Chapter 464 Quit Messing Around
“Mom, how could you let a stranger into our house?” Christina grumbled under her breath before putting on her shoes.
“Nathaniel isn’t a stranger, Christina. Don’t be rude,” Sharon replied earnestly.
Since her mother was around, Christina had no choice but to hide her dislike of Nathaniel. As she walked to the dining table, the sight of a huge spread caused her to feel a pang of heartache. “Mom, didn’t I tell you not to cook so many dishes? You’ve just recovered, so you can’t overwork.”
“I’m feeling fine. Besides, Nathaniel rarely comes over, so of course, I should be a good host,” Sharon responded gently. She was on bed rest for six months, but when she could move freely on her own, Christina forbade her from exercising. As a result, she was itching to get active from being cooped up at home every day.
To her, it made sense to cook more dishes since she rarely had two people joining her for a meal.
Christina pouted. Truth be told, she loved her mother’s cooking, but she simply could not bear seeing Sharon overwork herself. That was why she only went back for meals a few days. a week instead of every single day.
When the three of them took their seats at the dining table, Christina naturally sat down next to her mother, but Sharon stopped her. “Why are you sitting next to me? Go and sit beside. Nathaniel.”
“It doesn’t matter who I sit with, Mom,” Christina said. I don’t want to sit next to him.
Sharon glanced at her. Sensing her mother’s displeasure, Christina could only stand up and sit next to Nathaniel obediently.
The sight of them sitting beside each other brought Sharon great satisfaction. With a nod, she said, “All right. Let’s dig in.”
As soon as those words fell from her lips, she reached out and placed a large drumstick on Nathaniel’s plate. “Have you lost weight recently, Nathaniel?”
Christina glared at the drumstick. That’s my favorite. How could Mom give it to him?
Nathaniel was not in a hurry to begin his meal. Instead, he patiently answered Sharon’s question. “I’d been busy with work recently and had to accompany Christina everywhere, so I had not been eating my meals on time.”
The second he finished his utterances, he felt someone pinching his thigh harshly. Puzzled,
he tilted his head and found Christina glaring at him with her lips pressed together. She was clearly warning him to keep quiet.
First, he took my drumstick, and now he’s telling on me? He should think about what he did with Madison before being a tattletale!
Nathaniel’s reply caused Sharon to furrow her brows. In the beginning, she thought Christinal had only brought up divorce in a temper until the latter suddenly talked about bringing her to Hallsbay. That was when she realized Christina had quarreled with Nathaniel.
There were some things that could not be said directly at the dining table, so Sharon simply exhorted her daughter, “It’s normal for married couples to argue every now and then. Talk things out with Nathaniel. He’s not an unreasonable person. You’re an adult, Christina, and you should learn to be the bigger person.”
Knowing that her mother would take Nathaniel’s side, Christina did not argue and merely bit her lip. While she would agree to anything Sharon brought up to her face, she was free to do whatever she wanted behind her back.
“Okay, Mom, I got it. Let’s eat.” Christina placed a piece of meat on her mother’s plate.
Sharon smiled. Even though Christina was not her biological daughter, she was brought up by her. Considering Christina’s gentle and strong personality, Sharon trusted her to do the right thing.
After the meal, Nathaniel stood up, his tall figure casting a long shadow over the dining table.
Gently, Sharon said, “Go take a seat on the couch, Nathaniel. I’ll cut up some fruits for you.”
“There’s no need for that, Ms. Zapler. You must be tired from cooking. I’ll wash the dishes, so you can go rest for a bit,” Nathaniel replied as he took his suit jacket off and slung it over the back of the chair casually.
He then took his watch off and rolled up his sleeves to his elbow.
“It’s okay, Nathaniel. I’ll do it,” Sharon hurriedly said. She was not about to let the CEO of Hadley Corporation wash dishes for her. That simply did not sit right with her.
Christina put down the tableware in her hand and gently pulled her mother in the direction. of the couch. “Mom, you said so yourself that he wasn’t a stranger. Since he’s family, it’s fine if he wants to wash a couple of dishes, right?”
“You kiddo…” Sharon could not argue with Christina, so she sat down on the couch.
Christina turned on the news channel on television. “Watch some television. I’ll cut up some fruit for you in a second,” she said.
“All right. Quickly go help Nathaniel with the dishes,” Sharon said with a chuckle.
By the time Christina walked into the kitchen. Nathaniel had already placed all the used tableware into the sink. Still, it was obviously his first time doing such chores based on how he had squeezed half of the bottle of dish soap onto the dirty dishes.
“Wlhy» did
YOU
add so much soap? Darn, don’t do it recklessly if you don’t know how. Move out of the way. Go and take fruits from the fridge instead.”
Christina almost had a headache from his haphazard actions. She put on some dishwashing gloves and started to wash the dishes in the sink orderly.
Nathaniel was dazed for a second before he turned around and walked to the fridge. There was quite a variety of fruits in it, so he put all of them into a basket and began washing grapes next to Christina.
His fingers were long and pretty. They looked almost like marble, and the grapes he was holding almost seemed like jewels against his skin.
Christina stopped looking at his hands out of the corner of her eye and focused on washing the dishes. Just as she was done arranging the clean plates and cutlery onto the drying rack neatly, Nathaniel finished washing the fruits as well.
When she looked over her shoulder, he stuffed a grape into her mouth and asked smilingly, “Is it sweet?”
“Very,” she answered honestly as she relished the taste of the juicy grape.
All of a sudden, Nathaniel placed a hand behind her head. He gently bent down to kiss her. then let go of her. “Yeah, you’re right. It is quite sweet.”
Christina’s cheeks turned bright red, and she warned him in a low voice, “Quit messing around. My mom is outside.”
After flashing her a half-smile, he walked out with a plate of grapes in his hand and placed it on the table inside the living room. “Have some grapes, Mom.”
Sharon turned off the television and chewed on a grape. “Wow, that’s very sweet. Why don’t you have one, Nathaniel?”
Coincidentally, Christina, too, walked out of the kitchen and met Nathaniel’s burning gaze. With a smile, he replied, “I tried it just now. You’re right; they are very sweet.”
Worried that Nathaniel would do something embarra*sing again, Christina wanted him to leave immediately. A beat later, she acted upon the thought, whisking him away to the door.
“I need to go back to work, Mom. Why don’t you take an afternoon nap? I’ll eat with you
again tomorrow,” Christina said.
Sharon wanted to see them off, but Christina had already dragged Nathaniel out the door. before she could stand up.
After closing the door and entering the elevator, Christina shoved Nathaniel’s suit jacket and watch into his hands and said, “Put them back on now.”
Nathaniel shoved his suit jacket back into her arms and wore his watch slowly before finally slipping on his suit jacket.
“I’ll give you a ride,” he offered.
Mildly, Christina replied, “There’s no need for that. I drove here.”
“Until when are you going to avoid me, Christina?” Nathaniel pulled at her hand as his gaze became cold.
Christina looked up at him and replied calmly, “Please get this straight. I’m not avoiding you. You’re the one avoiding me. Why is it so hard for you to get your hands on some divorce papers?”
