Chapter 217 Nora, Are You Jealous?
At least he needed to make things clear with her about what exactly was going on between him and Vivian.
But he always stayed silent, and Nora had no idea what he was thinking.
She liked Steven, but she didn't want to play these games with him. His hot-and-cold attitude really hurt her.
"You think Vivian and I are together?" Steven frowned at her.
"Didn't you say it yourself? That marrying her would have lots of benefits."
"There are benefits, but I don't need them."
Nora froze for a moment, looked up with tears still in her eyes.
Steven reached out to wipe away her tears, his gaze intense. "Are you jealous?"
She didn't deny it, just said, "I need to know if you're with another woman."
"Isn't that jealousy?"
Nora bit her lip hard.
Steven moved closer, insisting she answer. "Are you jealous or not?"
Nora gritted her teeth and finally admitted, "Of course I'm jealous. We're not even divorced yet, and you're already going after other women, saying marrying her has lots of benefits. When we run into each other outside, you don't even say hi, just pretend you don't know me."
She admitted it—she really cared.
"I'm not with her." Steven looked at her. "Never liked her, never planned to be with her."
Nora was stunned, not knowing what to say for a moment. She just asked stupidly, "Really?"
"Yes."
Getting that clear answer, Nora's anger melted away, and she kind of forgot why they were even fighting.
She was trapped in his arms, feeling a bit awkward.
Luckily, the doorbell rang just then.
Nora licked her lips. "Someone's here. I'll go check."
She thought it was James, but it was Lally.
Nora put on her mask. "Lally, what are you doing here?"
Lally was carrying a bag of fresh fruits and vegetables. "Mrs. Elizabeth York heard Mr. York was sick and sent me to take care of things for a few days."
Last night, Elizabeth had called Steven, and learning he had a cold but refused to come back to the estate to rest, she sent Lally to help, worried the two young people would be sick with no one to look after them.
"Lally, have you had a cold before?" Nora asked. If she hadn't, she really didn't dare let her in, though she herself still had no symptoms.
"I have." Lally came in, remembering not to call her Mrs. York, and smiled. "Nora, you do your thing. I'll go to the kitchen and make you both breakfast."
Lally went straight to the kitchen.
Nora quickly followed. "Lally, let me do it."
She needed to put medicine in Steven's food, so she had to make it herself to feel safe.
In the end, Lally helped her.
Nora made a seafood stew, picking out some abalone Elizabeth had sent and slicing it in.
Lally watched her with approval.
Then Nora took out Steven's medicine, crushed it in a glass bottle, and while frying vegetable pancakes, mixed the medicine in.
Lally watched in shock.
The movements looked like she was poisoning her husband.
Lally asked carefully, "Nora, what are you doing?"
"Steven's sick but won't take his medicine, so I can only grind it into powder and put it in his food. His portions are all separate—we won't eat any of it." Nora divided up the breakfast, one serving per person.
She put Steven's portion at his usual spot.
Lally texted Elizabeth to report.
Elizabeth laughed and said, "Nora did well. Steven's hated taking medicine since he was little. Nora really gets him."
"Nora is really clever and capable." Lally admired her.
Elizabeth added, "Lally, while you're taking care of Steven, keep an eye on them for me. I heard they've been having problems lately. Help me see if that's true."
"Yes!" Lally agreed.
Nora let the food cool and went to the master bedroom to find Steven. "Steven, Lally's here. Grandma sent her to take care of you."
Steven had just washed his face and came out of the bathroom, still looking distinguished.
"I know." He'd arranged this, worried Nora would get sick with no one to care for her. "How are you feeling today? Any discomfort?"
Nora checked herself. "My throat's a bit uncomfortable, but nothing else. What about you?"
"I think I'm fine now." Steven seemed in good shape.
Nora thought he'd recovered, too, and nodded. "Then let Lally take care of you today. I'll go to work after eating."
No illness meant back to work—that's how dedicated she was.
Steven nodded.
They came out together and sat at the dining table.
Nora placed that special breakfast in front of Steven and called Lally over. "Lally, come eat with us."
"Coming!" Lally wanted to see if he'd eat it.
