Veronica reached out and touched her neck. She remembered that the spot that had been bitten was still so fresh and looked bright. It would take a few days for it to disappear.
She didn’t want to tell Toby where this hickey came from.
It was well known that Nick Cage was her boyfriend. Initially, she didn’t know that Nick was related to Toby. Now, she was eager to distance herself from these two men.
“I pinched it myself.”
Toby’s eyes flashed sharply. He looked at her and said, “I’ll take a look at it again.”
Veronica couldn’t believe what he just said, so she asked in disbelief, “What?”
“Because I doubt it.”
“Why should I care if you believe it or not?”
Veronica felt really weird. She didn’t understand why it was such a big deal for him.
Toby looked at her with glaring eyes and said, “If you really pinched it, then
I’ll ask Nick if he knew anything about that hickey.”
Veronica frowned and replied, “Why would you need to ask him that? I told you I just pinched it.”
She thought that Toby was just testing her, but he literally just sat there and waited for her to pinch her neck.
Veronica reached out and pinched a small portion of her neck, endured the pain, and kneaded her thumb and index finger back and forth. A hickey-like mark appeared on her neck.
“Are you satisfied?”
Toby replied, “Okay.” He then stood and left in a dark mood.
‘What Psycho!’
Veronica hurriedly took out her cell phone from her bag and looked at her neck with the cellphone camera. She saw two hickey-like marks on her neck.
She really worked hard to make him believe.
She would rather choose to have fainted and be ignored than be saved by Toby.
‘Who does he think he is?’
Veronica was frightened when she saw the time on her phone was two o’clock in the afternoon.
‘How long have I been out?’
She was about to make a call when she saw her received call log. A phone call just before 01:00 was listed. It was Josephine.
She had not yet regained her consciousness at that time. She thought, ‘Who answered it? Well, there was no one else but Toby with her.’
She called her back but there was no answer.
‘Should I go to the office now? But there really is no need to go there now, is there? I’ll be getting off from work in a few hours, anyway.’
Veronica laid down on the bed and continued letting the fluids from the dextrose flow through her veins. After all, she would be paying for this. She better not waste money and receive what she would pay for.
But she needed to hang the dextrose bag higher for the fluid to drop at a consistent rate.
Although she didn’t feel too tired after hanging the dextrose bag, she was still weak, so she fell asleep. It was the nurse who came to help her pull out the needle when she woke up.
The nurse took her temperature and told her, “The fever has gone down. You can go home.”
Veronica asked her, “How much is my bill?”
“Your bill has been paid.”
Veronica knew who paid for it even without asking. It was Toby. But she didn’t want to owe him anything. So she decided that the next time she sees him, she would pay him back.
She wouldn’t let him spend a dime on her, even if she had to beg for money from others.
She and Toby had been strangers since they broke up.
Not long after she walked out of her room and about to leave the hospital, her cell phone rang.
The caller ID showed an unknown number.
‘Who could it be?’
She answered, “Hello?”
“Where are you?”
The voice was low and sounded like that of mute deterrence. Veronica was stunned as she thought, ‘Nick Cage? Why would he call me’
After regaining her composure, she told him, “Mr. Cage, I think you called the wrong number.”
His voice was cold when he said, “Don’t make me ask you again.”
Veronica said, “At the gate of H hospital.”
“Wait there.”
The phone call was ended instantly before Veronica could ask why.
‘What would Nick Cage do here? Why should I wait for him for here?’
‘What am I going to do with him after I did such a terrible thing to him yesterday?’
Veronica stood at the gate of the hospital, frightened.
On the contrary, she could rejoice as she was released from being confined, and just worry about nervousness and uncertainties of dealing with Nick Cage later.
Half an hour later, a black Maybach stopped in front of her.
At present, Veronica would get nervous and frightened whenever she saw a luxury car. She always thought it was Nick.
The bodyguard respectfully opened the door. Veronica saw two pairs of long legs in the car that was full of calmness and boldness under the straight trousers. Suddenly, she felt that the whole car was filled with danger. After the door of the car opened, the sense of danger she felt overflowed as if touching her exposed skin. She felt chilly.
Veronica didn’t forget what Nick did the last time she was in the car.
‘It’s not going to happen again this time, is it?’
But this time she didn’t lie to him, she was really sick and was confined in the hospital.
Nick’s voice was low when he asked her, “Do you want me to bring you home?”
Veronica regained her composure. She went into the car in fear and sat with her hands on her lap.
When the car door closed, she saw that the interior was different, it didn’t even vibrate. But Veronica’s heart shook like a volcano.
Soon, the car pulled into the traffic and moved on steadily.
Meanwhile, Toby, who was in a car not far away, watched the scene. He had a dark expression on his face. He hit at the steering wheel in front of him with all his might.
‘She really was so close to Nick!’
Inside the car, Veronica said to Nick, “Mr. Cage, I asked for sick leave today. I was a little feverish and was confined to the hospital. But I’m all right now. I can go to work tomorrow.”
“You don’t have to rush to go to work. People who don’t know me would think I treat my staff badly.”
Veronica asked him carefully, “But will you still deduct from my salary?”
When she saw Nick glaring at her, she curled her lips and stopped talking.
‘I’m poor and I need money.’
‘Wouldn’t it be nice to have a rest? What’s wrong with wanting to take a paid vacation?’
‘Stop dreaming. Nick Cage is a terrible man. Do you want him to show mercy?’
Nick was about to stop glaring when he saw the marks on Veronica’s neck. His stares became sharper than earlier and Veronica could feel that the temperature in the car suddenly dropped.
Startled by Nick’s sharp stare, Veronica subconsciously covered her neck and stuttered to say, “I… I pinched it myself. ”
To this, Nick said darkly, “Let me have a look at the other one.”
“Hey…”
She silently thought, ‘No. No more pinching. It hurts.’ But upon seeing Nick’s stare as sharp as a dagger, Veronica could not help but say, “I… I’ll just pinch it. ”
Veronica wanted to cry but she held it back.
‘What is all this about? Why does everyone seem to have a grudge against my neck?’
Then Veronica pinched another portion of her neck in front of Nick.
The pinch left a hot sensation and a hickey-like mark appeared on the portion she just pinched.
But Nick was not taken aback by this. Instead, he asked her, “Who answered your phone earlier?”
“answer the phone?” Veronica was nervous but was able to think fast. She then said, “Who answered my phone? I remember I fell asleep after they put dextrose on me. So maybe it was the doctor who answered.”
She then silently thought, ‘That’s weird. Why did Nick ask?’
But upon seeing Nick that was still glaring at her, she silently scolded herself, ‘Don’t you dare mess with him! Just answer his question.’
Veronica leaned on the car door. Her body was still weak and her head still hurt so she could not bear to sit upright. She tried to steady herself and then turned a little to relax her body against the seat.
“Come here.”
Veronica came back to her senses, subconsciously sat down, and blurted faintly, “Huh?”
Then suddenly, Nick came to her side. He held her tightly on both shoulders and motioned for her to lay down on his lap. His force was both gentle and strong that she dared not to go against it.
The next thing she knew, her head was resting on Nick’s lap.
The back of her head can clearly feel the sturdiness and the muscles in his thighs. It’s as if an unfathomable strength was hidden in there. She could feel the scorching temperature emitting from there as if her restless heart was slowly being roasted.