Free Web NovelChapter 59: Chapter 59: Who Are You Calling a Mistress?
###Chapter 59: Who Are You Calling the Other Woman?
Zachary Hawthorne stared at her intently. After a long moment of contemplation, he said coolly, "Nina, you know that one lie requires countless others to cover it up. I hope you’re telling the truth this time."
His words sent a chill down Nina Wainwright’s spine.
He was right... A quick trip to the hospital would reveal whether it was really just an inflammation or not.
If she refused to go, she would have to come up with another lie.
Despair flooded her heart. A sense of powerlessness drained the strength from her limbs.
"Have you been applying the ointment properly?" Zachary’s hand rested on her shoulder, his tone softening unconsciously.
He didn’t press the issue of going to the hospital.
Nina breathed a sigh of relief. "Grandma Pemberton treated it for me," she said softly. "I just need to abstain from sex for a while, and it should heal."
"How long?" Zachary couldn’t wait too long.
Besides, he still had his doubts.
"About a month," Nina said. ’I’ll deal with it again in a month...’ she thought. ’By then, the fetus might be stable. A divorce would be for the best.’
So, before Zachary discovered her pregnancy, she had to make him give up on their marriage.
"Find some time to go to the hospital with me for a check-up," Zachary said, grabbing her clothes for her.
Nina hummed in agreement.
With the immediate problem resolved, she could at least breathe a temporary sigh of relief.
As she got dressed, she recalled the message she had received about Luna Sterling’s pregnancy. ’Maybe I can use this to my advantage...’ No matter what, things had reached a point where she had to act. Dragging it out any longer wouldn’t do her any good.
Zachary had breakfast with her and waited until she fell asleep before leaving for the office.
Nina didn’t sleep for long.
She was woken up by a phone call from Luna Sterling.
She pressed the answer button, her voice slightly hoarse. "Miss Sterling, is there something I can help you with?"
Nina had saved Luna’s number after she had messaged her in the past.
"Nina, I know you don’t like Caleb Ford and Talia Talbot. What they did to Dr. Pemberton’s grandparents was truly shameless... But this whole thing started because of me, so I want to apologize. I genuinely think you and Zach are a great match, and I want you two to be happy. I came to the villa because I understood what Zach wanted—he hoped we could get along," Luna Sterling explained laboriously.
That was what Zachary had said, too. fɾeewebnoveℓ.co๓
’They really are two peas in a pod.’
They understood each other perfectly, while she was just an outsider.
Nina hummed in acknowledgment, her voice exceptionally calm as she asked, "And what about your child?"
Luna suddenly went silent.
Nina waited quietly, in no hurry.
"Nina... I’m so sorry. I was wrong. I shouldn’t have done this, shouldn’t have come between you two," Luna finally said, her voice filled with guilt.
"If I don’t get a divorce, your child will be labeled illegitimate for their entire life. Can you accept that?" Nina asked, her voice still calm.
"That’s my business. I won’t ruin your marriage," Luna said, swearing up and down.
Nina wanted to laugh.
She said she didn’t want to ruin anything... but she already had.
Calling Zachary in the middle of the night, asking for his help with things, monopolizing all his free time.
But she was a pampered heiress. She had to find a noble excuse for her own despicable behavior just to maintain her respectable image.
"If you say you won’t ruin anything, then why did you tell me you were pregnant in the first place? I’ve been treating it as a show of force," Nina said with a laugh.
"I wasn’t the one who sent that. When I found out, I was devastated too," Luna replied, her voice full of remorse.
Nina really couldn’t understand her.
’Everything was someone else’s fault, and had nothing to do with her... So when she slept with Zachary, was that because someone else egged her on, too?’
’She’s the perfect example of a hypocrite.’
Nina took a deep breath. "I’ve heard your apology. Don’t call and bother me again. I don’t believe any wife can get along harmoniously with her husband’s mistress."
After hanging up, she sat on the edge of the bed and stared blankly out the window.
Truthfully, she almost wished Luna would fight with her over something. That would force Zachary to make a choice.
But no... Luna deferred to Zachary’s wishes completely, acting like his vassal. Whatever he said, she did, even if it meant staying in the shadows.
Perhaps this was only temporary.
Nina didn’t know what Zachary’s motives were for doing this.
She decided to go downstairs for a walk, only to run into Zachary, who had just returned.
But she immediately sensed that something was wrong with his mood.
Before she could even ask, he seized her by the chin.
"What trouble are you stirring up now?!" Zachary’s eyes blazed with anger, all traces of his earlier tenderness gone.
Nina was completely baffled. "What trouble did I stir up?"
"Where’s your phone?" Zachary demanded.
"Upstairs," Nina replied, but she immediately realized that Luna must have tattled on her to him.
Zachary shoved her away.
If she hadn’t been constantly mindful of the baby in her belly, she would have been knocked to the ground.
Turning to watch the back of the man rushing upstairs, Nina suddenly felt he had become a stranger... moody and unpredictable, his emotions impossible to read.
And all of this was to protect that woman on the outside.
Zachary reached the second floor and, noticing she hadn’t followed, turned to look down at her.
Nina looked up at him.
But her gaze was filled with a bone-deep ache and sorrow. This helplessness and confusion, which seeped into her very marrow, made her look fragile to the extreme.
Zachary stopped. His reason returned in an instant. He asked in a low voice, "You called Luna a mistress?" freewebnøvel.coɱ
"Yes," Nina answered softly. "Zachary, if you’re angry, let’s just get a divorce."
She truly couldn’t... she couldn’t go on with him like this.
She had tried to convince herself countless times, but she couldn’t. She still loved him...
"You’re the one who said the wrong thing, and you’re blaming me for being angry?! I told you, there’s nothing between her and me! What is this about a divorce?!" Zachary asked, exasperated.
Nina opened her mouth, wanting desperately to ask him whose child Luna was pregnant with.
But he still hadn’t admitted to anything. If she exposed it, his pride, his reputation—she would tear it all to shreds, leaving him utterly humiliated.
Nina knew this very well.
For some things, it was best to maintain a calm surface. Tearing it all open would do no one any good, including herself.
"Then I’ll apologize to her." Since he was so adamant in his denial, there was nothing more for her to say, no reason to pursue it.
"Will an apology even work? Luna’s health is fragile. Your words have already made her so upset she’s been hospitalized," Zachary said, his eyes tinged with suppressed fury.
Nina figured he must be incredibly impatient with her.
He was only tolerating her because of Luna...
She stared at Zachary quietly. "Then what exactly do you want me to do? Kneel before her? Slap my own face?"
"Can’t you think before you speak? I told you long ago, it’s not what you think between her and me. Why do you insist on slandering her? I always thought you weren’t this kind of person. Or is it that I’ve never known you at all?" Zachary gripped the banister, his gaze turning icy.*****
