Ch. 71..80

Chapter 71 Hot

As William did not hold back with his slap, Lydia was now pressing her stinging face, and tears uncontrollably fell from the corner of her eyes.

Given Nicole’s honorable reputation as the Chief Designer of F&M Apparel, William already had the plans to reel her back into the Anderson Family.

Many years ago, Lydia had driven Nicole and her mother out of Anderson Residence and banished her from returning. “Did you even think why Queenie and Joseph would be in the same room, drugged at the same time?” Her eyes glistened with tears as she raised her head, looking resentful.

William’s body froze. He turned to Lydia’s tear-stained face and tensed his brows. After pondering for a bit, he quizzed, “You think it’s Nicole’s doing?”

Seeing as he was buying her implication, Lydia quickly replied, “What else could it be? Queenie was doing just fine with President Gardner. Why would she sleep with Joseph?”

William found her words reasonable. All these years, thanks to Queenie’s efforts in playing up to the Gardner Family, the Andersons were able to reap innumerable benefits, so indeed, Queenie had no reason to offend the Gardners for Joseph’s sake. Thinking of this, the anger on his face waned, and he was no longer as tilted as he was.

Sensing the result of her manipulation, Lydia hurriedly added, “Think about it. Five years ago, when Nicole came to us begging for money to treat her mother, do you remember how we rejected her? And this time, Nicole must be trying to get back at us by setting Queenie up!” As she was speaking, she brushed her tears off, whimpering and saying, “Oh, Poor Queenie… she… she almost got violated!”

Hearing Lydia’s wailing, William finally calmed himself down, as shown on his face. After regaining his composure, he recalled his memories from five years ago. Indeed, he had been dreadful toward Nicole and her mother, sparing not even a penny for them. And that explained why Nicole returned—to take her revenge.

“Okay, calm down now. It didn’t happen in the end, no? I’m sure President Gardner will investigate the matter thoroughly, so it’ll only be a matter of time until the culprit is captured.” Having cooled down, William comforted Lydia.

…

Meanwhile, in the luxurious sedan was its finely designed interiors.

Nicole, with her eyes half shut, lay back on her seat. The car windows were tightly shut. Even without the heater, she could still feel her body burning. She put out her tongue and licked her unhydrated lips, looking dazed when she looked ahead.

Colton, squinting his eyes, could vividly observe the woman beside him in the car. On her pale face were her rosy cheeks as well as a pair of unglossed lips, seemingly tender and moist, that even Colton would want to take a bite.

Having been soundless for a while, Nicole, once again, began to act up. Somehow, her hand found its way to the buckle, and she unfastened her seatbelt before she weakly leaned against Colton. Wafting at her lucid eyes was mist that made them look captivating. Her voice carried a hint of allure. “I’m so hot, and your body is so cold…”

Despite that, Colton endured his urges. Seeing the red light, he pumped the brake and subsequently pushed the woman back to her seat.

With his bassy, hoarse voice, he said, “Stay put, or I can’t guarantee what’ll happen.” He was so tempted to talk dirty. His heart that had stayed unmoved for so long was strangely triggered by Nicole.

As if she didn’t hear him, she reached out her hands and held his head before pecking him on his cheek.

With that, Colton was stupefied. It was as if a surge of electricity defibrillated his heart. Coming back to his senses, he turned to her, only to see her dark, sparkling eyes. All of a sudden, a honk from behind disrupted his thoughts, to which he hastily withdrew his body and seated himself before hitting the pedal to head home.

Feeling not a thing in her arms, Nicole felt empty and once again threw herself onto Colton.

Left with no choice, Colton rolled down the windows. The weather was chilly outside. Along the speedy motion of the car, an icy breeze rushed into the car, pulling the dazed woman back to her senses.

 

Chapter 72 Take Her Home

After Nicole had slightly returned to her senses due to the wind, the first thing she saw was that she was in the arms of a man, and that man was touching her head with one hand.

Her mind turned blank. Before she had time to think about it, she got up abruptly and threw a slap at him, blurting, “You monster!”

Colton was a little taken aback by the slap. Although Nicole wasn’t that strong, the crisp slap could be heard loud and clear in the quiet car.

At that moment, Colton’s expression was as dark as a storm.

It was only a moment later that Nicole came back to her senses. Looking at Colton’s dark expression on his red face, she blanked out with her hand still raised in the air. Earlier, she seemed to have lost her mind… and she even hit him.

A gust of cold wind blew in from outside. Nicole bit her lip and raised her eyes to glance at Colton carefully. She pursed her lips and explained in a low voice, “I wasn’t looking clearly, so I thought you were a hooligan…”

The more she spoke, the more guilty she became. She faintly remembered that she seemed to have been rubbing herself all over him earlier.

