Chapter 45: You Deserve a Lifetime in the Wife-Chasing Crematorium

Chapter 45: Chapter 45: You Deserve a Lifetime in the Wife-Chasing Crematorium

Nathaniel... was asking for her help?

Yes, Nathaniel was injured trying to save her, so she ought to help. But amidst the chaos, her thoughts couldn’t help but drift back to the past—

Five years ago, during a banquet, Nathaniel had cut his hand on a broken wine glass. She had wanted to help then too, but Noelle had blocked her way. Noelle had scolded her, asking her if she could just stand aside and not cause trouble since she didn’t understand anything and didn’t know how to do anything.

At the time, Estelle had wanted to say that she only wanted to bandage Nathaniel’s wound, not cause trouble. But Noelle had pushed her away in disgust, bustling about to attend to Nathaniel. She had been left alone in a corner, unnoticed, with no one caring about how she felt. It was as if an invisible barrier separated her from Nathaniel and everyone around him, making her completely out of place. From then on, whether Nathaniel was injured or sick, she never showed concern again. After all, even if she did, it would only be considered "causing trouble."

The scene before her overlapped with the one from five years ago. Estelle took an abrupt step back, her tone dripping with sarcasm. "Mr. Sloan is perfectly capable of bandaging this himself. I won’t cause trouble."

With that, she took Mia’s hand and walked out. "We’re going home."

Zachery hurriedly followed. Christian glanced at Nathaniel, a hint of sympathy spilling from his eyes. Although he didn’t know why his mommy’s mood had suddenly plummeted, it was definitely his daddy’s fault. Forced to choose between his mommy and daddy, Christian decisively chose his mommy.

Director Miller was speechless. His wife and children had all left within a minute. How did the injured Mr. Sloan feel about this? Director Miller gave a dry laugh to smooth things over. "Haha, Mrs. Sloan might... might just be too busy, haha."

Nathaniel narrowed his long, sharp eyes slightly. His forearm was still dripping blood, but he didn’t care in the slightest. He cast a nonchalant glance at President King, who was sprawled on the ground, and spat out a single word. "Investigate."

President King trembled like a leaf. It was over. Everything was over...

That night.

After the three kids fell asleep, Estelle suddenly heard the sound of the front door opening.

Nathaniel’s sturdy forearm was wrapped in thick gauze. He opened the door with one hand and took off his suit jacket with the same hand. Having done all this, he shot her a sidelong glance with a faint, mocking smile. "They say doctors have benevolent hearts. Is Dr. Lockwood truly this heartless?"

Estelle, who had been about to go to her room to sleep, furrowed her brows. Why did it feel like Nathaniel was mocking her for having no conscience? Well, he was right. She really was someone with no conscience!

Estelle said coldly, "During working hours, I’m a doctor, so naturally, I have a benevolent heart. Now that I’m off the clock, if Mr. Sloan wants to play the victim, you can go do it somewhere else. I’m sure plenty of women will fall for it."

A faint gleam flashed through Nathaniel’s eyes. "Is Dr. Lockwood not planning to take care of me?"

Estelle was shocked. "What gave you the impression that I want to take care of you?"

He couldn’t use the excuse that he got injured for her sake. His injury was Walter King’s fault. As for why Walter King hadn’t been at Greenbriar Kindergarten a few days ago but had suddenly transferred here today, and immediately started bullying Mia upon arrival... If someone were to investigate further, they might very well uncover his mother’s involvement. She absolutely refused to believe that Laura Jennings had nothing to do with this. Therefore, the true culprit behind Nathaniel’s injury was his own mother. Why should she be the one to take care of him?

Nathaniel leaned casually against the sofa, his thin lips curling up slightly. Seeing her avoiding him like the plague, the man suddenly felt the urge to tease her.

"Miss Lockwood hasn’t forgotten that we’re going to Rosalind Garden in two days, has she? My hand is injured, making it inconvenient to move around. If I don’t receive the best care, I’m afraid I won’t be able to go." He continued carelessly, "If I don’t go, the collaboration won’t proceed smoothly. What do you say, Miss Lockwood?"

Estelle’s eyes widened in shock. How could this man be so despicable?!

