Your First Love is Pregnant? I'm Done Being Mrs. Hawthorne!

###Chapter 75: You Know the Consequences of Lying to Me

"Nina." Zachary Hawthorne’s voice suddenly dropped several degrees.

Nina Wainwright knew she had gone too far. She took a silent breath, her voice softening a little. "I’ll be back in a bit."

Zachary Hawthorne hung up on her.

Nina Wainwright frowned and stood up. She picked up the book she hadn’t finished, returned it to the shelf, and slung her bag over her shoulder, preparing to leave.

As she passed the bar, she had intended to thank Leo Larkin, but he wasn’t there. It would have to wait until tomorrow.

Back at Avelon Residence, Nina Wainwright had just stepped into the living room when she felt the heavy atmosphere.

She saw Zachary Hawthorne sitting in the living room watching the sports channel. She started to call out to him but thought better of it, turning to head upstairs instead.

"Have you eaten?" Zachary Hawthorne turned down the volume slightly and asked, his back still to her.

Nina Wainwright turned her head to look at him. "Mhm, I grabbed a quick bite outside."

"Did you find a job?" Zachary Hawthorne continued to ask.

"I did." Nina Wainwright stared at his back, her expression calm. "Are you done with your questions? If you’re done, may I go upstairs?"

"What did you mean on the phone today, telling me to find another woman? You just think I’m having an affair with Luna Sterling, don’t you? What’s the point of all these snide remarks?" Zachary Hawthorne stood up, turning sideways, his gaze ice-cold.

Nina Wainwright didn’t think she was wronging him, so she didn’t feel the least bit guilty.

But she didn’t want to fight with Zachary Hawthorne. She looked at him for a long moment, her gaze placid, before finally saying, "I was angry and spoke out of turn. I’m sorry."

Zachary Hawthorne felt like he had punched a fistful of cotton.

She was always like this lately. The moment he got angry, she would immediately apologize, immediately admit fault.

But he knew in his heart that Nina Wainwright didn’t actually think she was wrong.

"How could you possibly think you’re wrong? You clearly think I’m the one at fault, that I’m just being stubborn." Zachary Hawthorne laughed self-mockingly.

A flash of impatience crossed Nina Wainwright’s face, but she suppressed it. "Zachary, I don’t know how to talk to you anymore."

"Do you just despise Luna that much? Even after I’ve told you a million times that there’s nothing between us—"

"Zachary, I don’t care anymore," Nina Wainwright interrupted him. "You’ve had countless opportunities to explain, but did you ever take them? From the very first time she called you, while you and I were being intimate... I begged you. Did you even care?"

Rage churned in Zachary Hawthorne’s eyes.

"I can’t just ’not despise her’ when her ringtone on your phone is a special one. I can’t just ’not care’ when you leave the moment she calls. And it’s even more impossible for me to be so magnanimous as to believe I’m special to you, when I know perfectly well she’s your ex-girlfriend—the one you loved but couldn’t have. The truth is, all your ’special treatment’ is reserved for her." After Nina Wainwright finished speaking, she turned and headed upstairs.

"All my ’special treatment’ is for her?" Zachary Hawthorne found it laughable.

"Yes. When I need to use your money, I have to get your approval. But for her birthday, you didn’t even blink at spending ten million. When it comes to the money you spend on me, you keep a running tab, telling me I’ll never be able to pay you back in this lifetime. So, is this what you call ’marital affection’?" Nina Wainwright laughed, but her voice was laced with sarcasm.

Zachary Hawthorne tugged at his collar. "When all is said and done, it always comes back to money. Just because I didn’t give you two million, or twenty million, you’re starting this again?"

"Zachary, you don’t have to immediately turn this back on me the moment I try to settle accounts. It just makes me tired of even talking to you." After speaking in a soft voice, Nina Wainwright entered the room.

’She now understood the crux of the issue between her and Zachary Hawthorne.’

’He would always think her recent tantrums were just about money.’

’He never once considered that it was because she loved him that she got angry, that she felt disappointed, and that now, she had lost all interest in even speaking to him.’

’Because she came from a poor background, because her parents had spent a lot of his money, he thought she treated him like an ATM.’

’All those three years of selfless devotion, waiting day and night for him to come home from work, and he truly hadn’t felt a single thing.’

’So that was it... He couldn’t feel her love. He didn’t care about her love for him.’

Nina Wainwright went into the bathroom and splashed some water on her face. When she lifted her gaze, she saw that her eyes were terribly red.

She still felt indignant, still felt it was unfair.

’If only he had felt her affection for him for even a single moment, he wouldn’t think of her as such a despicable person.’

When Nina Wainwright came out of the bathroom after her shower, she noticed Zachary Hawthorne hadn’t followed her upstairs. ’She knew it—he had definitely gone to find Luna Sterling again.’

Every time they fought, he would go to his friends to blow off steam.

She sat at the vanity, dried her hair, and then lay down on the bed. ’It’s for the best if he doesn’t come back. I have my baby now... From now on, I’ll pour all my love into my baby. I won’t give Zachary Hawthorne another drop.’

Downstairs, Zachary Hawthorne lay on the sofa, staring at the ceiling, thoroughly agitated.

’In the past, he would have definitely gone out with his friends, but now, he didn’t want to. He knew very well that Nina Wainwright would assume he had left again.’

Lately, he could feel Nina Wainwright’s lack of love for him, and it was slowly becoming more and more tangible.

After lying there for a while, he got up and went upstairs. He moved more quietly as he entered the room.

Nina Wainwright was sleeping fitfully when she suddenly felt herself being embraced. Startled, she pushed Zachary Hawthorne away on pure instinct.

"What are you doing?!" Her eyes were full of vigilance.

The tenderness welling up in Zachary Hawthorne instantly vanished at her words and reaction, replaced only by anger. "What are you afraid of?!"

"I thought you were an intruder," Nina Wainwright said, making up an excuse.

"You were clearly on guard against me—never mind." Zachary Hawthorne didn’t want to argue with her.

Nina Wainwright’s body tensed up, but she was exhausted and also had to be wary of him suddenly turning beastly. "I need to sleep. I was out walking all day, and I’m tired."

"Did I ask you to go out walking?" Zachary Hawthorne retorted irritably, pulling her into his arms. "From now on, you will be home before seven. I’ve already allowed you to get a job, so you’d better not push your luck."

"I know." Nina Wainwright wanted to struggle but was afraid of provoking him into using force.

"I’m taking you to the hospital for a check-up tomorrow to see how you’re healing," Zachary Hawthorne said, his hand resting on her hip.

Nina Wainwright wanted to push him away but held back. "I have to be at work very early tomorrow. I don’t get days off. Let’s just skip it."

"Nina, what you’re saying had better be the truth. You know the consequences of lying to me." With his other hand, Zachary Hawthorne gripped her chin, his tone a cold threat.

"Why would I lie to you? I worked so hard to find this job. Don’t cause trouble for me again." Nina Wainwright frowned and pulled away from his hand.

Zachary Hawthorne stared at her, his eyes probing. "Nina, none of the jobs you’ve been looking for recently have anything to do with dancing. Have you fallen out of love with it?"

"Would you let me?" Nina’s hand balled into a silent fist against her body.

’So he really has been watching my every move behind my back.’

Zachary Hawthorne’s lips curled into a smirk. "I’ll let you go. If you want, I can have Silas Sinclair contact your teacher tomorrow. I hear she’s still looking for a lead dancer."