Chapter 23
Matthew handed the water to Chris. Watching him rinse his mouth, Matthew felt anxious. "Mr. Cooper, your wife won't come back. Should I take you to the hospital instead?"
Chris's drunk face showed sadness, but he still said, "Go home."
Matthew had no choice but to help him into the car first.
Cynthia chased after them all the way out and reached out to help Chris into the car. "I'll take care of Chris. Matthew, you take the contract the partner just signed back to the company. The legal department needs to stamp and file it."
Matthew breathed a sigh of relief. "Thank you so much, Miss Dern. Mr. Cooper keeps stomach medicine at home. Please dig them up and give them to him when you get back. If he gets any worse, you gotta get him to the hospital!"
Cynthia knew what to do. She glanced at the man passed out drunk in the back seat, her eyes showing some excitement.
Back at Hillside Villa, Cynthia first took off Chris's jacket, helped him into the bedroom, then went looking for the stomach medicine.
She searched for a while and didn't realize she had entered Joanna's art studio, where she usually relaxed. When she randomly opened a drawer, several papers fell out.
Cynthia wasn't planning to bother with them, but then she saw the rough lines on them. "This looks like... design drafts?"
Although they were just simple sketches, the design concepts sparked Cynthia's inspiration. Her eyes grew increasingly excited.
Without time to wonder why the Coopers would have such design drawings, Cynthia had already made up her mind.
She knew what to use for the Blue Ocean Design Contest!
Bang—
In the bedroom next door, Chris knocked something over, which brought Cynthia back to her senses.
She quickly put the drafts in her bag and searched around for a bit, making sure there were no other drafts left behind, then walked out of the studio.
The stomach medicine was in the living room. She found it quickly, poured some water, and brought it to Chris's room.
Watching Chris take the meds, his face all flushed but his breathing settling down, Cynthia put her hand on Chris's body, not even trying to hide how excited she was.
"Mr. Cooper? Should I help you take a bath?"
The unconscious man naturally didn't respond. Cynthia smiled and unbuttoned his shirt...
Clothes were soon scattered on the floor. Soon, the room was filled with wild, intimate sounds.
A passionate night.
Early in the morning, Chris had a terrible headache. When he woke up, he felt someone lying next to him.
He realized that last night, when he was drunk, he seemed to have called Joanna. Did she soften and come back?
When he turned his head, Chris saw Cynthia's face and her bare shoulders. The marks on them stung Chris's eyes.
He immediately sat up, grabbed the shirt at the foot of the bed, and hastily put it on.
This movement also woke Cynthia. She called out groggily, "Chris? You feeling okay?"
Chris swallowed nervously, his tone somewhat rushed. "Why are you here?"
Cynthia became a bit more alert and sat up, holding the blanket. "I brought you back and took care of you the whole time. I was going to help you take a bath, but you seemed to mistake me for Joanna. You... you tried to undress me, and I couldn't fight you off..."
She lowered her head, looking very wronged.
Chris was completely confused right now and didn't know how to handle this. He stayed silent for a long time, then got out of bed, found his wallet in his jacket, and took out a black card.
"This card has no limit. You can use it however you want. I was drunk last night, I'm sorry. But I'm already married, and I don't plan to divorce Joanna for now. Just pretend nothing happened." After saying that, he grabbed some clothes and left, not giving Cynthia a chance to speak.
Cynthia was so angry she threw a pillow on the floor, looking at the bedroom door with resentment.
Chris went to the garage, his irritation gradually turning into rage.
How could he betray Joanna? If she found out about this, she would be even more determined to divorce him!
Chris gritted his teeth and opened his phone to send Matthew a message: [Prepare a gift for me.]
After calming down for a while, Chris drove away from the villa.
At this time, Joanna had just arrived at Grace General Hospital, ready to start work. She planned to explain her relationship with Angelo to her colleagues today, hoping no one would misunderstand or spread rumors.
But before she could see her colleagues, Chris stopped her.
He handed her a gift—the necklace that was auctioned off at Sotheby's Auction last week. "Your job starting gift."
Before the divorce, Joanna really liked this necklace, but at the time, Chris mocked her, saying a housewife shouldn't want such expensive things.
Now that they were getting divorced, he suddenly gave her a gift to win her over?
Joanna didn't take it and gave him a weird look. "Given the way things are between us now, you don't need to be giving me gifts, do you?"
"What do you mean by 'the way things are'? Joanna, we're still married!"
Chris was already annoyed today. Seeing her so resistant, he couldn't help but think of how she smiled at Angelo yesterday. The feelings that had finally chilled out got all worked up again for no reason, but mostly he was just mad as hell.
"You could smile and accept flowers from that man, but you can't accept a gift from your legal husband?"
Joanna said coldly, "There's no comparison. He's my friend, and you're just an ex-husband who won't stop pestering me! I need to work, move aside."
She tried to leave directly, but Chris grabbed her hand and pulled her into the office. "How much money can you make working? Joanna, I seriously don't get it. Wouldn't it be way better to just chill as a housewife? You're dead set on working, and being a doctor is brutal—how long can you keep this up!"
"None of your business!" Joanna struggled.
Chris pressed down and bit her lip until it bled. "I'm your husband! Joanna, yesterday you abandoned me and David, who had just had surgery, to run out to meet another man. Do I need to remind you that this behavior counts as cheating in a marriage!"
"I'm cheating?" Joanna sounded like she heard something funny. "You should worry about yourself and Cynthia first. You two..."
She was about to scold him when she suddenly saw the marks on Chris's neck and froze.
Chris noticed Joanna's gaze and quickly covered it with his shirt collar. This action had a hint of concealment.
Joanna let out a bitter laugh. "You're such a piece of shit! You won't give me a divorce, but you're screwing around behind my back. Next time you cheat, maybe cover your tracks better! Chris, if you don't sign those papers, I'm taking your ass to court!"
"You dare? Your dad won't let you divorce! Joanna, even if you can work yourself, what about your dad and your brother? Will they give up the good life to go out and work for money? You..."
Chris was getting more and more heated and lunged forward to grab Joanna again.
Joanna saw through his intention, grabbed the water glass on the desk, and splashed it on him.