Chapter 578

“Okay, Mom,” Yvonne answered, doing exactly as I asked.

Turns out, without those sugar-coated lessons laced with poison from a stepmom, Yvonne’s just a really sensible kid.

Jared looked like he wanted to say something, but in the end, his voice grew serious as he said, “Mom, take Yvonne home.”

“But…” Sally was this close to blurting out her real reason.

“Let’s go,” Jared said, giving me a complicated look before turning to Nathan. “Nathan, thanks for helping Victoria and Yvonne out. Get some rest.”

Nathan gave a gentle smile. “Really, it was nothing. No need to thank me.”

Sally looked a bit reluctant, but she picked up her basket and walked out.

“Mom, Nathan, I’ll come over tomorrow morning,” Yvonne called, waving her little hand at us.

Finally, the room was quiet. Nathan let out a sigh of relief and eased himself back against the pillow, careful not to aggravate his wound. He looked at me with a helpless smile.

“Jared’s mom is really something,” Nathan said, looking straight at me. “She came in here and started playing matchmaker, even brought photos of potential girlfriends.”

I shrugged and laughed. “She’s got a lot of connections–knows plenty of rich girls. If she’s introducing you, you’re really making out pretty well.”

“Victoria, don’t you think there’s something else going on with her trying to set me up?” Nathan said, sharp as ever, already seeing through the whole act.

I couldn’t help but chuckle. “Oh? So what did you figure out?”

Nathan shot me a long-suffering look. “She wants you and Jared back together, so she’s trying to marry me off to someone else as fast as possible.”

“Oh really? You sure you’re not just reading way too much into this?” I shot him a playful look, messing with him on purpose.

“I’m not! Seriously, when it comes to this kind of stuff, I’m like the most sensitive guy ever,” Nathan protested, giving me a wounded puppy look. “Isn’t that true?”

With his handsome face looking a little washed out from the injury, he almost made you feel sorry for him.

“Yeah, you’re not wrong. That’s exactly what she’s thinking,” I admitted. Sally knows Jared won’t even consider dating anyone else as long as I’m single–he just keeps hovering around me.

Sally’s not the stubborn type. She’s got two plans: one, try to get me and Jared tangled up again; two, just wait for me to marry someone else. Once I’m off the market, Jared would have to give up on me–he can’t stay single forever.

Right now, she’s working on Plan A, making sure any guy interested in me gets shown the door.

Nathan had “speechless” written all over his face.

“You know how elders are–they just think straightforward. Don’t take it to heart,” I said, smiling as I tried to comfort him.

But my words did little to comfort Nathan. He just sat there in silence, his eyes quietly fixed on me.

I had to admit, the white in Nathan’s hair actually made him look even more intense–there was this striking, almost intimidating vibe about him now.

When he looked at me, his brows lowered over those long, narrow eyes, something dark and unreadable flickering in his gaze. In that instant, it was like a bolt of electricity shot right through me.

I immediately avoided his gaze and switched topics. “Your shirt’s still got blood on it–why don’t you put on a clean one?”

“Alright! You help me,” Nathan said, suddenly acting all bold and not even pretending to be shy anymore.

Honestly, I was about to do that anyway. I grabbed a basin, filled it with hot water, and brought it over.

I swished the towel around in the steaming-hot water, wrung it out, and as I unfolded it, a cloud of steam billowed up.

Nathan started unbuttoning his shirt with his left hand, but for some reason, even his usually nimble fingers seemed to fumble with the third button for ages.

“Let me do it,” I said softly.

Nathan let his hand fall away and just waited for me.

The room was toasty, so I slipped off my coat. All I had on underneath was a fitted black turtleneck that really showed off my curves.

As I leaned in to help him, my loosely tied hair slipped free, tumbling down over my sweater and brushing against one side of my chest.

It wasn’t until I started unbuttoning his shirt that I realized just how charged and intimate this moment really was.

Especially as each button came undone, inch by inch revealing his sculpted chest, I couldn’t help but swallow, my throat suddenly dry.

Nathan lowered his gaze, watching me closely, as if trying to read my expression. Under his eyes, my lashes fluttered.

Once I had all the buttons undone, I carefully slipped the bloodstained shirt off his shoulders.

To my surprise, Nathan suddenly got a bit bashful and turned his head to the side.

I grabbed the towel to wipe him down, but Nathan mumbled, “Maybe I should do it myself instead.”

“Just sit still, let me handle it,” I said. That little spark of awkwardness was gone in a flash–now I was totally focused, just doing what needed to be done.

Nathan straightened up, obedient as a child.

I took the hot towel and started at the back of his neck.

He couldn’t help but shiver.