Chapter 4

I felt a bit dazed when I got home.

Everything in the house was arranged by my own hands.

I opened the closet, looking at each neatly ironed suit.

Before, I would have been satisfied with my work.

Now I grabbed scissors and cut each suit to shreds.

This home no longer needed to be organized.

I called Dylan, the company's finance manager.

I had him send me all the company's accounts from recent years.

Because of my wealthy family background, my parents had never approved of my marriage to Nathan.

They'd looked down on him as a poor boy without proper family background to match mine.

But it was this poor boy I'd been willing to sever ties with my family to follow.

My head felt fuzzy. I touched my forehead—burning hot.

Made sense. After a busy day plus emotional upheaval, it would be strange not to have a fever.

I forced myself to take fever medicine before lying down on the bed.

At ten that night, Nathan came home.

Seeing the house somewhat messy, he couldn't help but click his tongue.

Normally, I would clean up before going to bed.

Nathan opened the bedroom door and found me with a bright red face from fever.

His tone carried rare urgency:

"Iris? How did you get such a high fever? Did you take medicine?"

He knelt by the bed without even removing his suit jacket, checking my condition.

Seeing me delirious with fever, he got up to make warm milk, then carefully wrung out a towel and folded it on my forehead to reduce the fever.

I struggled to open my eyes. The concern in his eyes seemed ready to overflow.

This made me feel disoriented.

Watching his busy figure, it was as if he were still the Nathan who only loved me deeply.

I remembered when I'd been sick before—he'd abandoned the finals of an entrepreneurship competition without hesitation, carrying me all the way to the emergency room.

His startup project had been highly regarded by the judges. If he'd participated in the finals, there was a strong chance a major company would have invested directly.

But because of me, he'd given it up.

So I felt somewhat guilty toward him.

That's why when Nathan was at his wit's end, I'd swallowed my pride and begged my parents to help him.

That's how we got the Nathan of today.

A phone ringtone interrupted my thoughts.

Nathan answered without hesitation.

I heard Leah's voice:

"Nathan, I got my period. It hurts so much without you rubbing my stomach."

Nathan quickly lowered his voice to soothe Leah on the other end:

"Don't worry, I'll be right there."

As soon as he hung up, he moved to leave, but then remembered I was still lying weakly in bed.

He hesitated for a few seconds, then with trembling hands tucked the blanket around me.

"I'll be back soon."

Not a single explanation before he left.

He didn't come back all night.