Chapter 196 Steven Can’t Find Her
When Steven finished using the computer in the study and returned to the guest bedroom, Nora was already asleep.
He sat down gently on the edge of the bed and touched her hair, his eyes full of tenderness. "I won't let you get too close to any other men, or else... I'll really get angry." His voice was very soft, as if talking to himself.
After tucking her in, Steven changed his clothes and quietly left Riverside Apartment.
The next morning.
When Nora woke up, no one was beside the bed.
She felt a bit disappointed, wondering to herself whether Steven had left in the early morning hours, or if he'd left because of Vivian's phone call.
She lay in bed in a daze for a while, then picked up her phone, planning to call Philip to tell him he didn't need to come help today.
After all, if she didn't turn Philip down, Steven would be unhappy again.
Just as she made the call, Philip had already arrived at Harman Tower.
"Nora, I'm already downstairs at your company," Philip's voice was cheerful.
"What? Why are you here so early?" Nora checked the time - it was only a little past nine.
"I woke up early today, so I came by to help you. Come down quickly, I'm waiting at the entrance."
Nora had no choice but to agree, "Okay, I'll be right there."
When she arrived at Harman Tower, Philip was already waiting at the company entrance, holding a hammer.
"Why did you buy a hammer?" Nora asked while taking out her keys.
"To assemble the shelves, of course. How else would we do it?" Philip answered with a smile.
"We have hammers at the company." Nora opened the door. The shelves had been unpacked and were waiting to be assembled.
"Well, let's get started then." Philip rolled up his sleeves.
The two began assembling the shelves, and time quickly passed into the afternoon.
Just then, Jimmy barged in again with several men.
"Nora, did you tell Olivia what I said yesterday?" Jimmy's tone was aggressive.
"What do you want?" Philip saw they were all holding hammers and became alert.
"This has nothing to do with you, mind your own business." Jimmy frowned. "The money is what Olivia owes - two hundred thousand dollars. Either pay up, or you can forget about running this company."
"We won't give you money." Nora's attitude was firm. She would never give in to this kind of threat.
Jimmy raised his hammer, his tone getting more harsh. "Say that again, I dare you."
"I won't give you money." Nora took out her phone to call the police.
Jimmy snatched the phone away. "Bitch, you dare call the cops?"
"Give me back my phone!" Nora stepped forward to grab it back, but Jimmy threw the phone to another man.
Those guys tossed the phone around, deliberately not returning it to her, jeering all the while.
Philip couldn't stand it anymore. He stepped forward to grab back Nora's phone and said coldly, "I'll pay the money."
Jimmy and the others froze for a moment and looked at each other.
"It's two hundred thousand dollars." Jimmy stared at Philip.
Philip showed no expression and took out his checkbook.
Nora stopped him. "Philip, you don't need to handle this. We did nothing wrong; we don't need to pay."
Seeing this, Jimmy got so angry that he raised his hammer. "If you hadn't gotten my mom thrown in jail, who would take care of my son? Now we barely have food at home! If Olivia had dropped the charges back then, none of this would have happened! If you don't pay, I'll trash your company today!"
Philip advised her in a low voice, "Nora, just give them the money to avoid them coming back to make trouble. You're running a company in Harman Tower - if he comes every few days, you won't be able to do business at all."
Nora's tone turned cold. "I don't need your help. We haven't done anything wrong, and we don't need to give them money. This is my family's business and has nothing to do with you. You don't need to interfere."
She didn't want to owe Philip any favors, and even less did she want these people to affect him.
Philip frowned. "Nora..."
Nora pressed his checkbook back into his hands. "Take it back. When I say I don't need it, I mean it."
Jimmy shouted angrily and swung his hammer at the already-assembled shelves. "Fine, Nora, you've got guts! You got my mom thrown in jail and won't pay up - today I'll show you what I'm capable of!"
He kicked out, and two rows of shelves immediately fell over.
Nora's face changed. She rushed over to try to stop them. "Stop breaking things!"
But those men paid no attention to her and kept pushing over row after row of shelves.