Colton’s expression darkened, his thin lips pursed tightly. He could feel a slight pain on his cheek, and the culprit was the woman next to him.

He suppressed his voice and mustered a smile, asking, “Miss Anderson, you leaned on me by yourself first. How did I become a hooligan?”

Though Colton’s tone was lighthearted, Nicole’s face turned flushed when she heard his words. She crossed her hands together and twiddled her fingers in embarrassment. So it’s true that I snuggled up to him earlier. Not only that, but I was the one in the wrong, and yet, I ended up hitting him instead.

She licked her dry lips, afraid to look over at him. In the end, she could only turn around and look out the window.

Her body continued to radiate heat, and even as the chilly winter wind blew onto her, she didn’t feel awake. Nicole closed her eyes and drove her nails into her palm. The slightly tingling sensation brought her back to her senses a little.

However, she soon felt that she was about to lose consciousness again. She bit her lip and contemplated before turning to look at Colton, saying sternly, “President Gardner, why don’t you let me get off here?”

Colton threw her a sidelong glance. Without slowing down the car, he gripped the steering wheel and said coldly, “Look at you now. Are you trying to look for trouble?”

With Nicole’s current state, she was basically rushing up to glue herself onto every man she saw.

Nicole was aware of her shameful state, but she had no other choice, and said in a low voice, “I was drugged… I would get better if I were alone…”

Although she didn’t dislike Colton, the two of them weren’t close enough to date. If something really happened, it would be extremely awkward when they met in the future.

“I’ve already called a doctor to my house. We’re reaching soon, so you’ll be fine,” Colton comforted her. His body was heating up due to Nicole’s actions, and he yearned to get on top of her and vent onto her.

However, it was no secret that Zachary, the president of F&M Apparel, liked Nicole. If Colton were to sleep with her, he was afraid that the partnership with F&M Apparel would be terminated.

Gardner Apparel was now only a step away from leading the industry, so he had to endure it.

Hearing that there would be a doctor, Nicole was finally able to relax. She nodded and closed her eyes, lying on the seat as if she were unconscious.

Colton sped all the way and finally arrived home. As soon as he entered the huge and luxurious villa, an old woman stepped forward and saw that he was carrying a woman in his arms. A surprised expression appeared on her face.

This wasn’t Gardner Residence, but Colton’s private residence. Let alone a woman, there were extremely few men who had entered this place.

“Young Master, this is…?”

The woman in his arms was completely red-faced and looked a little out of the ordinary.

“Annie, prepare some coffee. When Harvey arrives later, just let him come directly to my room.”

Colton didn’t waste any time chit-chatting. After he finished speaking, he went upstairs with Nicole in his arms.

Chapter 73 Terrible Man

Without the cold wind blowing onto her, Nicole’s body immediately surged with enthusiasm again. She grabbed Colton’s collar tightly with both hands, and her body leaned up uncontrollably.

As her reason and desire intertwined, Nicole felt an uncontrollable urge.

Colton quickly entered the room and kicked the door open, carrying Nicole into the bathroom. He stretched out his hand to turn on the shower head, and cold water immediately sprayed onto her head.

The cold water immediately returned Nicole to her senses. She opened her slightly damp eyes, and when she looked at Colton, her face had calmed down a lot.

Colton glanced down at Nicole. Her shirt was tightly sticking onto her body because of the water, outlining her charming and voluptuous figure.

Nicole had calmed down a lot due to the cold water. Currently, she had to stay in the cold water for a while.

Although Hayden had a nanny to take care of him at home, if she didn’t go back today, he would definitely worry about her.

Her throat bobbed as she looked up at Colton, saying in a low voice, “President Gardner, can you call my son? Just tell him that something came up and I have to work overtime.”

She had no way to make a call in her current state, so she could only ask Colton for help.

“All right,” Colton replied and turned around without looking at Nicole. “The doctor will be here soon. Before he arrives, you should stay here.” Saying that, he opened the door and left.

Colton felt that he was acting somewhat strange today. Though many women had offered themselves to him before, not only did he feel nothing, but he even felt a little nauseous.

However, when he looked at Nicole’s barely covered skin now, not only did his heart skip a beat, but his body reacted as well…

He seemed to have become a little abnormal.

Colton suppressed the throbbing in his heart and walked to the table, where he picked up his phone.

Nicole’s son once called him when he was in the company, so he could still find his number by scrolling down his call log. His fingers moved deftly, and once he found the number, he pressed the call button.

The dial tone rang for a long time, and it took a long time for the call to connect.

“Hello, who is it?” The child’s youthful voice carried a hint of coolness.

“Colton,” he replied after a moment of silence.