She sat down.
Nora went to wash some fruit.
Steven frowned and called to her, "Nora, eat first. Wash the fruit later."
"Almost done." Nora came out with the fruit.
Lally smiled and said, "You're married now, why still call her Nora? You should call her honey."
Lally had watched Steven grow up since he was little and wasn't afraid of him.
Steven glanced at her but didn't respond.
Nora felt awkward, though, and snuck a glance at Steven.
This morning, they'd cleared things up, and knowing he was still single, Nora's hopes rose again.
The person she loved was right in front of her, not with anyone else, and still being affectionate with her—of course, she'd think too much about it.
Steven looked at her.
Nora couldn't help but smile.
Steven was in a good mood and took a bite of the vegetable pancake.
Lally watched him nervously.
He ate elegantly, didn't notice anything wrong, chewed a few times, and swallowed. "Pretty good."
Nora smiled brightly. "Then eat up."
Good thing he didn't taste the medicine, or with his moody personality, he'd get upset again.
After eating, Steven went back to his room to work.
Nora secretly gave Lally two pills. "Lally, when you make lunch, put this medicine in his food. It's stomach medicine."
"Okay." Lally agreed.
"I'm going to work now." Nora went to the guest bedroom to change.
After changing, she went to find Steven to say a few words.
As soon as she walked in, she heard Steven on the phone, asking James to bring over some documents.
Nora's heart tightened—was he moving back?
She pushed the door open. Steven was sitting by the bed, wearing a dark blue sweater.
"I'm heading to work," Nora said.
Steven hung up and walked over to hug her.
Nora suddenly felt sweet inside and looked up at him with a red face.
Steven looked down at her, his eyes deep. "I'm sick. Can't kiss you."
Nora's face got even redder. She said quietly, "Who wants you to kiss them anyway?"
She tried to leave after saying that, but Steven pulled her back and whispered in her ear, "Come home early tonight."
He wanted to ask her clearly about her and Andrew.
Although James said they were innocent, he wanted to hear her explain it herself.
"Okay." Nora agreed.
Even after leaving, her mood was still floating.
Thinking about what Steven said—he wasn't with Vivian...
Nora's lips curved up in a sweet smile.
As long as they weren't together, that was good.
For couples or married people, if they stay faithful to each other after separating, there's still a chance to get back together. But if they find someone else, there's no going back.
Even Olivia could see her good mood and asked with a smile, "Did you two make up?"
Nora's feelings were written all over her face—when things were good, she smiled all day.
"What?"
"The problems you had before—are they over?" Olivia asked.
"I guess so." Nora thought about it. They'd basically cleared things up, and both were thinking about each other.
"So no divorce then?"
"Probably not." Nora wasn't sure, but the project issue was gone too, so she felt much lighter.
"Steven's a good man. Treasure him." That was still Olivia's advice.
Nora thought Olivia liked Steven too much, always saying good things about him. But whether to treasure him or not depended on Steven—she'd never wanted a divorce anyway.
At noon.
Lally followed Nora's instructions and put the medicine in Steven's food.
But after one bite, Steven frowned at her. "Lally, what did you put in my food?"
Lally's heart jumped.
Steven was displeased. "There's a medicine smell. You put medicine in it?"
He pushed the plate away, his gaze sharp.
Lally trembled under his stare.
"You dare drug me?" Steven said coldly.
Lally swallowed. "Mr. York, you've got it wrong. This is for your own good. You're sick but won't take medicine, so I had to put it in your food."
"You think I can't taste it just because you put it in the food?"
"You didn't taste it when Mrs. York made it."
Steven froze. Lally realized she'd said the wrong thing and quickly covered her mouth.
Steven's brow furrowed. "So she's been putting medicine in my food all along?"
"It's for your own good."
Steven didn't say anything. No wonder his stomach didn't hurt today.
But he really hadn't tasted it.
The day passed quickly.
Nora worked until seven, when Steven called to tell her to come home.
"Got it, coming right back." Nora packed up her things and said goodbye to Olivia.
Olivia sat at her computer, entering product codes. Only after Nora left did she stop and space out for a while.
Nora took the subway home.