Chapter 122
Victoria held her phone, smiling bitterly at herself.
Did Martin care about her?
Why couldn't she feel it at all?
Victoria didn't respond, and Aaron's gentle voice came through the phone again, "You left in such a hurry today. I wanted to tell you that you misunderstood. Your father's medical bills—I didn't actually help with them at all."
"What do you mean?" Victoria was confused.
Aaron continued, "The hospital refunded the money I paid. Your father's medical bills were actually paid by Martin. That's why I said he must care about you. He's probably not a bad person at heart."
Victoria never expected that Martin had paid Aaron back. His behavior was becoming harder and harder to understand.
These past few times, Martin's actions and words had been completely opposite.
Before she could recover from her shock, the master bedroom door was suddenly pushed open.
The lights in the room were off.
A tall, upright male figure appeared in the doorway, "Who are you talking to on the phone?"
His voice was ice-cold.
Victoria looked up and saw Martin's reflective glasses. Whether from guilt or fear, her hand trembled.
The phone slipped from her palm to the floor.
The call screen showed the call had been disconnected. Obviously, Aaron had heard Martin's voice and wisely hung up.
Victoria quickly crouched down to pick up her phone.
A pair of shiny black leather shoes came into her view.
"Who were you talking to on the phone?"
His demanding question echoed above her head.
Thinking about Martin being a psycho made Victoria's heart race with fear.
He'd already lost it once in the bathroom. If he found out she'd just been talking to Aaron, she'd be in big trouble!
"It was my mom."
Victoria kept encouraging herself internally, 'Victoria, don't be scared. No matter how scared you are, act calm and casual.'
That way, he won't find out.
Her chin was suddenly grabbed, and the pain forced her to look up and meet his eyes.
Martin's probing gaze examined her, "Really?"
Clearly, he didn't believe her.
"Yes."
"What did your mom call about? To tell you to stay by my side, and when I'm asleep, smother me with a pillow to avenge your dad?" Martin smiled at Victoria, as if the word "death" was something very ordinary and trivial to him.
When he cursed himself to a bad end, he had the same expression.
Martin's stare made Victoria's skin crawl, especially that smile, which gave her goosebumps all over, "You're really joking. My mom told me that you paid for my dad's hospital bills. She told me to thank you and treat you better."
"How do you plan to thank me?"
Martin suddenly moved very close, close enough to see the pores on her face.
At this close distance, he noticed Victoria's skin was really good. Even though he'd been tormenting her and she looked unkempt, she was still beautiful.
Worthy of being his wife, she had a pretty good body.
Victoria naturally understood what he meant. Her body tensed nervously, and she bit her lip, looking at him defensively, "Wasn't what happened in the bathroom just now enough?"
Her attitude made him feel bored. His expression changed suddenly, he straightened up and released her chin, "Open your phone."
Victoria panicked inside, but forced herself to stay calm as she unlocked her phone screen.
He snatched the phone away, then scanned her face to unlock it with facial recognition.
Just as Martin was about to look through it, his phone suddenly rang.
Victoria quickly took her phone back, "You should answer your call."
"Come out and eat."
Martin dropped that cold remark, then answered his call and left the master bedroom.
Eat?
Did he order takeout? And ordered some for her too?
Victoria was a bit surprised, but obediently followed behind him. She heard him discussing work details with Brian.
On the dining table in the living room sat several plates of steaming home-cooked dishes and two bowls of rice.
Victoria sat down obediently, picked up her utensils, and started eating.
She tried each dish. They were all cooked by Martin himself.
Victoria ate while occasionally glancing at Martin sitting across from her.
He was still wearing that dark suit, simple in style, but it looked good and handsome on him.
He held his phone in one hand, eating while discussing the case progress with Brian.
Victoria didn't understand the professional terms he used.
She only saw Martin's brow relax at times, then furrow tightly at others.
Most of the time he had no expression, extremely serious. So this was how Martin was when working, so rigorous and focused. No wonder Hayden had valued his abilities so much and thought so highly of him back then.
After finishing the call.
Their eyes met.
Victoria wanted to ease the tension, because Martin was her only hope now. He'd even prepaid Hayden's medical bills, so he hadn't broken the agreement.
Besides, she had no power to terminate the contract unilaterally.
Victoria gripped her knife and fork, poking at the food in her bowl, trying to flatter him, "Martin, the food you cooked is really delicious."
"Has anyone ever told you that you're terrible at acting?" Martin frowned, mocking and sarcastic, clearly not buying it.
Victoria felt guilty at being seen through and immediately tried to cover, "But it really is delicious. It's the taste I like."
She was telling the truth. Martin had once won her heart with his cooking skills.
"Even if it's delicious, I didn't make it for you. Victoria, I hope that starting tomorrow, you'll fulfill your duties as a housekeeper. Doing housework is your responsibility."
Hearing this, Victoria lowered her head a bit more.
She was just a housekeeper, that's right. Even though she hadn't divorced Martin yet, she was no longer the pampered young lady he cherished and cared for.
Tears welled up in her eyes, but Victoria didn't want him to see. If he saw, he'd only mock and ridicule her.
After forcing back the tears, she kept her head down and ate in big bites.
She stuffed a huge mouthful in at once, making it hard to chew, and started coughing.
Martin looked at Victoria with disgust, then poured her a glass of water and handed it to her, "No one's competing with you."
She didn't want to drink water, but afraid he'd get angry, she drank the entire glass.
After dinner, Victoria washed the dishes in the kitchen, cleaned up the kitchen garbage, and was about to go out to the supermarket to buy some groceries to make him breakfast tomorrow.
After all, Martin had made it clear.
She didn't want to take advantage of him either.
"Go change your clothes. I'm taking you somewhere."
At the door, Martin's cold command made Victoria stop in her tracks instantly.