Chapter 8 I'll wait for you

"Stella, if there's anything I've done wrong, please tell me. Has Caroline been bullying you again?" John asked as he heard that Caroline had recently gone back to her home and even pushed the blame onto her mother.

"John! Can't you stop bothering me here? Just go away. I'm going to see my mother," Stella immediately became angry after hearing the name "Caroline". She stood up abruptly, scolded John and then went upstairs.

John felt the change in Stella's behavior. He believed that Stella was the person who could bring him good luck and he couldn't give up on the big tree that was the Collins family.

Stella went straight to her mother's room upstairs. Her mother had hurt her back last time and was still resting in bed.

John left the Collins family, thinking that Stella was angry because he hadn't given her any gifts recently and was just throwing a tantrum. After all, every time Stella got angry, he could say some nice words and send expensive gifts to smooth things over.

As he left the Collins family, John went straight to the World Trade Center, familiarly choosing gifts for Stella. He caught a glimpse of a familiar figure not far away.

"What do you want to eat?" Nicholas took Caroline's hand and got into the elevator. Since Caroline married Nicholas, she had been staying at home all the time. Nicholas saw that she was always expressionless and couldn't tell her emotions, so he took her out to relax.

"I can eat anything, you can choose." Although Caroline couldn't say she was distant from Nicholas, she still maintained a certain distance. She had just come out of a previous relationship and had seen John's smiling face in front of her, but behind her back he was fooling around with her sister. She didn't want to experience that kind of betrayal again, even though the person next to her was her husband in name.

Nicholas took Caroline to his own western restaurant and chose a quiet spot to sit down.

"Is it common for you to take women out to eat?" Caroline didn't know what came over her, she suddenly blurted out this question as she watched Nicholas ordering food. After she finished speaking, she realized that she might have asked something she shouldn't have and immediately closed her mouth.

"You're the first one and the last one," Nicholas looked up in surprise and answered softly, with a slight smile on his lips.

The food that Nicholas ordered surprisingly matched Caroline's taste. She also noticed this during the past few days at Johnson's house. He seemed to know her dietary preferences very well and was always able to pinpoint them accurately.

Nicholas's phone vibrated on the table. He glanced at the screen and saw that it was his assistant calling.

"Go to answer the phone first, I'll wait for you here," Caroline took out a tissue and wiped her mouth, saying lightly. At this point, the call must be important and she didn't want to make things difficult for Nicholas.

"I'll be back soon." Nicholas picked up the phone and walked towards the door.

Caroline was eating the steak that Nicholas had cut for her, feeling increasingly confused about why Nicholas was taking such good care of her and the love he had expressed that day. Lost in thought, she was suddenly interrupted by a familiar voice behind her.

"Caroline?" John had only just entered after seeing Nicholas leave. If he hadn't known that the rumors about Nicholas were false and had seen his picture on the servant's phone, he wouldn't have recognized her today.

"You're back?" Caroline turned around and her faint smile stiffened at the sight of John's face. She couldn't help but furrow her brows and her expression turned cold. As soon as she saw John, she remembered what had happened between him and Stella on the sofa in the Collins home and his own self-reproach.

"Why are you so cold to me? Caroline, you weren't like this before." Previously, Caroline would have had a joyful smile on her face when she saw John, but now she looked like a different person, with a cold expression and a mocking and disdainful look in her eyes.

"Don't be angry, Caroline. It was all my fault. I shouldn't have gone behind your back to see your sister, but you have to understand that as a man, there are physical needs. Anyway, I came today to ask for your forgiveness. After all, we used to love each other so much." John spoke for himself when he saw that Caroline wasn't responding to him.

"Just thinking about what we used to do together makes me feel nauseous." Caroline sneered, her eyes full of mockery and disdain.

"Caroline, I just want your forgiveness today. You see, we used to be so close..." John couldn't bear Caroline's words and his face showed his disappointment.

"Why should I forgive you? We have nothing to do with each other anymore. Please don't disturb me again." Caroline just wanted to leave the place where John was, but she couldn't shake off John's grip on her wrist, which was too strong.

"John! Please respect yourself!" Caroline gritted her teeth and her touch instinctively repelled John.

"Wait..." John was about to say something more when Nicholas's voice, without a hint of warmth, sounded around them. Caroline's heart finally calmed down with his arrival.

John saw Nicholas's cold and sharp gaze, as if wrapped in a knife, and instinctively let go of Caroline’s wrist he was holding. Caroline was rubbing her sore wrist that had been grabbed and was then pulled into Nicholas's arms as if he was declaring ownership. Nicholas was half a head taller than John, and he coldly stared at him with lowered eyes.

"What do you fuck want?" Nicholas's hand stopped Caroline's waist and held her protectively in his arms.

"Mr. Nicholas, I have no ill intentions. I am Caroline's ex-boyfriend. I just happened to run into her today and wanted to catch up. I didn't mean anything." John pinched his smile and deliberately emphasized the words "ex-boyfriend."

When Nicholas came in after the phone call, he saw John being handsy with Caroline and angrily pulled her back to his side. Now, John was intentionally provoking him with the title of Caroline's ex-boyfriend. He hadn't gone to settle the score with John yet, but now he had come running over. Nicholas was not someone who was easily provoked, and he could see through John's tricks at a glance.

"Are you OK?" Nicholas, as if not hearing John's words, lifted Caroline's hand in front of him, and there was indeed a red mark on her wrist.

"It's, it's fine." Caroline was a bit embarrassed. Their commotion wasn't that big, but it wasn't small either. People were now looking over at them one by one. Caroline wasn't someone who liked to cause trouble, and was currently trying to pull her hand out of Nicholas's grasp.