Trouble in Paradise

thought that Pete would laugh at my disheveled state. I thought that he would clap and ridicule me. It was what he'd done for more than 20 years, and he was good at it.

I hadn't expected him to show such concern.

However, I did not need concern or revenge at this time. All I wanted was some peace and quiet.

"Don't bother." I turned him down.

I tried to walk past him, but he grabbed my wrist and stopped

1. me.

I'd been in too many confrontations today, so I wasn't in a good mood. I couldn't help but raise my voice. "Pete Shelman, go and find yourself some other plaything. I'm not in the mood to be your toy right now!" Pete's eyes darkened with an emotion that I couldn't decipher. You're not my toy," he said earnestly.

Without giving me a chance to react, he pushed my hair behind my ears and leaned closer to me. He was so close that I could smell the aftershave lingering on him.

When I snapped back to my senses, I tried to back away, but he grabbed my hand forcefully. "Let's go to the hospital. You need to get that looked at."

I widened my eyes. The distress suffered from Nicholas' attitude seemed to take second place over my surprise.

I placed the back of my hand against his forehead. "In the name of all the deities in the world, I command you to leave Pete's body!"

Pete slapped my hand away in disgust. "I just don't want to be stuck with your ugly mug. It's annoying me."

I wanted to grin at his annoyance and give him a few retorts, but as soon as I moved my mouth, my cheek throbbed in pain. I gave up on the attempt immediately. I never liked smiling at him anyway.

In fact, I did not give him any answer. I didn't know what to say apart from rejecting him. "It's none of your business."

"Watch out!"

Just then, he jumped toward me and pushed me a few steps backward. A black car whizzed past him. It almost ran over him.

The gust of wind that followed messed up my hair and aggravated the pain in my cheek,

The car belonged to Nicholas.Nôvel/Dr(a)ma.Org - Content owner.

"Fuck!" Pete recognized the car as well. He spat. "What the fuck is wrong with him?"

I was powerless to stop Pete when he got into one of his moods, so I just let him pull me into his car.

Inside the car, it was eerily silent.

Neither of us said anything.

I was trying to piece back my broken heart. I didn't know what Pete was thinking.

Right before we arrived at the hospital, he asked suddenly, "If this happened to one of your defendants, what would you do?" This was after he learned about what had happened.

The change in position was a little too abrupt for my comfort, but I knew that he was the boss of Jay Caldwell & Co.. There was nothing strange about him wanting to test his employees. It was only now that "Pete has grown up" sounded true. "If I answer correctly, will I be able to join Mr. Harmon's team?" I asked him strategically.

"No."

"I see. In that case, I'm not answering you."

"But I'll give you a raise."

"Why didn't you say so earlier?" I straightened. Detaching myself from the situation, I gave him a serious answer.

He did not comment on whether my actions were right or wrong. Instead, he asked, "Do you feel better now?"

Mostly, I felt better because he promised me a raise, but I didn't tell him that. If he knew that I was upset because of how Nicholas had treated me, he would ridicule me.

"I'll bring you along when I treat Mr. Harmon to lunch," I told him reluctantly.