Chapter 98

Chapter 98

When Leon finished his sentence, I saw tears welling up in Francesca's eyes. She looked like she was

struggling to find comfort after getting hurt. All of a sudden, she pressed her lips firmly together, as if

she had just come to some sort of decision. I didn't want to continue questioning Leon, but he wouldn't

stop talking. "We have to return Quinn what we owe her, Renee."

"What about whatever you owe Francesca?" I asked calmly.

He was silent for a moment. "That's none of your business," he uttered in an agitated voice. I seemed

to have hit a nerve in him, for he ended the call right after that. "I'm sorry. I'll talk to him," I told

Francesca while putting my phone away.

"It's fine. I'll handle this on my own. I'll reject him!" she uttered in a determined voice. "I don't have any

sort of relationship with Quinn, so there's no reason for me to donate a kidney to a stranger. I'm not that

selfless. If anything, I'm more selfish than I thought I was," she uttered. I didn't know how true her last

sentence was. However, she did seem like a changed person. She no longer appeared as hesitant and

weak as before.

Francesca sent me to the front door of the Norman Residence. I got out of the car and watched as she

drove off before I turned to walk into the house. I saw a man behind me the moment I turned around. I

wasn't too shocked since I already knew that he'd be there. I intended to hide from him at first, but I

figured that hiding would make me seem like I was guilty of something. I had no reason to fear him, and

I felt like it'd be better to just come face-to-face with him.

I didn't feel like talking to him, so I tried to walk past him to go into the house. "Can we talk?" he uttered

while grabbing onto my wrist. "Who are you to ask me that?" I shot him a side glare. Who are you to

expect me to waste my time on you? I wanted to order him to let go of me, but he suddenly tugged me

close before lifting me into his arms and carrying me away from the house. He brought me into a car.

I thrashed my limbs around in an attempt to get out of the car, but Nicholas suddenly pulled my skirt up

before speaking in a playful yet threatening tone. "Would you rather go in like a complete mess and

have Clair see your panties, or would you rather stay with me and…" Nicholas paused for a moment

before he continued in a more dejected voice. "I just wanted to chat. I want to know how you have been

recently. I'm worried about your health," he said.

My skirt had been pulled up, revealing large parts of my skin. I glared at the man angrily. "What has my

body got to do with you? What are we to each other now, Nicholas? Who are you to touch me like that?

Hurry up and give me a change of clothes to put on and let me go. Otherwise, I'll really cut all ties from

you," I ordered.

"We've practically cut all ties now. Do you think I care? Let me take you somewhere, Ree," he said. He

was afraid that I would run away, so he took off his leather belt and tied it around my wrist. Then, he got

into the driver's seat and drove away from the Norman Residence. Nicholas was literally kidnapping me

and forcefully taking me away at this point. I had no choice but to allow him to bring me to a villa that

was situated by the beachside.

Once we got there, Nicholas stopped the car by the roadside. Then, he came over to carry me into the

villa. However, he quickly realized that my dress was wet. "Why is it wet?" he asked with a frown. I

turned my head around to show that I was ignoring his question, and he simply carried me bridal style

into the villa. Then, he got me changed into one of his shirts.

Nicholas' actions were gentle, as if I were some precious item that he had to protect. The nicer he was,

the angrier I felt. After he got me changed, he held me in his arms before letting out a sigh. "It's been

so long since I last smelled your scent! I've missed you so much in the past two months, Ree. I nearly

lost my mind from missing you too much!"

"Let go of me!" I hissed through gritted teeth. "Let me explain, Ree," he uttered. The skies were dark

outside, and all of the lights in the villa were turned off. I couldn't see his expression, and I got tired of

wrestling him as he held me in his arms. I knew I couldn't escape his grip, anyway. I felt emotionally

drained at this point, so I simply spoke to him in a calm voice. "What do you want to explain? Do you

want to claim that you got married to Alice only because you had a deal with Quinn to keep me alive?

What did I tell you previously? I don't want Quinn to save me! I'd rather die than have her save me! Yet,

you secretly hosted a wedding with Alice without me knowing… Why should I listen to your explanation

right now, Nicholas?"

"Ree…" he mumbled as he tightened his hug around me. I pinched onto his arm before reminding him

in an icy tone, "I'm infertile!"

"Renee!" Nicholas growled. "I don’t want you to say that about yourself… I'm sorry. I just wanted to

chase you away that night," he said. Did he just say that he wanted to chase me away?! I couldn't

handle the look on Nicholas' face every time he made a mistake and tried to apologize for his

wrongdoings. "If you want to chase me away, then stop clinging to me right now!" I hissed as I tried to

push him off of me.

My eyes were filled with fury as I glared at him. "But I'm worried about you." A look flashed across his

eyes as he tilted his head to look at me. "What's there to be worried about? I can assure you that I'm

completely healthy apart from my infertility issue!" I uttered in the most sarcastic tone I could manage.

"Stop holding this against me," he said before pausing. "I feel really bad, Ree." He stood up and held

onto my wrists, but I immediately flung his hands away before spitting at him. "Stop acting all weak and

hurt! Do you think I haven't been feeling bad in the past two months? Do you think I would agree to

receive Quinn's treatment?" I asked him with a conflicted look on my face.