“Bas… Oh, it’s you, President Gardner.” Hayden paused before asking again, “Do you need anything?”

Colton fell silent. If his ears hadn’t failed him, was the kid about to call him a b*stard earlier?

But I don’t recall doing anything to offend him.

Colton held himself back and replied a little harshly, “Your mother won’t be home today.”

Sure enough, Hayden became worked up in an instant. He quickly pressed Colton and asked, “What’s wrong with my mommy? What did you do?”

Although he knew that his biological father was Colton and he wanted Colton to recognize him so that Colton could pay his mother some alimony, this did not mean that he wanted something to happen between the two of them.

Hearing the child’s words, Colton said with a chuckle, “Don’t ask about these things. Children should stay at home obediently.”

Saying that, Colton hung up the phone without waiting for Hayden to answer.

After cutting off the call, Colton suddenly felt that he had acted particularly childish. How could he be petty with a child?

After Hayden was hung up on, he kept calling in order to get in contact with Colton again, but the b*stard did not answer.

Though he dialed for a long time, there was no response at all.

Hayden was becoming anxious. If his mother was taken away by someone else, what would happen to him?

At the thought of this, he quickly took out his laptop and turned on the location tracking software. His cell phone’s location was connected to his mother’s. Thus, he turned on the computer and took a look. And sure enough, it was in Colton’s villa!

 

Chapter 74 Sister-In-Law

As Colton sat on the bed and listened to the drizzling sound of water in the bathroom, his eyes slowly darkened.

“You brat, which girl did you have your eyes on this time that you went so far as to drug her? What a monster!” The male newcomer’s energetic voice entered the room before him.

When Colton heard Harvey’s voice, his face darkened a little bit. He stood up from the head of the bed and saw Harvey turning in from the outside. He said in an unfriendly tone, “If you spew nonsense again, I’ll throw you down from the third floor!”

Harvey was successfully tricked by Colton. He shut his mouth and muttered in a low voice, “How old are you? Can’t you take a few jokes? Where’s the patient?”

Colton stepped forward and walked to the bathroom. He stretched out his hand and knocked on the door. “Miss Nicole, the doctor’s here.”

Nicole, who was in the bathroom, was currently immersed in water. The water from the bathtub was at her neck.

However, perhaps because too much time had passed, she was a little delirious. Cold water was pouring down from the top of her head to her body, but she still couldn’t suppress the heat that was churning in her body.

Even her breaths were hot.

Vaguely, she heard Colton’s voice and raised her hand, only to find that her whole body had gone weak. Hence, she could only answer feebly with her eyes lowered, “I can’t get up…”

Harvey heard a soft female voice coming from the bathroom, but he only thought that it was a rare occasion. He hadn’t expected a clueless man like Colton to actually bring a woman home.

He craned his neck with the intention to lean over to take a look, but Colton pulled him away with one hand, accompanied by a warning. “If you still want to keep your eyes, you better look away.”

His words worked well. After all, Colton had always been a man of his words.

Because of that, Harvey was discouraged and shrank back, returning to the bedside where he turned his head away.

Colton opened the door and went in, and found that Nicole’s condition was worsening by the second. She was lying limply in the bathtub as if she were boneless.

Fortunately, she still had a bit of her reason left and knew to put her head on the edge of the bathtub so that she wouldn’t drown.

The water in the bathtub had already overflowed, and her clothes and pants were completely drenched and clinging to her body.

Her partly visible curves were now standing out after being soaked in the cold water.

Colton took a towel and drained the water in the bathtub. Then, he wrapped Nicole’s wet body with the towel and carried her in his arms.

Nicole was currently extremely weak. After she was picked up, her head lolled onto his chest, her wet, damp hair leaving a watermark on it.

However, Colton wasn’t disgusted, and walked out with her in his arms.

Harvey, who was sitting outside, turned his head after hearing the noise behind him. Immediately, he saw the wet person in Colton’s arms and called out in surprise, “Nicole?”

After seeing that the person in his arms was Nicole, Harvey’s originally careless expression immediately became serious. “Is her condition that bad now?” He hurriedly stepped forward to check. Even after soaking in cold water for such a long time, her skin was still red.

“Yeah, come and take a look.” Colton carefully placed Nicole on the bed.

Even though her body was still wet, he directly placed her on the bed without hesitation.

The dark-colored sheets became darker after they were drenched in water.

“Why is my sister-in-law drugged, and why is she here?” Harvey asked anxiously. If his brother knew, he would definitely be worried.

“Sister-in-law?” Colton’s tone turned unfriendly as he narrowed his long eyes.

