainwright knew she would definitely divorce Zachary Hawthorne because of the baby in her belly... so she did her best to accommodate him.
The thought that Luna Sterling would be the one by his side in the future filled her with an unavoidable bitterness and a sense of reluctance to let go.
She reached out and clutched his clothes as a tear slipped from the corner of her eye.
Zachary Hawthorne’s fingers felt the dampness, and he imdiately released her. He asked in a low voice, "Are you still upset about tonight? Nina, you’re not the sa as her."
’I know I can’t compare to Luna Sterling.’
’She’s the precious daughter of the Sterling Family, doted on and spoiled. Of course the gifts he gives her can’t be cheap.’
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