Philip, worried Nora would get hit, quickly ran over to help her hold up the shelves.
But how could two people stop five? The shelves still came crashing down.
Philip fell to the ground, and a long iron nail pierced into his arm. Blood quickly flowed out.
"Philip!" Nora was startled and rushed over. "Are you okay?"
Philip's face turned pale with pain, and the blood from his arm wouldn't stop.
Seeing Philip injured, Jimmy and the others got a bit scared. They left with a threat: "This is what happens when you don't pay! We'll be back tomorrow!" Then they left with their men.
Nora couldn't worry about calling the police. She quickly attended to Philip's injury. "Hang in there, I'll take you to the hospital."
She took off her jacket and wrapped it around Philip's arm to stop the bleeding.
After locking the company door, Nora helped Philip downstairs and drove his car straight to the hospital.
4:30 in the afternoon.
After finishing his event, Steven walked down the steps and got into his Maserati.
"Go to Harman Tower," he instructed James.
James raised an eyebrow, understanding that Steven was going to see Nora.
Before long, the car stopped at the entrance of Harman Tower.
Steven got out and told James to drive the car away. He straightened his clothes and took the elevator to the 27th floor.
But the company door was locked.
He checked the time - it was only a little past five. Why had Nora already left?
The office door was frosted glass, so he couldn't see inside clearly.
Steven frowned and called Nora.
At the hospital.
Nora accompanied Philip to the emergency room. The doctor said they needed to use anesthesia to remove the iron nail.
Nora sat in the waiting area when her phone rang.
She took it out and saw it was Steven.
"Are you home?" Steven stood at the company entrance, originally wanting to ask her to dinner.
"No, I'm out."
"Where are you?"
"Do you need something?" Nora's tone was flat.
"I wanted to have dinner with you. Didn't we agree to go to that hotpot place? You still have the coupon."
Nora remembered this, but still declined. "I'm busy right now, I can't go. The coupon is in the drawer of my computer desk in my room. You know the password; you can get it yourself."
As she spoke, she glanced at Philip. He was sitting not far away, looking very pale.
Steven's face darkened. "What exactly are you doing?"
Nora was about to explain when a nurse called out in the distance, "Philip, Philip!"
"Over here!" Nora stood up to respond.
"You're with Philip?" Steven's tone immediately turned cold.
He had just told her last night not to see Philip anymore, and now she was with Philip again?
"Steven, I'm really busy right now. I'll talk to you later." Nora hung up after saying this.
Steven held his phone, his mood turning irritable.
At the hospital.
When the nurse called Philip, Nora helped wheel him to the examination room entrance.
The process of removing the iron nail would take some time, so Philip told her to wait outside.
Nora stood in the corridor when her phone rang again - it was an unknown number.
"Hello?" She answered.
"It's me, Nora." Vivian's voice came through the phone.
She had bribed the security guard at Riverside Apartment with money - she would know whenever Steven returned.
"Ms. Bennett, what exactly do you want?" Nora's tone was cold.
Vivian laughed lightly. "Do you know where Steven went after he left Riverside Apartment last night?"
Nora's heart tightened. Had he really gone to see Vivian?
"He came to Aurora Tech last night and stayed with me in the office for a long time." As Vivian spoke, she also sent a picture message.
Nora opened the photo and saw Steven and Vivian sitting in an office, looking quite close.
Vivian even knew Steven was living at Riverside Apartment.
"What's your point in telling me all this?" Nora asked.
"I just want to remind you that Steven is already divorced from you. He's with me now. Please have some self-respect and stop pestering him, or you and your family won't have good days ahead." Vivian's tone carried a threat.
Nora said coldly, "You should be saying these things to Steven. You're with him now, so you should manage your own relationship. There's no need to come looking for me. Doing this only makes you look insecure."
She paused, then added, "No one likes aggressive women. Ms. Bennett, if you really want Steven to be devoted to you, you should manage your own behavior. Otherwise, you'll only end up making people dislike you."
Vivian's breath caught. "Nora, what do you mean? Are you cursing me?"