“Yes, my brother’s future wife,” Harvey said as he began to inspect Nicole. This drug’s a strong one. Until now, the symptoms aren’t showing any signs of subsiding. If anything, they’re becoming worse.

Seeing that Harvey was checking on her, Colton didn’t press him for answers and stood stiffly by the side while watching them.

Currently, Nicole’s whole face was flushed, and her eyelids were lowered, making her unable to see the person in front of her clearly. But she vaguely heard someone calling her sister-in-law. If her guess was right, it was probably Harvey, because only he would call her that.

Harvey Yates was Zachary Yates’ half-brother, but the relationship between the two brothers was extremely good. Because Harvey didn’t want to compete for his family’s property, he ran away from home on a certain dark and windy night…

 

Chapter 75 Zachary, Nicole Was Drugged

Harvey quickly examined Nicole.

When he heard Colton’s description on the phone earlier, he had already made preparations in advance.

Harvey began to prescribe the medicine and Nicole’s complexion finally improved after one injection.

After administering the injection, he turned his head to look at Colton and asked with a frown, “What the hell is going on? Why did my sister-in-law become like this?”

Seeing that Nicole’s condition had improved and the flush on her face had gradually dissipated, Colton breathed a sigh of relief. “Come with me.”

Upon saying that, he dragged Harvey out without even waiting to see whether Harvey was willing to follow.

When they went out, they saw Annie arriving with a bowl of soup. Colton left her an order while saying, “Annie, go in and help her change into a set of clean clothes.”

When she looked at the room that was originally Colton’s, she wanted to say something but held her tongue in the end. She merely nodded and answered, “All right.”

After Harvey was pulled out by Colton, he still had a puzzled look. Why did Nicole become like this? Most importantly, she was even at Colton’s house!

“What’s going on?” Not long after they walked out, Colton immediately asked.

“What do you mean by that?” Harvey looked at the man’s dark expression and didn’t understand the current situation. In fact, he was about to ask why Nicole was at Colton’s house but was interrogated instead.

“Why did you call Nicole ‘sister-in-law’?” Colton’s dark eyes bore into Harvey.

Harvey pieced the puzzle together when he saw Colton’s reaction and asked in shock, “D-Don’t tell me you have your eyes on my sister-in-law?!”

Colton fell silent. Yes, if he didn’t have a crush on Nicole, why would he have cared who she was with?

However, when did he start liking her? Why couldn’t he remember it at all?

“Nothing. I just wanted to know,” he denied, not admitting the truth.

Upon hearing that Colton didn’t have such intentions, Harvey let out a sigh of relief and began to explain, “My brother is Zachary Yates. Although we come from different mothers, we have an excellent relationship. When I was abroad, I even met Nicole a few times.”

……

Zachary Yates…

Although Colton had known that F&M Apparel’s president, Zachary Yates, had the hots for Nicole, it didn’t feel nice to hear the truth from someone else.

Colton’s heart swelled with displeasure. Without saying anything else, he immediately grabbed Harvey and dragged him downstairs.

Before Harvey could react, he saw Colton dragging him and asked in confusion, “What’s wrong? Is there anything else?”

Colton dragged him directly to the door and held the door frame with his long, skeletal fingers, responding, “There’s nothing else. You may leave now.”

Huh? Just as Harvey was about to open his mouth to say something else, the door suddenly shut on him and locked him out.

“Colton Gardner! You still haven’t told me why my sister-in-law is at your house in this state!” Harvey slammed on the door.

Colton called me over in the middle of the night, but he is just leaving me like this now?

Inside the house, Colton replied in a hostile tone, “Keep knocking if you want me to chop off your hands.”

His words effectively silenced Harvey in an instant. After all, Colton was indeed capable of doing such a thing.

Harvey stared at the tightly shut door as there was probably no chance for him to head inside today. After standing by the door and mulling it over, he ended up pulling out his phone to give Zachary a call.

Zachary, who was already swamped with family issues, rubbed his eyebrows when he saw Harvey calling. Still, he picked up the phone and asked gently, “What’s wrong, Harvey?”

“Zachary, I saw Nicole in Colton’s house. Most importantly, she was drugged,” Harvey said seriously.

 

Chapter 76 Feeding Medicine

Zachary was taken aback when he heard Harvey’s words. He quickly asked into his phone, “You said Nicole?”

“Yes, my dear sister-in-law. But, thanks to my superb medical skills, she’s all right now,” Harvey replied.

Zachary gripped his phone, a fierce glint flashing in his dark eyes. His expression, which was originally gentle, was now completely cold. Someone dared to hurt Nicole! He said in a low voice, “I got it. Help me take care of Nicole for a few days, and I’ll come back as soon as I finish handling these issues.”

“Zachary, is Dad putting pressure on you?” Harvey asked quietly.

