Chapter 25: They're Both Just as Guilty

The two of them moved out to the terrace.

The night wind was sharp, whipping at their clothes.

Ethan lit a cigarette, hands still unsteady. He opened his mouth several times, but nothing came out.

A woman in a couture gown drifted over.

Vivian Xu, recently back from studying abroad. Her family wanted her married off for political leverage, but she'd set her sights on Nathaniel the moment she laid eyes on him pride and all.

Her mother had warned her the Cross family would never look twice at someone from the Xu family. She hadn't listened.

Nathaniel rarely went out, rarely showed his face anywhere social so tonight was a rare opportunity, as far as she was concerned.

"Mr. Cross. Mr. James."

Vivian perched herself on the arm of the couch beside Ethan, angling deliberately to show off her figure.

Nathaniel didn't look up, turning the lighter over in his fingers.

"Mr. Cross, I heard you've gotten into film investment recently?"

Undeterred by his silence, she pressed on, hunting for a topic.

"I directed a short film in college, actually won a newcomer's award. Would you ever consider coming to a screening? I'd love your feedback."

Silence. The flame flickered between his fingers.

Reading his lack of a "no" as encouragement, she leaned in, voice turning coy.

"It's a pretty layered story, actually. About a housekeeper from a poor family who, to climb the ladder, secretly keeps evidence after sleeping with the man of the house"

Ethan choked on his own smoke, coughing violently.

He made wild, exaggerated faces at her, face going red from the effort.

You are digging your own grave right now.

Vivian, completely oblivious, only got more animated.

"Then she gets pregnant and tells the wife he forced himself on her, trying to shake them down for money. I find that kind of desperate, twisted ambition from the lower class fascinating, honestly. Don't you think?"

"There's definitely tension in that."

Nathaniel spoke, finally.

He turned his head, dark eyes locking onto her.

Vivian's pulse spiked, certain she'd finally impressed him.

"Mr. Cross"

"Your nose is lovely," he said, offhand.

She blinked, startled, then lit up with delight.

Her hand drifted instinctively to the freshly "corrected" bridge of her nose. "Thank you everyone says so."

Ethan held his breath, the hair on the back of his neck rising.

Nathaniel doesn't compliment people. Especially not women. Something is very wrong here.

Nathaniel lifted a hand, fingers reaching toward her face.

Vivian's heart raced, reading it as something intimate. She leaned in, closed her eyes, waiting.

The next instant

"AAAAH!!!"

A scream tore through the night.

Vivian collapsed, hands clamped over her face, blood and clear fluid seeping between her fingers.

Her nose sat crooked, twisted grotesquely to one side. She convulsed on the ground, eyes wide with pure terror.

Nathaniel calmly pulled out a handkerchief and wiped his fingers clean.

He looked down at her, sobbing on the ground, and tossed the handkerchief onto her face.

"The silicone looked cheap. Tell whoever did that to use better material next time."

A chill ran straight down Ethan's spine.

God almighty, what has gotten into him?

This woman's only crime is... not having a real nose?

Nathaniel glanced sideways at him. "Boring. I'm leaving."

Ethan: ...

Rest easy, Vivian. You did nothing to deserve this.

Nathaniel walked into the bedroom, flipped the light on, and saw the woman asleep in his bed. His eyes went cold instantly.

"Get up."

Joy startled awake. One look at his expression and she bolted upright, shock and fear crossing her face.

Her heart slammed against her ribs.

This man radiating pure menace bore no resemblance to the cold-but-composed boss she dealt with every day.

She shrank back instinctively.

Her hair was mussed, sticking to her cheek, and she wore an oversized T-shirt the collar slipping sideways, exposing a wide stretch of pale collarbone and part of one shoulder.

Oh.

A flicker of contempt crossed his face.

Impressive. Dressed to seduce, even in her sleep.

"Who said you could sleep in my bed?" He leaned against the wall, eyes dripping sarcasm.

Joy went flustered.

Sorry, but if I explain, Lily takes the fall for it.

She threw off the covers and got out of bed.

The shirt hem rode up, exposing the full length of her legs.

Nathaniel's pupils tightened slightly.

Joy kept her eyes down, desperate only to escape the suffocating weight of the room.

She'd just brushed past him

"ah!"

A sharp jolt of pain shot through her jaw.

His hand shot out, fingers closing like iron around her jaw, forcing her face up.

Breath cut off entirely.

She stared at him, terrified, jaw aching.

Just as she thought he might actually break something, he shoved her backward onto the bed.

She hit the mattress hard. Before she could even cry out, he'd pinned both her wrists above her head with one hand.

He leaned over her, knee pressing between her legs, eyes glinting with something dark and dangerous.

"You want to sleep with me that badly?" A low laugh. "Fine. Wish granted."

"No I'm pregnant, I can't" Joy shook her head frantically, tears rising.

He sneered, dragging a rough thumb across her lips.

"Timed the whole thing around ovulation, and now you're playing innocent. Disgusting."

Joy stared straight into his eyes.

Blood roared in her ears grief, fear, fury all boiling over at once.

Is he the only one who gets to feel wronged here?

Since that night, I've been living a nightmare I can't wake up from. Terrified constantly. Humiliated by him, over and over.

We're both responsible for this. Why is it only ever my fault?!

She shouted, furious. "Why didn't you wear protection?!"

The words echoed through the room.

Nathaniel froze.

He stared down at her tear-streaked, and somehow still righteously furious at him and nearly laughed out of pure disbelief.

She schemes her way into my bed, gets pregnant off of it, and now she's blaming me for not using protection?

What kind of logic is that?

He ground his teeth and shot back, word for word.

"Why the hell didn't you take emergency contraception?!"

"I did!"

Just the wrong pill.

He narrowed his eyes, studying her face, clearly not buying it.

Joy's fingers curled at her sides.

He sneered. "Would've been easier if you'd just had the kid and disappeared. Don't get any ideas about things that were never yours to have."

"I have no ideas." Joy stared straight back into his eyes.

"Believe me or don't all I want is the one point five million. I never wanted to marry you. I never wanted this baby."

Everything she'd been holding back for weeks broke loose at once.

She started sobbing.

His face darkened. "Didn't you say you liked me?"

...Right.

She'd said that in a moment of desperation, trying to save herself.

"I... do..." Joy managed, choking the words out through tears.

Eyes down, voice small: "But I know my place. I never expected you to feel anything back. I never wanted to be Mrs. Cross. The second this baby's born, I'm gone. You'll never hear from me again."

She bit her lip, tears streaking down her face.

Something about the fragile, glassy shimmer in her eyes cut straight through him despite everything.

Nathaniel's breath caught.

He stared at her wet eyes, something turbulent surging in his chest.

His fingers twitched he wanted, badly, to close them around her throat.

But looking at her like this, he couldn't make his hand move.

What is she, exactly?

Some kind of curse sent specifically to torment me.

His jaw tightened, a headache pulsing at his temples, thoughts grinding to a halt.

Feeling his grip loosen for just a second, Joy's eyes sharpened.

She wrenched free and bolted from the room.