Chapter 10
Nicole’s breathing grew heavier as her hands began trembling faintly.
What made the situation even worse was Hayden subconsciously turning his screen away, as though
afraid she would notice the caller ID on it. “Nicky…”
“You should answer that first.” Nicole didn’t want to look at him any longer.
Hayden frowned but still turned his back on Nicole to answer the phone.
A woman’s voice came over the line. “Mr. Spencer, I’ve already sent a rough draft of the design to your
email. Please take a look and let me know if you’re dissatisfied with anything.”
Hayden replied in a low voice, “I’ll talk to you another time. In the future, don’t just call me out of the blue.
I want this to be a surprise for my wife.”
After that, he ended the call, only to realize that Nicole had already left.
Olivia snagged his arm, not allowing him to leave. “Gloria was hospitalized last night, wasn’t she? Hurry up
and come with me to buy her some supplements. After all, if it weren’t for your grandma’s sake last time,
Gloria wouldn’t have gotten her heart disease!”
Hayden glanced around, but when he still failed to see Nicole, he could only leave with his aunt.
In truth, Nicole had been standing in a nearby gift shop all along, watching them. Once they had departed,
she exited the shop. With a gift bag in her hand, she calmly headed to the hospital to bring it to Jeremiah.
As she walked by the inpatient department on her way out, she coincidentally spotted Olivia exiting one
of the rooms.
Clearly, that was the room Gloria was staying in.
Nicole’s fingers curled into fists, yet she still couldn’t help but glance inside while passing by the room. In
an instant, she was dumbfounded at the sight.
Gloria was leaning against Hayden’s shoulder, looking frail and pallid. She was also clutching her chest
over her heart, as though she were in pain.
Since Hayden’s back was to the door, Nicole couldn’t see his expression. However, the fact that he didn’t
pull away–and instead allowed Gloria’s action–spoke volumes about his adoration for her.
Disappointment and despair chilled Nicole to the bone. Not wanting to watch them any longer, she strode away quickly, only to run into Olivia in the elevator.
Crossing her arms before her chest, Olivia said with a smirk, “They’re the true match made in heaven, understand?”
Nicole numbly pressed the elevator button and ignored her. Whether they were a match made in heaven or not had nothing to do with her. Either way, she would be leaving in ten days.
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While on the way back, she instructed the driver to take a detour to the company.
Normally, when Hayden was unavailable, his secretary, Melanie Porter, would take care of things that didn’t need his direct attention. Since she was gone as well, only one person had the authority to issue orders to human resources–Samuel Zink, a shareholder on the board of directors.
Nicole sought him out and told him about her intent to resign.
As expected, Samuel was surprised. He smiled and asked, “Did you argue with Hayden? Why would you suddenly want to resign when everything was going fine? Besides, you technically only have a job in name; you don’t even have to come to work. Does it really matter whether you resign or not?”
Everyone had the same reaction and said the same things whenever she mentioned wanting to resign.
“I don’t want to be linked to the company as there have been some rumors circulating lately, and I don’t
want people to misunderstand. Plus, resigning would allow me to stay at home to take better care of my
husband and son instead of getting involved in matters.”
Nicole’s expression didn’t so much as change as she said those lies. All she wanted right now was to cut
off all ties with Hayden, to have a clean break from him.
Samuel didn’t suspect a thing and signed off on her resignation letter under the board’s authority.
“Alright, take this to the HR department. But are you seriously in such a hurry? Have you informed Hayden of this yet?”
Nicole replied, “He’ll know once he comes in and reads my resignation letter. He’s been rather busy lately,
so I didn’t want to bother him with this matter. Thank you, Mr. Zink.”
With that, she dropped off her resignation letter at the human resources department.
After handling this matter without Hayden’s knowledge, Nicole finally breathed a sigh of relief. By the time
she stepped out of the company building, it was already dark out.
The colored lights of the bustling city illuminated the faces of the countless passers–by as they rushed to
their destinations. Every single one of them had a home, a place they belonged to, yet she alone had none.
She was like a dandelion drifting in the wind, with no place to take root and call home. Her family and
company were all overseas. If it weren’t for Hayden, she certainly wouldn’t have been so determined to
return here back then. She wouldn’t have abandoned her career and focused on being a full–time
housewife.
Yet, what had she received in return for all this sacrifice?
She was destined to be mercilessly abandoned, and everyone around her thought of her as a fool. They all knew that Hayden hadn’t actually married her, yet they were more than happy to string her along.
While Nicole was walking down the street aimlessly, lost in her thoughts, she suddenly received a phone call. Upon seeing it was Caleb, she abruptly tightened her grip on her phone as she recalled the words he had said to Hayden in the office the other day.
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Remembering the disdain on Caleb’s face as he spoke of her, she felt a stabbing pain, as if a thorn had lodged itself in her heart.
Without hesitation, she rejected the call.
Subsequently, Caleb called her again. It seemed he wouldn’t stop until she answered.
Slowly letting out a breath, Nicole suppressed the impatience surging through her and picked up.
Immediately, Caleb’s loud voice came over the line. “Nicole, what are you doing? You’d better come to
the bar now. We were drinking, and Hayden got drunk. There’s nobody to send him home.”
In the past, Nicole treated Caleb as her best friend here, largely because he was one of Hayden’s best friends and had always been thoughtful and kind to her. It had allowed her to feel the warmth of affection
from a family member.
Now, however, all she could feel was utter disgust at herself for treating him as a genuine friend these
past few years.
Her tone was distant and cold when she replied, “Then hire a driver to take him home. I’m not free to go
pick him up right now.”
Caleb didn’t expect her to say that, and the shock was obvious. He laughed after a moment. “I’ll still need
your help, Nicole. There are no drivers to be found here. You should get over here soon, or you and Matt
will both worry if Hayden doesn’t get home, won’t you?”
Before Nicole could speak, Caleb had already hung up, clearly wanting to force her to head to the bar.
At first, Nicole was nonplussed. However, she abruptly remembered an incident a while back, when Caleb
and his girlfriend had been on the verge of a break–up.
The pair had shown up at Nicole and Hayden’s house late at night, wanting the couple to decide who was at fault. During their heated argument, Caleb’s girlfriend had accidentally left her necklace behind, and
Nicole had retrieved it.
Since Nicole was only taking her clothes, she couldn’t leave the necklace behind; Hayden would never
think to return it to Caleb’s girlfriend. So, she had no choice but to go home, retrieve the necklace, and
give it to Caleb to return himself.
The moment Matthew saw that Nicole had returned, he set down his gaming console and rushed toward
her. “Mommy!”
However, Nicole pretended not to hear and walked past him.
Matthew froze for a second, then his short legs carried him after her. He stared at her retreating back, noting she didn’t even look at him. In a fit of anger, he yelled, “Mommy, I’m hating you more and more! I
like Ms. Ashford better!”
Nicole paused briefly, but she continued forward after a beat.
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“If Ms. Ashford were my mommy, I wouldn’t even bother with you! You’re too mean!”
At last, Nicole halted in her tracks. Taking in a deep breath, she finally turned around to level an indifferent gaze on Matthew.
Matthew’s eyes lit up as she turned around, and he felt a surge of smugness. In the past, whenever he’d been unhappy and declared that he hated her, Nicole would panic and be heartbroken, immediately trying to win him over. He fully expected her to do the same now.
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Chapter 11