Their father wanted Zachary to work in his own company before, but Zachary had a different outlook and went to F&M Apparel instead, where he made a name for himself. After that, their father’s schemes had never stopped.

“It’s fine. I’ll finish taking care of it soon. You should just relax and stay in the country. Even if the sky falls down, I’ll be there to hold it,” Zachary said.

Harvey hummed lowly in reply, his gaze lowered.

In the house, after Colton drove Harvey out, he went back upstairs.

Annie had just changed Nicole’s clothes, and Nicole had woken up in a daze.

As she was heavily drugged, coupled with the severe symptoms, even after she had recovered due to the antidote, her body was still weak.

The flush on her face had dissipated, leaving her complexion unusually pale. She leaned against the head of the bed and was drinking the soup slowly.

Colton opened the door and went in, where he saw Annie feeding Nicole. He slowly approached them, and Annie immediately reacted to his presence.

“Young master,” she called out respectfully.

“Let me do it. It’s getting late. You should get some rest, Annie.” Colton stretched out his hand to take the bowl of soup as he loomed over the head of the bed, his tall figure casting a dark shadow on them.

Annie obediently handed the soup to him and nodded before she quietly retreated.

Now that only the two of them were left in the room, silence hung in the air.

Colton took the bowl, the silver spoon making a crisp clattering sound in the bowl. He touched it with his hand and found that the ginger soup wasn’t very hot anymore, so he directly scooped a spoonful and brought it to her mouth.

Nicole lowered her eyes and looked at the spoon brought to her mouth. After taking a sip, she whispered, “I’ll do it myself. Thank you, President Gardner.”

“You are still weak now. You were drenched in cold water, and the effects of the drug have just receded, so you should drink some soup to prevent a fever. Otherwise, you’ll be uncomfortable when you get sick again,” Colton said as he gave her another spoonful.

Hearing his words, Nicole stopped refusing and opened her mouth, slowly drinking the soup.

The ginger soup was a little spicy, and it slid down her throat. Once Nicole saw the bottom of the bowl, she parted her lips and said, “President Gardner, I’m still worried about my son. Can I give him a call?”

She had her phone on her earlier, and because she didn’t remember to take it out when she went into the water, it was probably spoiled by now.

Colton nodded and took out his cell phone, dialing Hayden’s phone number. He then turned on the speakerphone and placed the phone beside her bed.

“B*stard, what did you do to my mommy?” As soon as the call was connected, Hayden’s childish but energetic voice could be heard.

Nicole frowned. Although her face was pale, her voice was still strong. “Hayden, watch your mouth!”

As soon as Hayden realized that it was his mother, he went silent instantly before he called out pitifully, saying, “Mommy…”

As soon as she heard her son’s cute and whiny voice, Nicole couldn’t bear to scold him anymore. She sighed slightly and said, “I’m a little busy today, so I won’t be home tonight. Go to bed early and don’t you dare to play any video games.”

“Okay,” Hayden answered.

Seeing that Colton was still by her side, Nicole simply said a few words before hanging up.

Chapter 77 Kicked Out of Bed

Due to Nicole’s weak condition, after she had finished speaking on the phone, she drifted off to sleep in a daze.

Colton went to the guest room next door and took a bath himself before lying down in bed.

However, after tossing and turning around for more than an hour, he still couldn’t fall asleep. He got up a little irritably and rubbed his messy hair. Lowering his eyes and falling into thought for a moment, he finally made his way to the room where Nicole was sleeping.

At that moment, the sky was completely dark. As the curtains in the room were not completely drawn, gaps of moonlight were able to peek through.

The moonlight shone brightly on her, and her pale face looked even more sickly.

Colton stretched out his hand and touched her forehead, only to find that she was having a slight fever.

Thinking about it, it made sense. In such cold weather, she endured the cold wind and was drenched in cold water. It would be strange if she didn’t have a fever.

Annie was already asleep, so Colton didn’t bother her.

Thus, he took a few cool patches and applied them on Nicole’s body. After spending a night taking care of her, her fever finally subsided past midnight.

The next morning, Nicole woke up bleary-eyed, feeling unrested. Last night, she only felt that her body was heavy and uncomfortable, and she vaguely remembered that someone was taking care of her by her side…

The moment she opened her hazy eyes, she immediately saw a man’s muscled chest.

Nicole’s brain froze in an instant, but before she could think, her body moved first.

Her entire body strength went to her leg as she kicked the man off the bed without any hesitation.

Colton was sleeping soundly when his body suddenly hurt. The next thing he knew, he was sent flying.

Just like this, he was kicked awake.