"I know you wouldn't, but I had a way to force you to do it." His shirt was crumpled from all my shoving,

and he shut his eyes before he continued speaking. "I would go to the extent of knocking you out if that

would allow me to force you to take the medication!"

"F*ck off!" I raised my leg to kick him. My temper was horrible, especially when I thought about what

happened in the church about two months ago. I couldn't forgive Nicholas whenever I replayed that

scene in my head.

He comes running to me, and he explains himself after every single mistake he makes, expecting me

to forgive him despite all of his shortcomings. Who does he think he is? Why should I forgive him? No. I

won't! I won't forgive him for the rest of my life, even if I still love him. Nicholas didn't dodge my kick, but

I slipped and landed on the ground after kicking his body. He bent down to carry me up as he

whispered into my ear, "We love each other, Ree… If that weren't the case, why did you choose me

over Christopher?"

Although we were in the midst of summer, I felt chills all over me as I gazed at the man before my eyes.

"You're right to think that I love you. I've even chosen to forgive you multiple times now. But do you

think I'm capable of doing that for the rest of my life? I've been with you for three years, Nicholas. What

good have you done for me in the past three years? Nothing!" I hissed.

All that he gave me in the past three years was pain and agony. He was the one who caused my

cancer. He was the reason I was infertile! The scar on my face… He and Maria were the ones who left

it there. I felt utterly horrible. "You complain that I'm infertile, but who was the cause of my infertility?" I

emphasized every syllable as I spoke. Nicholas felt extremely sorry, and he hugged me tightly. Right

then, I felt some warm liquid trickling down my neck, and its warmth seemed to make my insides burn.

Is he crying? That was the first time I had seen Nicholas cry.

Even when May described the way he had bawled his eyes out in front of my tombstone, I still couldn't

picture how the man looked when he was crying.

He seemed to be calming me down as his palm stroked my back in an inconsistent rhythm. I was too

dazed to respond as I listened to his hoarse voice ringing in my ear. "You were vomiting blood during

those two days, Ree. You were so weak, and all you did was sleep while I was at your house. I knew

that you couldn't hang on for much longer, and I was terrified that you would leave me. I didn't care if

you would hate me—what mattered was that I kept you alive! I thought that I could bear the hatred you

would feel for me, but when Shawn appeared in the heavy rain and brought you away without saying a

single thing…"

Nicholas let go of me and stared at me with his tear-stained face. His voice sounded oddly rough as he

spoke. "He's such a powerful and outstanding man. I was terrified. I panicked. I was afraid that both of

you… Ree, I brought Quinn along to Eldham that night itself, but you were in the operation theater. The

man leaned against the wall without saying a single thing as he glared at me. His gaze seemed to be

saying that I had trespassed his property, but how would I dare to do such a thing? How was that even

trespassing? You belonged to me. He was the outsider!"

Nicholas' face was pale and weak—he looked as if he had just suffered a huge blow of shock. "He

didn't allow Quinn to save you, and he said that these were your orders. I asked him if he was going to

insist on following your orders even if you were about to die."

I could already imagine the icy look on Shawn's face when he responded to this question. He probably

said nothing more than that one word—yeah. That was how distant and cold he was. Even though that

was what I assumed, Nicholas' statement proved me wrong. "Shawn said that you wouldn't die, but I

didn't know where he got that confidence from! Fortunately, you did manage to survive even without

Quinn's medication. So, Shawn managed to fulfill a promise that I hadn't been able to. I guess that's

good. At least you're alive now! At least you're alive…" Nicholas continued to mumble to himself for a

while.

Although I hated and resented him, I still felt bad when I saw him acting like this—he was a man I had

once loved deeply, after all. I had given up on my nine years of beliefs for the sake of this man. I felt

extremely sad at that thought, but I knew that I still couldn't forgive Nicholas then. I stood up in an

attempt to leave the suffocating environment that I was in. However, he then grabbed onto my ankle,

which made me trip and fall to the ground.

There was a thick carpet on the ground, so it didn't hurt when I fell. All of a sudden, I saw Nicholas'

body above mine. He pressed himself against me as he began to nib on the skin around my neck. His

touch was gentle, and it felt like a cat's paws scratching against my skin. From my neck, he continued

kissing me all the way up to my cheek. I lay still on the ground as I figured that he would let go of me

once he got bored.

Perhaps he wouldn’t even get bored—perhaps he'd feel frustrated. But Nicholas then sat up and

stroked the back of my head while speaking in a gentle tone. "Can you stop hating me, Ree?"

I couldn't bring myself to say yes, so I stood up quietly. He instinctively grabbed my arm, and I barked

at him icily, "Let go of me now!"

I wasn't afraid of him when he attacked or hurt me—I was the most afraid of him when he showed his

weaker side. I was a soft-hearted woman—both Francesca and I were similar in that aspect. After that,

Nicholas let go of me before he lifted me off my feet and carried me upstairs. I wasn't as strong as he

was, so there was no point in fighting him at all.

"If you don't let me go now, I'm going to show you what it feels like to be in hell!" I threatened. Deep

down, I knew that this was hopeless. He acted as if he couldn't hear me at all—he carried me up to his

bedroom. But the moment he lowered me down, I scrambled over to the nearest window before

throwing myself out of it. Behind me, I could hear his loud cry. "Ree!"