Chapter 13 Has Nathan Fallen for Young, Beautiful Women?
Without a word, Nathan walked over to the digital directory by the escalators, tapped the screen, and led Chloe straight toward the electronics section on the third floor.
Almost immediately, Chloe’s attention was swallowed by the dazzling, overwhelming array of modern goods. Her urge to shop became utterly uncontrollable.
That morning, she had been so full of righteous dignity, swearing she absolutely could not spend her ex-husband’s money. Yet less than two hours later, she was swiping his black card with dizzying enthusiasm.
She had only planned to buy a phone. But then she spotted an ultra-thin silver laptop—exactly like the one Nathan used—and suddenly needed it.
Oh, and what is that? A tablet that folds in half?
That looks incredibly convenient. Must have it.
While Nathan silently supervised the checkout, effortlessly assembling a complete, synced ecosystem of devices for her, Chloe stared at the gleaming white boxes with an expression that screamed, I want it all.
“This feels amazing,” Chloe muttered, clutching her new tech.
She watched with sheer fascination as Nathan held his phone to the little black card reader at the register. A soft beepsounded, and the transaction was approved.
“This is so advanced!” She practically vibrated with excitement. “I want to try it next time!”
After sorting out her electronics, Nathan steered her toward the women’s section to buy clothes, handbags, shoes, and skincare.
As she browsed, Chloe marvelled at how beautiful the designs were, even twenty-three years later.
She wanted to buy everything.
And why shouldn’t she? Once she sold their old house, she would walk away with her $750,000 half. With that kind of cash waiting for her, these purchases were basically pocket change.
For the first time in her life, Chloe didn’t have to make agonizing choices. She could just take whatever she liked.
It was nothing like the old days. Back then, she used to make up elaborate excuses just to try dresses on, hiding in the fitting rooms to check the price tags before dragging herself across the entire mall to compare prices until her feet ached.
Now, she was rich! She could shop like a queen.
By the time she finally hit her limit, Chloe was exhausted and starving. “Nathan, I’m famished,” she announced happily. “Let’s go to that Texas Smokehouse! Thanks for carrying everything today. Lunch is my treat. You just pay first, and I’ll reimburse you the second the house sells.”
Nathan felt a sharp twinge in his chest.
That house held every memory he had left of them. Over the last two decades, he had never once entertained the thought of selling it. He hadn’t expected her to so casually plan to liquidate it after only one day back.
He desperately wanted to ask her if she really meant it.
But looking at her bright, beaming face, he swallowed the words. He didn’t ask, and he didn’t argue.
The two of them walked into the Texas Smokehouse, piling a small mountain of glossy shopping bags onto the benches of their leather booth.
Chloe looked around for a waiter to bring a menu.
Instead, the host pointed to a digital tablet bolted to the table. “You can place your order right there, folks.”
Chloe stared at the screen, utterly bewildered.
Nathan leaned over, smoothly navigated to the menu, and turned the tablet toward her. “Order here.”
“Goodness, why does every single thing have to be a touchscreen nowadays?” Chloe sighed, swiping clumsily at the glowing pictures of ribs.
“It’s the digital era,” Nathan chuckled softly. “You’ll get used to it soon enough.”
As they focused on their food, neither of them noticed a young woman sitting in a corner booth three tables away, discreetly aiming her phone at them.
She snapped several photos and immediately dropped them into her work WhatsApp group.
Victoria Sterling: [OMG! I just saw Professor Archer with a young woman at the mall! Major shopping spree—he’s paying for everything!]
Charlotte Bishop: [Victoria, are you blind? Professor Nathan? The ultimate workaholic? No way.]
Victoria Sterling: [I swear! Proof attached!]
She fired off three pictures of Nathan and Chloe leaning over the tablet together, with the conspicuous pile of expensive shopping bags framed perfectly in the shot.
Charlotte Bishop: [Whoa… the Professor is generous. How much did he drop on her?]
Harper Lee: [How old does that girl look?]
Victoria Sterling: [Super young. Like, college student young.]
Autumn Shaw: [Anna Merrill is going to be heartbroken. After quietly pining for the Professor all these years, she still lost to a younger, prettier face.]
Riley: [What did you expect? Men are all the same. Anna is brilliant, but she’s not twenty-something anymore.]
Harper Lee: [I feel so sorry for Anna. She doesn’t deserve this.]
Charlotte Bishop: [Feel sorry for yourself first, Harper. Does your annual salary even cover Anna’s monthly bonus?]