Colton was kicked to the ground, and his butt fell on the ground first. A sharp pain came from his behind, and his mind, which was still hazy with drowsiness, instantly sobered.

Last night, as he was taking care of Nicole, he only fell asleep at around 4 o’clock in the morning. Now, he was kicked out of bed before he woke up. No matter how good his temper was, he still felt a little angry.

However, looking at Nicole who had shrunk into the bed with the quilt in her arms, Colton still held back his anger.

He rubbed his behind and got up slowly. It seemed that he had taken care of Nicole until too late last night, so he had gotten into bed in a daze. After all, this was his own room.

When Nicole saw clearly who the person in front of her was, her expression turned stunned, and she stared at Colton with a pair of bright eyes. It was only after a long moment of hesitation that she managed to speak, uttering, “P-President Gardner…”

She was a little confused. What was going on? Why was Colton in her bed?

Colton had no idea how he got into bed and slept with Nicole either. It was probably because he was too tired last night, and he climbed into bed in a drowsy daze.

He rubbed his nose embarrassedly and explained, “You had a fever last night, so I took care of you all night.”

Nicole looked at Colton’s tall body, and then glanced down at herself. Fortunately, both of them were neatly dressed.

Her throat tightened as she looked at Colton rubbing his butt. She apologized awkwardly, “S-Sorry, I-I didn’t realize.”

Although she was well-versed in business, she was still an amateur in relationships, save for that one night. Of course, she hadn’t shared a bed with a man either. Though her reaction was a little exaggerated, it was still understandable. To think Colton took care of me until the dead of the night, and I kicked him off the bed just like that… It feels like I’m being ungrateful here.

Colton glanced down at Nicole. After recovering from her sickness, her complexion looked much better and was not as pallid as the previous night. The culprit that had kicked him, her white and tender feet, were still exposed outside the quilt.

Along with the kick earlier, it seemed that she had almost recovered her strength.

“It’s fine as long as you’re alright,” Colton said graciously.

Nicole felt guilty when she saw how big-hearted Colton was. She pushed the blanket away and got out of bed, wanting to walk to Colton and apologize properly to him.

However, unexpectedly, the effects of the medicine last night coupled with the overnight fever made her weak. Even though she could stand up, she was still not strong enough to walk.

As she stepped forward with one foot, she had no strength in her legs. As a result, her knees gave out, causing her to lose balance and fall forward.

Chapter 78 Bumped Into His Chin

With his fast reflexes, Colton managed to grab Nicole, but he couldn’t stop his body from falling. Nicole also habitually reached forward and grabbed Colton’s sleeve.

Because of this fall, Nicole opened her mouth in horror, and her teeth just happened to bump into Colton’s chin.

Colton originally thought that he could support Nicole’s weight, but he never expected the two of them would make a beeline for the floor. Accompanied by the tingling sensation on his chin, Colton’s already injured butt once again hit the ground, this time with a heavy object pressing down on his body. Subsequently, he grunted in pain. Though it was still early in the morning, he had received two heavy blows in succession, and Colton felt his mind turn hazy.

Nicole clearly felt her teeth knocking on his chin as well. Despite that, she hurriedly reached out and tried to prop herself up. In her hurry, her arm weakened, and she collapsed again on the spot where she had just smashed her teeth onto.

Fortunately, Nicole had already closed her mouth this time, and her lips landed on his chin.

However, Colton could still feel a tingling pain. After all, he had just suffered from a heavy blow that directly caused him to bleed from his chin. Even if it was her lips that pressed down on his chin this time, it still hurt.

Afraid that something else would happen, Nicole simply rolled to the side before slowly getting up.

Colton had also gotten up, but he looked a little worse for wear. His handsome face looked dark and glum, and most importantly, there was blood seeping from his chin.

The silence in the room grew thick with embarrassment.

Nicole toughened up and carefully glanced up, saying a little tearfully, “I’m sorry, President Gardner, I… I didn’t mean to…” Although her words were sincere, she had no confidence at all. She didn’t expect her legs to give out on her. In hindsight, it felt like she was taking advantage of him.

Colton stretched out his hand and touched his chin. He looked at the blood stains on his fingertips, and then glanced at Nicole’s guilty expression. At the sight of it, he couldn’t get angry even if he wanted to. Then, he mustered a small smile and said calmly in a hoarse voice, “It’s alright.”

Saying that, Colton turned around and paused before continuing, “I’m going downstairs first. Miss Anderson, please come down once you’re done washing up.”

“Okay.” Nicole nodded with her back toward him. Once Colton left the room, she covered her face and flopped onto the bed. I’ve never been so embarrassed in my entire life! When she thought of the scene earlier, she yearned for a hole to open up in the floor so she could bury herself in it. That was so awkward!

