Trouble in Paradise

"What a miser you are, Mr. Hawk How much did that ointment cost? 20 bucks?" I pursed my lips and looked Nicholas in the eye as I spoke.

I was angry. I was angry that he treated Claudia so well, yet tried to humiliate me with some medicine that barely cost anything.

Shrouded in the shadows, Nicholas scoffed. His lips were curved into a slight smile.

"What about this?" he asked. "How much did Pete's ointment cost? Was his more expensive than mine? Surely it was because mine belongs in the trash can."

He lowered his head further. Feeling trapped, I tried to push him away, but he grabbed my hand and said, "Just because Pete pays you 7000 dollars a month, you value him more than me, who's been feeding, clothing, and housing you for the past four years." I was shocked. Had he always known about the contract between Silas and me?

But so what if he had? He was willing to pay someone else tens of thousands of dollars in medical fees for Claudia's sake, yet he never even offered to take me to the hospital to get looked at. All he did was spend a few dollars on some ointment and brushed me off. I turned away and gave him my cold side profile. I felt

humiliated. "You don't have to rub it in. Four years? So what? I thought I married for love, but you never loved me. The only feelings you've ever had for me can be summed up in less than 20 dollars. Also, stop bringing other people into our problems!"

"Stop bringing up love," he sighed. "I'm 29. That's too childish for me."

"Fine, I won't bring it up again.

He was incapable of love. What was the use of bringing it up to him?

"As for other people, you should know that as well," Nicholas scoffed coldly. "Why did you bring Claudia into our quarrel, then? You know she has a rare blood type. What if she got seriously injured?"

Ah, there we have it. I lowered my head and let out a long

breath.

Was I the one who involved Claudia in our issues?

He was the one who chose to be in a sketchy relationship with her. He was the one who brought Claudia into our marriage!

"I know Claudia has a rare blood type. But so what? Am I supposed to be the target of your enemies just because of that?"

I had felt someone push me from behind earlier that day.

"Nicholas, does my skin look like it's made of metal? Do you think I can't feel pain at all?"

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He sneered. "If you hadn't provoked her, none of this would've happened. You brought this on yourself."

"Fine." I felt helpless.

Taking a deep breath, I decided to stop fighting with him. "In that case, you'd better treasure her properly from now on. Don't let her get into more trouble."

I was being sincere. If Nicholas continued to waste his time on me, I was worried that Claudia's weak little heart might implode.

It was a feeling that I had experienced before, and it hurt a lot.

"Treasure her?" Nicholas repeated. A hint of anger appeared on his usually expressionless face. "Are you telling me to cheat on you?"

I couldn't help but smile. I didn't need to tell him to do anything. He was already perfectly happy cheating on me.

That said, I would urge him to cheat, though. In fact, I wanted to tell him to publicize his relationship with Claudia, just to stop the torment he was putting me through. Forgetting about the pain in my cheek, I smiled gently. "Yeah. I'm pretty sure you know this better than I do. Younger women are definitely more fun than me," I taunted. With me, he mostly stuck to conventional sex positions. It was different with Claudia. After all, she had been hospitalized once before.

Nicholas narrowed his eyes at me. His gaze pierced through the dim lighting of the corridor, but he seemed unaffected by what I said. His phone rang. The vibrations were loud in the corridor. I

realized, at that moment, that it wasn't that he hadn't heard his phone ringing when I called him; he just hadn't wanted to pick up.

He picked up his phone without pause. I thought it was Claudia, but he said roughly, "What, Gardner?"

"Mr. Hawk, the security team just reported that all your cars in the company garage have been scratched with malicious intent. Would you like to send them all abroad for servicing?"