"Nathaniel, is this collaboration only making money for me alone?"

The partnership was clearly a win-win situation, yet he was actually using it to threaten her!

Nathaniel raised an eyebrow. "To be honest, I really don’t care about the small change from this collaboration."

The investments and profits across the early, middle, and late stages totaled 4.5 billion. Small change?!

But this hit Estelle right in her weak spot. Every day delayed meant another day of burning money. Nathaniel might not care, but she cared a lot! However, if she really had to take care of him, she would inevitably be reminded of those unpleasant memories from five years ago.

"Miss Lockwood, won’t you reconsider?" Nathaniel said coolly. "When you wanted me to be your servant back then, I didn’t refuse in the slightest."

Estelle scoffed. "You still remember you’re my servant? Since you’re the servant, what gives you the right to demand that I take care of you?"

Nathaniel naturally heard the mockery in her tone but remained noncommittal. "In special times, things are naturally different."

Seeing that she stayed silent for a long time, Nathaniel slowly picked up his phone with his left hand. "If Dr. Lockwood isn’t willing, then I’ll just have to postpone our trip to Rosalind Garden." As he spoke, he prepared to call Luke White.

Estelle gritted her teeth. In the past, she had wanted to take care of him but never had the chance. After all, whenever Nathaniel got hurt, he was immediately surrounded by all sorts of women. Noelle, his secretaries... they would crowd around him, forming an impenetrable wall. Even as the official Mrs. Sloan, she hadn’t even had the right to visit him in the hospital. Now that he had merely injured his arm, he actually wanted her "care"?

How shameless!

But the trip to Rosalind Garden couldn’t be delayed. The studio was still waiting for the fresh flowers to make perfumes. The daily costs for equipment, labor, and maintenance were astronomical; they couldn’t afford any delays.

Estelle’s expression shifted repeatedly. Forced to choose between "losing money" and "taking care of him," she decided that money was a bit more important. Enduring a couple of days of disgust would pass, but once the money was gone, it was gone for good.

Estelle gnashed her teeth. "Fine. You want me to take care of you? Sure, no problem."

Seeing the vivid expressions on her face, Nathaniel curled his lips. He once again superimposed Yara’s face over Estelle’s, and his mood improved significantly.

However, before he could speak, he saw Estelle suddenly stand up and walk toward the kitchen. Two minutes later, she returned carrying a watermelon and holding a knife in her hand.

"Mr. Sloan, there happens to be some chilled watermelon in the kitchen. The weather’s getting hot, so this will cool you down. Since it’s inconvenient for you to move, I’ll cut it for you."

Nathaniel was slightly taken aback. When he asked Estelle to take care of him, he had actually just been joking. He hadn’t expected her to really be willing to cut fruit for him.

"You don’t..." He instinctively wanted to say that she didn’t need to do these things.

But before he could finish, Estelle gripped the knife with one hand and stabbed it straight into the front of the fruit. The blade went in clean and came out red. Her movements made it look as though she wasn’t stabbing a watermelon, but Nathaniel’s head.

CRACK! The watermelon split into two halves.

A menacing smile surfaced on Estelle’s lips. "Rest assured, Mr. Sloan. For the next two days, I will take very good care of you."

Nathaniel was utterly speechless.

Estelle gave a cold harrumph, tossed the watermelon knife aside, and went upstairs to sleep.

Nathaniel sat alone in the living room for a long time, gazing thoughtfully at her retreating figure. Whether it was her subtle habits or her expressions when she was angry, they were just too similar...

PLOP.

Suddenly, a tube of ointment was tossed onto the sofa next to him. He looked up and met Zachery’s slightly tense little face, which was full of reluctance. "Mia asked me to bring you some medicine."

Nathaniel toyed with the ointment with interest. "At least Mia has a conscience."

Zachery instantly flared up. "What’s that supposed to mean? Are you insinuating that my mommy has no conscience?"

Nathaniel was amused, his long, narrow eyes sparkling with banter. "You were the one who said that. I didn’t."

Zachery was left speechless. Damn it, it felt like he had been outmaneuvered by his scumbag daddy! He muttered under his breath, "You deserve a lifetime of groveling to get your wife back!"