Nicole sat at the head of the bed, unable to recover for a long time. Her face flushed instantly whenever she recalled what had happened. How embarrassing!

She loitered in her room for a long time, but still had to leave in the end.

When she left the room, she was still wearing loose pajamas, making her look like a child that had stolen an adult’s clothes. However, she couldn’t find the clothes she had worn yesterday, so she had no choice but to come out like this.

Downstairs, Annie had already prepared the food, and Colton was sitting at the dining table, eating slowly.

Taking small steps, Nicole walked down and snuck a peek at Colton. She was grateful to Colton from the bottom of her heart for yesterday’s incident. After all, if it weren’t for him, she would have lost her dignity.

As she took her seat, Annie immediately brought her some porridge with a smiling face. “Miss, you had a fever last night, and you probably don’t have much appetite in the morning. Please have some porridge.”

Nicole nodded and thanked her politely, “All right, thank you.” She really didn’t have much of an appetite at the moment, and her mouth felt bland because of the fever.

Then, she lowered her head and ate, neither of them saying a word. A while later, she secretly glanced up at Colton. Although there wasn’t much expression on his face as he lowered his head and ate his meal stiffly, whenever he looked up, she could see the imprint on his chin.

 

Chapter 79 The Thing Between You and Colton

Nicole was about to say something until she saw the injury on Colton’s face.

Then, she chose to quietly lower her head as she gobbled up her food.

After picking up the courage to look at the man again to say something, she was stopped by Annie, who had abruptly entered the room.

“Miss Anderson,” she started. “I have washed and dried your clothes. They are now in your room upstairs.”

“Alright. Thank you,” Nicole quickly nodded and said her thanks.

With a smile on her face, Annie replied, “You are welcome.”

Right when she was about to head upstairs, Colton suddenly called out to her from behind. “Come down after you’ve changed into your working attire. We’ll go to work together.”

Nicole only gave a simple ‘Okay’ as she nodded in response. At the same time, she couldn’t help but take a peek at Colton’s face. Seeing that he didn’t seem to be in a particularly bad mood, she let out a sigh of relief before hurrying upstairs.

She didn’t take much time to change into something else. They soon got into Colton’s vehicle and finally set off for the company.

Both of them did not speak a word to each other throughout their journey on the road. Nicole was the first one to break the silence when she gingerly brandished a Band-Aid she had procured from Annie on her way out.

“Would you like a piece of Band-Aid, President Gardner?” she asked.

The obvious scar on his chin was way too conspicuous to be left out in the open for people to see.

Then, he lowered his gaze to look at the Band-Aid in Nicole’s hand, and with raised brows, he humorously asked in return, “You think this Band-Aid on me can hide this scar from everyone?”

An embarrassed Nicole rubbed her nose and grumbled, “It can at least cover a part of it.”

Colton only turned and started to walk away instead of answering her.

Upon being ignored, Nicole’s gaze started to shift between the man’s retreating figure and the Band-Aid in her hand. Is he mad…

It wasn’t like she couldn’t understand his anger. After all, he was hurt consecutively 3 times because of her…

The ends of her hair were starting to stand when she recalled how she had kicked Colton out of the bed that morning, but she soon brought herself out of her reverie with a shake of her head. Then, she immediately started making her way to her office.

As soon as she pushed the door open, she was greeted by the sight of a petite young girl seated in her office. With her little back toward Nicole, she had her head tilted downward as she swiped the screen of her phone. Besides that, the sound of her phone was set on speaker at a loud volume without consideration of the surroundings.

Nicole stayed calm despite that. She then took small steps toward the girl and lightly knocked on the surface of the table to get the girl’s attention. “May I ask who you are?”

The girl’s head whipped around to look at the source of the voice as she began to blatantly stare at Nicole. Her eyebrows began to wiggle mischievously as a smile appeared on her face. At that moment, Nicole couldn’t help but notice how beautiful the young girl was.

Now that her interest was piqued, the young girl kept her phone away before staring into Nicole’s eyes. “I saw Colton carrying you home last night,” she hummed.

It was a simple sentence, yet one could easily tell that there were tons of hidden messages underlying it.

“Could you be Wendy?” Nicole asked with uncertainty after raking her brain.

Wendy was caught by surprise upon hearing her name coming out of Nicole’s lips. She immediately hopped out of the chair and cheered, “You know who I am?”

“Yup,” Nicole replied with a nod of the head. Then, she walked over to the sofa at the side and sat down as she said in a relaxed manner, “President Gardner has mentioned you before. He wanted me to design a gown for you.”

“Really?! Will you really do it, Miss Lisa?” An excited Wendy cheered again when she heard that.

