Trouble in Paradise

Jasmine's eyes widened in disbelief. "Nick, what did you say?"

"I don't have the habit of repeating myself. You heard me." Nicholas sighed, but his tone was firm.All text © NôvelD(r)a'ma.Org.

It took Jasmine almost three minutes to process the reality, but she still couldn't accept it.

"Nick, are you saying that after using me, you're kicking me to the curb?" She began to laugh, a hint of madness in her voice.

"Nick, I'm bleeding. I'm bleeding for you. Why don't you believe that I'm doing this for your sake?

"Ariana is impossible to deal with. If you want her, you can't go about it the usual way. You have to play hardball!

"You don't understand women! You need to trust me on this. Have I ever lied to you about anything since we were kids? I've always listened to you.

"Even if it came down to it, didn't you say that if you lost interest in Ariana, you would marry me instead? I don't care if you love me or not. I want to have a home with you!"

Jasmine suddenly crawled off the bed, grabbing Nicholas's sleeve. "Nick, have you forgotten what you promised me?"

Nicholas shook off her hand. "I don't have feelings for you. Even if I lose interest in Ariana, I still won't have feelings for you. I've always considered you a friend."

He recalled the look I had given him earlier, and an uncontrollable frustration surged within him.

He couldn't help but blame the woman in front of him. "Jasmine, you shouldn't have gone after her friend."

He knew all too well that Ariana cared more about Yasmine than she did about him. Ariana partially blamed him for the incident with Brenda. If anything happened to her friend, there would be no chance between them. Jasmine didn't care that he had pushed her away, nor did she bother to think about the pain from her wounds. She was determined to try one last time.

"Why shouldn't I? Nick, aren't you someone who values efficiency above all? So why are you willing to waste so much time on Ariana? Do you love her?"

She knew Nicholas must have fallen for me, but he would never admit to loving anyone. After all, what could someone as emotionally closed-off as him know about love?

Jasmine saw it clearly. Nicholas might appear aloof on the surface, but deep down, he was insecure. When it came to me, there was always a trace of wanting to please her despite his cold demeanor.

Even during our quiet marriage, Nicholas had always been a gentleman. Even though my ex-boyfriend had abused me, Nicholas had never treated me that way.

Nicholas might not realize this about himself, but Jasmine certainly wouldn't point it out to him.

He shook his head in denial. He didn't love me.

Sure enough, he stated firmly, "No, I don't love her. But whether I love her or not has nothing to do with you going after her."

"Fine. Then why didn't you tell her that you're going to arrange to bail out her friend immediately? Is it because you don't have the power, or are you also curious to see if she'll come to you begging for help? "Nicholas, I admit I had my own motives this time. You can afford to be patient, but I can't anymore. How long do you expect me to wait around for you?

"I wanted to speed things up between you two. If you two end up together, I'll step back. But if she never comes back to you, then we can be together. At the very least, Nicholas, you need to give me something to hope for, right?" Jasmine sounded pitiful, but Nicholas seemed to hear none of it. His mind filtered out everything she said. There was only one sentence echoing in his head "How much longer do you expect me to wait around for you?". Nicholas's voice was light. "Do you know how many years she's been waiting for me?"

He didn't expect Jasmine to answer. He already knew the answer in his heart. As he spoke, he began to step back. He suddenly turned and dashed out of the room.