Chapter 95 Chapter 95
“He doesn't even treat his own mother, Mrs. Wolf, with such dedication!” exclaimed Hiago, shaking his head. “If the ‘Empress’ were here today to see this, she would die of jealousy of her own son!”
“Keep eating,” Nicholas cut in, without looking up from Caroline's plate. “There's so much food on the table and you still can't shut up?
POW!
Suddenly, Hiago felt a sharp pain in his shin. Someone had kicked him under the table. And judging by the force and accuracy, it could only have been Nicholas.
”Ouch!" Hiago dropped his cutlery.
“Hey, Nicholas! You're so kind to your wife and so rude to your brother? Isn't that contrast a little unfair?”
He made such an exaggerated and childish grimace of pain that Caroline, who was trying to maintain her composure, couldn't help herself. A crystal-clear laugh escaped her lips, and her eyes curved into half-moons of pure joy.
That genuine smile disarmed Hiago.
A second ago, he was grumbling; now, he was mesmerized. Caroline's face lit up with laughter had an ethereal, innocent, and radiant quality.
Hiago blinked, stunned. Suddenly, he understood. He understood why Nicholas's heart of stone had melted.
At that moment, looking at Caroline was like looking at the embodiment of “first love” — sweet, nostalgic, and pure. Hiago's heart skipped a beat, not out of desire, but out of pure aesthetic admiration.
POW!
Another sharp pain, this time much more violent, exploded in his calf.
“Ouch!” Hiago almost fell off his chair. “Nicholas, why did you kick me again?! That hurts, damn it!”
He rubbed his shin indignantly. He was just enjoying the “scenery”!
Nicholas slowly raised his eyes. His expression was icy, and his dark eyes glowed with a deadly threat.
“Keep your eyes off her,” Nicholas hissed, his voice low so that only Hiago could hear the real threat. “Or I'll rip them out.”
Hiago was speechless.
He had only looked for a few seconds!
Wait a minute... Hiago's brain processed the information. Is Nicholas... jealous? Of me?
Since when was the great Lone Wolf so insecure and territorial? He looked like a teenager guarding his girlfriend at recess!
Across the table, however, the scene was not funny to Sheila.
The wine glass in her hand was about to shatter. Seeing Nicholas acting like a jealous, lovesick husband was like acid in her veins. She needed to burst that bubble of happiness.
“Nick.”
Sheila took a deep breath, putting on her concerned friend mask, and forced a casual smile.
“Speaking of which... when are you and Caroline planning to have the wedding ceremony?” she asked, her voice loud enough for everyone to hear. “I need to know so I can organize and reserve the date in my calendar.”
Cough! Cough!
Caroline choked on her orange juice, coughing violently. The liquid burned her throat.
Why did she mention the ceremony?
Caroline hadn't even thought about it. Their marriage was sudden, an agreement. A party would mean announcing to the whole world—and high society—who she was. She wasn't ready for that kind of spotlight.
“Calm down, breathe...” Nicholas immediately put down his cutlery and began patting her back gently and rhythmically, with infinite patience.
Only when Caroline's breathing returned to normal did he turn to Sheila. The warmth disappeared from his eyes.
“I'll see what Caroline thinks,” he replied curtly. “In this relationship, she's the one in charge.”
The answer caught Sheila off guard, but she didn't give up. She saw Caroline's hesitation and smelled blood.
She gritted her teeth and played her final card: "But what about your parents? Aren't Mr. and Mrs. Wolf rushing you?"
Nicholas stopped caressing Caroline's back. He slowly raised his gaze, fixing it on Sheila.
Sheila felt a chill run down her spine. She felt naked and exposed under that penetrating gaze, as if he could read every dirty and envious thought in her mind.
Before he could cut her off, she rushed out the words, trying to justify her “concern”: “What I mean is... since you're legally married, your parents surely expect you to make an official announcement and have a party soon, right? A family like the Wolfs wouldn't accept a marriage... in secret.”
The subtext was clear: They are ashamed of her. You are hiding her because she is not worthy.
Nicholas held her gaze for a few seconds, silently, making her sweat. Then, a corner of his mouth turned up in a smile, laden with irony.
“My parents don't know about our marriage yet.”
“What?” Sheila exclaimed, feigning scandalized shock, though inside she was elated. I knew it! “You didn't tell them? Nicholas, this is serious! How could you hide something so important from your family...”
“Caroline isn't ready.”
Nicholas's voice cut through Sheila's drama like a knife.
He turned to the girl beside him, ignoring the shock at the table, and placed his hand protectively on top of her head, stroking her hair.
“I'll only take her to Wolf Manor when she feels ready to go,” he said, his voice firm and unwavering. “If she wants to wait a year, ten years, or a lifetime... we'll wait.”
I won't force her into anything. Until then, no one needs to know.
The table fell into absolute silence.
The statement was a seismic shock.
What he was saying was clear: I'm not hiding her out of shame. I'm desperate to show her to the world, but I'm holding back to respect her timing.
In a relationship with the powerful Nicholas Wolf, accustomed to commanding empires, it was the small and shy Caroline who set the pace.
How much did a man have to love a woman to give her so much power? To put her comfort above the expectations of his own traditional family?
Even Hiago and Marcus were speechless. That wasn't just love; it was devotion.
Sheila felt the blood drain from her face. Her question was meant to humiliate Caroline, showing that she was not accepted. Instead, Nicholas's answer turned Caroline into an untouchable queen and Sheila into a meddlesome gossip.
It was a moral slap in the face, violent and precise.
“Oh... really?” Sheila's voice came out weak, trembling.
“Hmm,” Nicholas replied, ending the subject as if Sheila were unimportant.
At that moment, the waiter returned, balancing an elegant crystal glass.
It was the strawberry ice cream.
Nicholas took the dessert and placed it in front of Caroline, the gentle gesture contrasting with the brutality with which he had just treated Sheila.
“Here you are, sweetheart,” he said, his voice sweet again. “But eat slowly and don't eat it all, or you'll get a stomachache from the cold.”
Caroline looked at the ice cream, then at him, speechless.
He had just defended her honor against the whole world, and now he was worried about her stomach?
This man... he was impossible.