Chapter 84 Picking a Fight
Nicole almost felt suffocated by Zachary’s tight hug. After some time, he finally let go of her.
With both hands holding her by the shoulders, there was panic in his voice when he exclaimed, “I heard from Harvey that you were drugged!”
Harvey? As in Harvey Mann? Nicole wondered after hearing his name. She thought that she had heard Zachary wrong, but indeed, Harvey was the one who had come all the way to Colton’s home to treat her.
“I’m alright now. Harvey gave me an injection. I’ll be fine after a night’s rest,” she reassured him.
She then slightly tilted her head to look at Zachary’s face, but she was quickly distracted by the dark circles around his eyes. There were traces of fatigue lacing his handsome features as if he had not had a proper sleep in a long time.
Worried that Nicole would have to live the rest of her life in fear if she had caught the perpetrator’s interest, he quickly interrogated her, “Who was it?”
Nicole couldn’t help but feel a surge of warmth in her chest as she looked at the caring man. It was obvious that he had come back earlier because he was concerned about her.
However, instead of troubling others with it, she would rather handle her own problem. So, she merely shook her head and assured him, “Zachary, I’m not a child that needs your protection. I’ll get back at them my way. They’ll wish they were dead for messing with me.”
The man only continued to stare at Nicole who firmly stood her ground. Indeed, he brooded. Nicole is a strong woman who managed to get her position as the Chief Designer through her own capabilities.
He had gotten calmer after that reassuring thought.
“Fine, then. Just let me know if you ever need my help with something. Don’t worry about causing me trouble.” He finally relented in a low voice.
Initially, he wanted to head straight to Nicole after learning from Harvey about her being drugged. The only reason he had returned two days later was because of the many responsibilities holding him back.
He was so busy with work that he barely had a wink of sleep for the past two days just so he could come back to her as soon as possible.
“Got it!” Nicole cheered.
She then tugged on his arm and examined his tired face.
“Go take a rest. Just look at how dark your under-eye circles are. I don’t want to have to take care of you too,” she pouted with concern evident in her words.
In response, Zachary only nodded without a word. He was so tired from the lack of sleep that his brain felt too big for his skull. His eyes, too, had trouble concentrating. Besides that, his tall and built figure felt like it was going to fall over any second now.
He started to make his way to the bedroom upstairs while being oblivious to the gaze that stayed on him from behind. Nicole felt a mix of emotions as she looked at him as she only looked away when he was out of her sight.
“Mom!” Hayden suddenly popped up out of nowhere. “You like Mr. Yates, don’t you? Why don’t you go after him?”
Nicole peered at her young son and gently caressed his head. “Children should only worry about children’s things. Go wash up and head to bed,” she urged.
“But it is still so early!” Hayden grumbled.
Regardless of her son’s adorable tantrum, she stayed firm to her teaching. “Sleeping early means you get to wake up early,” she said while going hand in hand up the stairs with Hayden.
With the nanny at home, Nicole managed to leave for her workplace with a peace of mind the next morning. She then resumed her work on Wendy’s gown soon after she had arrived at the office.
Her day had been smooth sailing—until Queenie had suddenly appeared around lunchtime.
Nicole couldn’t help but let out a snicker as she looked at Queenie’s purposeful strides into her workplace.
She didn’t think that Queenie had it in her to still make a public appearance after that embarrassing incident. Still the same old b*tchy Queenie it seems, Nicole chuckled to herself.
Judging by the way Nicole’s eyebrows raised, she was definitely entertained by Queenie’s appearance, but that didn’t mean Queenie deserved the time of Nicole’s day.
Queenie could only hold her anger back as she looked at Nicole busying herself with work. Queenie then squeezed out through clenched teeth, “My dear older sister, why aren’t you saying hi to your beloved younger sister who is standing in front of you?”
Upon hearing her words, Nicole let out a subtle laugh. “Oh, my apologies. I didn’t know that I had a younger sister!”
Queenie’s face remained unchanged at that. In response, she pointed her finger at Nicole and replied, “Oh, dear sister. You had the whole plan figured out, didn’t you? You even drugged your own sister!”
Nicole finally looked up when she heard the accusation. Her eyebrows wiggled in delight as she let out another laugh. “Woah, now. Don’t blame something like that on me. I didn’t bring anything with me when I went over to your house. As for what had happened between you and Joseph… I’m sure you don’t need me to remind you, right?”
“Nicole!” Queenie’s eyes started to turn red as it seemed that Nicole’s words somehow managed to drive a nail straight through Queenie’s sore spot. With her fists balled, Queenie gritted out, “I will be your hell as long as I’m a part of Gardner Corporation.”
