Chapter 75 She's not the one for you
DASHIELL
She was punishing me, I can tell. Even though she claimed she wasn't, Nova was getting back at me for what I did five years ago. Each time we slept together, she would leave the room. She never stayed after it, even when I begged to cuddle with her. She was clear about it. Sleeping with me was just scratching an itch for her.
She forbade me from entering her room. She had a rule. We only slept together whenever she felt like it, and even at that, she always decided where and when. It was just like the time when we first
lived together.
To top it all, she made me promise never to reveal our relationship to our workers. She didn't want anyone aside from those who knew about us before to be aware of our affair. I couldn't argue about it. She emphasized that she would leave me should I question all the rules she gave, and I wasn't ready to let that happen.
I was torn. Getting her back was the thing I wanted more than anything else, but now that I had her back, I perceived something was missing. Even though she was with me, I still felt empty, like her presence created a hole in me. I wished to get my wife back, to have a family, to feel love, but I have felt none of those. Not even the warmth I crave.
It was like the five years I spent away from her, all over again. She didn't make things easier for me. Kneeling and begging didn't help me at all. Yet, I couldn't deny how much I kept falling for her. Despite knowing her heart was hardened, I kept on daydreaming of a time when she would see me as something more than the man she only got together with because she was blackmailed. Leafing through the file on my desk, I tried not to think deeply about Nova. The more I thought about her, and how to sort things between us, the more complicated everything seemed to be. She wasn't as easy as I assumed she would be. Nova was a tough nut to crack.
A knock on the door filtered into my thoughts. Frowning, I looked towards the door as it opened, and my mum stepped in; her face set in a murderous glare as she fixed her gaze on me. Her lower lips twitched in anger, and she seemed to be barely keeping it together.
Knitting my brows, I wondered what she was doing in my office. As this was the first time she had stepped into this place, I wondered what it was that brought her here.
"What the damned hell do you think you are doing, Dashiell??!" she yelled at me, narrowing her eyes. "Do you know what you are doing??"
I leaned back in my chair, lifting an eyebrow as I waited for her to tell me what she was talking about.
"Why is she at your house? What do you aim to get by this?!"
"Nova?"
"Of course, Nova. You know what I'm talking about. Don't act like you don't know." She advanced towards my desk, her eyes narrowed to slits as she regarded me with a frown. "How long will it take
Can you learn from your mistake?"
"I don't understand why you are hell-bent on fighting this, mum." I lazily yawned, not in the mood to argue with anyone. I just wanted to sit back and enjoy the day. Okay, not enjoy. I wished to work and take my mind off the internal struggles in my head. Nova occupied all my waking thoughts, and I needed to stop that. Thinking wouldn't help my case at all. I had already decided to take things slow with her. I will smoulder her with love and affection until she doesn't have any reason to reject me.
"Because she's not the right one for you!" She slapped her palm on the table. Puffing out a breath, she watched me, her emerald eyes clouding in anger. "Listen here, Dashiell. I understand you want to be with her because of the thrill, but you need to know that he's not the one for you! Nova is a freaking gold digger."
"If only." Sighing, I sat up in my chair. "Do you realize how much I'm willing to spend on her if she will let me do that?"
Nova made it clear she wanted nothing to do with my wealth when I proposed opening an account for her. She refused my offer to do the same for my kids, claiming I hadn't earned the right to do
anything fatherly to them.
"What?!" My mum was getting livid the more we spoke. She looked like she was just minutes from exploding. "Do you even know what you are talking about?! You want her to suck you dry?" She walked around my desk until she got to my side. Leaning down, she placed both palms on my cheeks, forcing me to stare into her eyes. "What has she done to you? This isn't you, Dashiell. You have never been crazy about her. What changed??"
"I changed." I leaned back, causing her to drop her hands. "Why are you concerned about me? About this? Last I checked, you have never been worried about the choices I made. You always acted unconcerned. Why are you acting differently now?"
My mum had never cared about me, not even for once. She blamed me for most of the things that happened to her when I did nothing wrong. Having her concerned about me suddenly made me suspicious. I couldn't help but lift an eyebrow at that, wondering if she was okay in the head.
She straightened, folding her arms as she watched me. For the first time, I realized something. My mum seems to have gotten older compared to how she looked the last time I actually looked at her. Though she seemed more youthful than others her age, I could still see the wear line.
"I don't want you to make the same mistakes I made," she sighed.