Free Web NovelChapter 43: Chapter 43: They Are the Real Couple
###Chapter 43: They’re the Real Couple
In the latter half of the night, the pain from Zachary Hawthorne’s injuries became severe. Nina Wainwright found a doctor, and he slowly quieted down after receiving a painkiller shot.
By nearly nine in the morning, Nina was exhausted and starving.
She was planning to ask Silas Sinclair to take over watching Zachary when there was a knock on the hospital room door. It was immediately pushed open.
Luna Sterling, dressed in a white dress and with her makeup done perfectly, walked in carrying breakfast. The moment she saw Nina, she smiled and said, "I didn’t bring the others today. I’m so sorry about last night, for making you feel uncomfortable. This is some breakfast I brought for you. Why don’t you eat, then go home and rest? I can take care of things from here."
Nina looked at the breakfast Luna offered, paused for a moment, then reached out to take it.
But just as her fingers touched the bag’s handle, before she had a firm grip, Luna let go. Caught off guard, Nina watched as the breakfast bag crashed to the floor.
"Ah!" Luna Sterling screamed.
The hot soup inside the bag splashed out, spilling all over her thighs.
She fell to the ground.
Nina saw that Luna’s exposed skin was completely red from the scald. She immediately tried to explain, "I didn’t do it on purpose! I didn’t have a good grip..."
"Nina, what are you doing...?" Zachary’s weak voice came from the bed.
"Help me... call a doctor..." Luna cried out, her voice thick with tears as she fought back the pain.
Nina scrambled to run out and nearly collided with Silas Sinclair, who was just about to enter.
Silas saw the mess on the floor and that Luna’s legs were already starting to blister. He quickly helped her up.
Tears streamed down Luna’s face from the pain... and soft sobs escaped her lips.
When Nina returned with a doctor, large blisters had already formed on Luna’s legs. The doctor took one look and frowned. "Why didn’t you immediately rinse it with cold water instead of just looking for a doctor?"
In her panic, it hadn’t even occurred to Nina.
The doctor said to Luna, "Let’s start with a local anesthetic. It will be too painful to lance these otherwise."
"Okay." Luna sat in a chair, tears clinging to her eyelashes, a truly pitiful sight.
As the doctor administered the anesthetic, Luna looked over at Nina and said softly, "I know you didn’t do it on purpose. You must be exhausted. And it was my fault, too, for not being more careful... You don’t need to blame yourself."
Nina had no intention of blaming herself.
She knew it wasn’t her fault; Luna had been the one to let go first.
"I’m not blaming myself," Nina said, her tone exceptionally calm. "When you handed it to me, I hadn’t even taken it. I only touched it. You let go first."
Silas, standing to the side, quietly drew in a breath.
Lying in bed, Zachary’s face darkened. "This would all be over if you just apologized. Why do you have to make excuses? Would anyone intentionally spill something this hot on their own legs? Would you?"
’I took care of him all night, and the moment he wakes up, he accuses me of making excuses?’
Turning her head to look at Zachary, Nina asked calmly, "Did you, with your own eyes, see me intentionally let go of the bag’s handle and cause her injury?"
"Nina, so you have to argue about who’s right and who’s wrong?" Zachary held his hand out to Silas.
Silas quickly helped him sit up.
Before Nina could speak, she heard him continue, "In this situation, the fact is she’s injured. Does it really matter who failed to get a good grip?"
"So the person who isn’t injured is automatically guilty. Is that what you mean?" Nina felt a heavy weight pressing on her chest.
She had long known that Zachary was a completely different person when it came to Luna.
But she never expected he could be so completely irrational where Luna was concerned.
’So, in his eyes, I’m really nothing at all.’ ƒгeewёbnovel.com
"Zach, I’m fine. Don’t make things difficult for her," Luna said, frowning. "I was the one who let go too quickly. It has nothing to do with her. Please don’t give her a hard time, okay?"
Zachary looked at her, his expression unconsciously softening. "Okay."
Watching them, Nina felt that they were the real couple.
’So I really am just the nanny he called over to wait on him. Worked all night, only to have a bucket of dirty water thrown on me.’
She gave a bitter, self-mocking smile, then turned to leave.
"Who said you could leave?" Zachary demanded immediately.
Nina turned her head to look at him. "I’m going to get some breakfast. May I have your permission to go?"
"She’s been taking care of you all night," Silas reminded him in a low voice.
Zachary closed his eyes. "Then go."
As Nina walked out of the hospital room, her eyes began to sting. She had only taken a few steps before the baby-faced man and the short-haired woman blocked her path.
"Well, well, look at the red eyes. Did Zach give you a hard time?" the baby-faced man sneered.
Nina tried to walk around them.
But the short-haired woman immediately blocked her again. "What are you hiding from?"
Nina’s face fell. "Have I done something to offend you?"
"Do we need a reason to bully you? Your Wainwright Family schemed against Zach, you slept your way into marrying him, and you stole Luna’s man! And you still pretend to be so innocent?!" The short-haired woman shoved Nina’s shoulder.
Nina hadn’t slept all night; she was hungry, exhausted, and a little dizzy.
Shoved hard by the woman, she lost her footing, staggered backward, and crashed into a chair in the hallway.
Her hip slammed against it, and she sucked in a breath from the pain. Then she glared at the short-haired woman with disgust. "This is a hospital! I suggest you keep your hands to yourselves!"
"A woman who leeches off Zach has the nerve to talk to us! Compared to Luna, you’re a toad on the ground reaching for the moon in the sky! I’m telling you, divorce Zach soon, or you’ll regret it!" the baby-faced man threatened, his expression vicious.
"What do you think you’re doing?!" Just then, Adrian Pemberton’s voice came from behind Nina.
Nina turned her head and saw him quickly walk up to her. "Is a hospital a place where you can just bully people?!"
"What’s this, you’re going to stand up for this bitch? Makes sense, I guess. A bitch’s best trick is sleeping her way into a man’s bed to seduce him. How else would she have married Zach?" the baby-faced man sneered.
Nina clenched her fists and warned in a low voice, "Watch your mouths. Don’t think you can just walk all over me!"
The short-haired woman scoffed, then said to the baby-faced man beside her, "Let’s go. Don’t waste our time on her."
After they left, Adrian immediately turned and steadied Nina. "Are you all right? A nurse said you were being harassed and got knocked over. Are you hurt? Should you go get an X-ray?"
"I’m fine. You don’t have to worry about me." Nina pulled away from him.
Being humiliated like that had taken its toll on her. They wouldn’t have known the details so clearly if Zachary hadn’t told them how she’d married him... ’So, he really hates me that much for marrying him.’
’So every time we’re together... is it just for revenge?’
Nina couldn’t be sure. All she felt in that moment was an overwhelming sense of humiliation. *****