Harper Lee: [Fair point. I’ll just pray for wealth instead.]
While the lab’s group chat buzzed with frantic gossip, one woman watched the messages roll in silently.
She didn’t type a single word. Instead, she discreetly screenshotted the photos and the juiciest parts of the chat log, and forwarded them privately to another contact.
Across the city, in a bright, corner office framed by floor-to-ceiling windows, a woman in a perfectly tailored light-blue silk shirt heard her phone chime.
Anna Merrill set down her stylus, picked up the phone, and tapped open the images.
Her perfectly manicured brow furrowed slightly.
Nathan likes young women?
Anna let out a soft, dismissive snort and set the phone face-down on her desk, feeling no irritation at all.
She didn’t believe it for a single second. No one on earth knew better than she did exactly how deeply Nathan Archer was tied to the ghost of his dead wife.
He had lost the capacity to love anyone else a long time ago. He had hoarded all his devotion, sealing it away for a woman who was never coming back.
It was a bitter truth to accept, but it had never diminished her attraction to him. For years, she had patiently inserted herself into his life through the only avenue he allowed—his son. She had always believed that, eventually, he would accept her permanent presence by his side.
As for the girl in the photo? Probably a niece or a cousin visiting from out of town.
Anna picked up her stylus to return to her reports.
But a moment later, her hand paused. She picked the phone back up, pinched the screen, and zoomed in closely on Nathan’s face.
The crease between her brows deepened.
In the grainy photo, Nathan was smiling.
It wasn’t his polite, professional nod. It was a gentle, relaxed, entirely indulgent expression—a look she had never once seen on his face in all the years they had worked together.
Could he really have moved on?
Nervously pressing her lips together, Anna closed her eyes. Then she opened her contacts, found Nathan’s number, and pressed call.
When the phone started ringing, Nathan was in the middle of transferring a perfectly charred slice of beef brisket into Chloe’s bowl.
Chloe didn’t notice. Her head was bowed, entirely absorbed in setting up her new phone with an intensity she hadn’t shown since cramming for her college finals.
Nathan didn’t interrupt her. He let her play with the device while he managed the grill, cutting the steaks and preparing the sides, quietly adding food to her plate whenever she emptied it.
When his phone buzzed in his pocket, he ignored it, his hands busy with the tongs.
Chloe looked up without pausing her scrolling. “Your phone is ringing.”
Only then did Nathan set the tongs down and pull the device from his pocket.
Glancing at the caller ID, his expression smoothed into professional neutrality. He swiped to answer.
“Hello.”
“Yes, I didn’t come into the lab today.”
“I’ve almost finished compiling the application materials for the new drug trial. I can have them to you by Thursday.”
Chloe pretended to be fiercely focused on her screen, but her ears were practically swiveling toward him. She listened to every single word.
“No, there’s no need,” Nathan said, his tone softening just a fraction. “The kid was just talking. You don’t have to make a special trip.”
“Seriously, Anna, it’s fine. Mason has club activities after school and won’t be back until late anyway.”
“I have things to take care of today as well. I’m not sure what time I’ll be home tonight.”
“Alright. I’ll see you in the lab tomorrow.”
Nathan hung up and set the phone on the table. When he picked his tongs back up, he found Chloe staring dead at him, her eyes narrowed.
“Who was that?”
“A colleague,” Nathan replied casually.
“A female colleague?” Chloe raised an eyebrow.
“Yes.” Nathan nodded, looking back at her. “Why?”
“Is this female colleague coming to your house tonight to drop something off?” Chloe’s voice dripped with sudden, saccharine sarcasm.
“It wasn’t for me. It was for Mason,” Nathan explained calmly. “He loves her barbecue ribs. She made extra over the weekend and offered to bring some over.”
“Oh, I see.” Chloe crossed her arms, her chest burning with a sudden, irrational fury. “Don’t bother explaining it to me. Does your wife know that your son is obsessed with another woman’s cooking? It sounds like you two see each other a lot outside of work. I never realized you were the type to flirt with your female coworkers while your wife is at home.”
Nathan froze, the tongs hovering over the grill. He stared at her, completely speechless.
Chloe didn’t even know where the spike of violent anger had come from.
She just felt unbearably, suffocatingly irritated.
Every time she heard him say his son’s name—Mason—it felt like a needle slipping between her ribs. She didn’t know how to look at the man sitting across from her. He was her husband. But he belonged to someone else.