Nicole nodded again in response. “Yes. I’m familiar with it as I used to specialize in haute couture.”

It had been something that Colton asked of Nicole some time ago, and she had accepted the offer as well.

Wendy was so ecstatic after hearing Nicole’s words that she completely forgot about what she had wanted to say next.

She would definitely be the prettiest of them all during the dinner if she wore a custom-designed gown by Lisa!

Her grin was still plastered on her face when she waddled in front of Nicole. “Can I request something?” she asked.

“Tell me everything,” Nicole encouraged her with a nod, after which she took a pen from the table. “I’ll write it all down and I’ll have the design draft tomorrow.”

Seeing the serious look on Nicole’s face, Wendy suddenly stood up. Her pursed lips parted as she promised in a hushed voice, “I’ll keep the thing between you and Colton a secret!”

 

Chapter 80 You Hurt Your Chin

Looking at Wendy, Nicole pursed her lips together. She found the little lady quite comical as she swore her loyalty to Nicole, but alas, Nicole decided to explain the truth of the situation to Colton’s younger sister.

“What ‘thing’ are you talking about? There is nothing going on between me and your brother.”

However, Wendy stayed grinning as she wiggled her eyebrows at Nicole. The arrogant look on her face showed that she knew more than Nicole was telling her.

Nicole could only look back at Wendy quietly. Deciding that Wendy probably wouldn’t listen to anything she had to say, Nicole stopped explaining herself to the little girl.

She went on and jotted down Wendy’s three sizes and special requests, and it was only after she was done that Wendy voluntarily left her office.

On the other hand, Tony was reporting to Colton in the President’s office of Gardner Corporation. “We will be using the design from our collaboration with F&M Apparel as our upcoming marketing plan’s focus.”

Colton nodded in agreement at that. “Leave a space on the homepage of the company’s website from now on. Releasing it alongside the new products should give it a proper push,” he suggested.

Tony was caught by surprise at that. As a company whose main focus was on digital marketing, the promotions done through its website had always shown great results.

Gardner Corporation had a well-received mass media website that charged its advertisers hefty sums. Even though they had done promotions using the website when they got involved in the clothing industry before, the homepage of the website had remained untouched the whole while. Advertising on the homepage could easily mean spending millions, or even tens of millions of dollars in a day. During peak moments, advertisers might even have to fight for the ten-million deal.

Although surprised, Tony still calmly replied with a nod. “Alright. This year’s summer release will happen around May. I’ll make sure to clear the schedule for May 1st.”

“Make it 3 days,” Colton curtly added.

Tony began to quietly ponder Colton’s decision. Colton must have really wanted to build Gardner Apparel as a brand for him to book 3 days on the 1st of May, which was one of the most money-making times for them.

“Yes, sir,” Tony replied.

Tony then lowered his head and wrote down the important things, but just as he began to tilt his head at Colton to inform him regarding his schedule before the new year, he caught sight of the injury on Colton’s chin.

“Gardner Corporation… before the new year’s… the job has…”

He somehow was stammering through a simple sentence as he continued with his report.

Hearing the stutter, Colton raised his head and looked at Tony with a frown on his face.

“Why are you stuttering?”

Hearing the dissatisfied tone, Tony immediately brought his eyes back to the little notebook he was holding in one hand. “Nothing,” he forced himself to say.

Colton’s frown had turned into a squint then. Knowing that the cowering Tony was hiding something from him, he got even more displeased.

“Stop squirming around and spit it out!” he demanded.

Tony obediently peeked at Colton’s face as he pressed his lips together before hesitantly saying, “You…might have injured your chin.”

With his timid personality, he didn’t have the guts to say that those were teeth marks on Colton’s chin. He was a young man with a promising future, after all. Today was not the day he would give up his life for something like this.

For an injury as intimate as that, Colton was acting extremely generous by not covering it up. Is he showing it off on purpose? Tony mused. The big boss is indeed someone whose heart a side character like me cannot comprehend.

Colton’s face immediately fell after he listened to Tony’s words. “What the hell are you thinking? I got this from shaving!”

Tony only looked back at him in silence. How did shaving leave teeth marks on your chin? he thought to himself.

Even though he found it ridiculous, he decided to agree with his boss’s words. “You don’t have to explain yourself, President Gardner.” He shook his head and swiftly continued saying, “I understand. I’m not delusional. I’m not overthinking anything.”

Colton’s face only further dimmed as he looked at his assistant’s fervent denial.

“I don’t care if you are delusional. I don’t even care if you have sh*t for brains. I hired you to be my secretary, not for you to pick up on things like this,” he growled.

Tony could only zip his mouth shut as he looked at Colton getting angry for no reason.

President Gardner probably isn’t satisfied enough…