Chapter 5 Due Date

"W-what do you mean, you want to propose to me?" Nathalie was nervous, worried that her ears had misheard Nicholas's words.

Natalie couldn't believe that Nicholas had made such a request.

Is he playing with me, or is he deliberately trying to make me even more depressed, Nathalie thought, as she stared into Nicholas' sharp and deep eyes, trying to find out what the man in front of her was thinking.

She was a woman who had just gotten divorced and worse, she had also just had a miscarriage. Not to mention, her father was still sick.

It was an unpleasant experience, experienced at the same time in succession. Nathalie was sure that no other woman could endure all that craziness.

Nathalie couldn't even believe that she had gone through all that and was still sane enough to sit here and listen to Nicholas's unreasonable words.

"Nicholas, you're playing with me, right?" Nathalie asked.  She felt irritated, but because Nicholas had helped her so much and she was not someone who was shameless, she tried to speak carefully.

"Playing with you? For what?"

Nicholas asked back, furrowing his eyebrows. Nathalie just noticed that Nicholas' eyebrows were thick, but they were very neat as if they were deliberately shaped at a beauty salon.

Nathalie, focus! You're rambling just because of those nice eyebrows. Nathalie scolded herself.

"Your proposal? Ah, do you mean, you're proposing to me to work as an employee in one of your companies, since I'm unemployed now?" asked Nathalie enthusiastically.

That damn Charles had arbitrarily fired her from the company they founded together and that meant she had the freedom to work anywhere after their divorce was over.

Besides, she also had to keep working to support herself and her father, right? Nathalie couldn't be unemployed.

"You're weird," said Nicholas.  "How can a company owner apply for someone to be his employee? Isn't the situation the other way around?"

"Ah, you're right," Nathalie muttered. "I must have been too confident."

Nicholas stared at Nathalie, who seemed to be arguing with herself. The woman had not fully recovered, from the effects of her miscarriage, and from her hurt feelings after her tragic divorce from her jerk husband, but she was charming.

When he stepped into the room, he wouldn't have been surprised to see a woman with a puffy face and swollen eyes who had been crying a lot. That was natural. The ordeal Nathalie had gone through was very difficult.

However, seeing the woman seem so determined and even drawing so seriously, Nicholas knew that Nathalie had not collapsed.

She was a strong woman, not only physically, but more than that, she also had a steely mentality. She was not a crybaby who spent her time crying and feeling sorry for herself, but instead diverted her sadness to something useful which was a hobby and a job that she loved.

Nicholas decided to just say it now, what he was going to postpone until Nathalie got out of the hospital. He didn't want to confuse Nathalie and add to her worries, but it seemed that Nathalie was not fragile at all.

"Nate, if you really need a job, you can get it in any company with your talent," Nicholas said with a chuckle.

He pointed to the half-finished drawing on Nathalie's lap. "That drawing, if you intend to sell it, I will buy it at a high price, to renovate my office space."

Nathalie turned her gaze from Nicholas to her drawing. Was the design really that good? Or was Nicholas just being kind to compliment her?

"Tsk!" Nathalie looked at Nicholas again. "You're just making me even more confused. Come on, Nicholas, don't joke around. I'm getting more and more confused about what you want? What you said earlier really didn't make sense, unless..."

Nicholas' eyebrows furrowed again and that made Nathalie lose focus again for a moment. Hey, did she have a fetish for Nicholas' eyebrows.

"Except what?"  asked Nicholas.

"You and my ex-husband--let's call him ex from now on, even though our divorce process is not yet complete--are rivals. Are you trying to take revenge on him now because I'm his ex-wife?" asked Nathalie with narrowed eyebrows.

"Revenge?"

"Yes. You must feel this is a good opportunity to take revenge on him, right? But, Nicholas, you made a big mistake by doing that to me now. That bastard won't care about what you do to me, you'll just waste your energy. He's already dumped me for that bitch, so I don't think he'll care either even if you try to torture and--"

"NATE!"

Nathalie stopped talking and stared at Nicholas with round eyes. Nicholas's shout surprised her.

"Stop talking and listen to me first," Nicholas said in a softer voice. "Can you let me explain first?"

"Y-yes, I can," Nathalie answered obediently.

Nicholas' heart beat faster, seeing those beautiful eyes completely focused on him.  Damn, Nicholas muttered to himself. Why did her eyes look so alive and beautiful.

"Nate, what I said about proposing to you, has nothing to do with me and your ex-husband being rivals," Nicholas said carefully.

"Do you think I'm that stupid, taking revenge on an ex-wife. He definitely wouldn't care about you. If I wanted to take revenge on him, I would definitely target his little girlfriend. She seems to really like money, so she opened her legs to your ex-husband who is much older than her, without hesitation. I have more money than your ex, right? I can take her if I want."

Nathalie nodded. As for Nicholas having more money than Charles, that was for sure. Nicholas' family wealth was ten, even more, than Charles' family wealth. Nicholas' family had existed for centuries longer than Charles' family.

"So... Why did you propose to me?" Nathalie asked softly.

"I've helped you in your most difficult situation, this one week, right?"

Nathalie nodded.

"You said yourself that you would pay me back, right?"

Nathalie nodded again.

Nicholas held himself back with all his might to not pull Nathalie into his arms.

"I'm a businessman--I've told you that before--and for me, every favor has its own consequences. I count every penny I spend as an investment."

Nathalie swallowed. Everything Nicholas said was true. He was a great businessman and he certainly had the right calculations for every step he took.

"Before, I was still thinking about what you could do to repay me and now I know, you can repay me by accepting my proposal to be my wife."

Nathalie squeezed her hands together on her lap. "Why?"

She wanted to ask so many questions, but her voice didn't match the contents of her noisy head, so only that question came out of Nathalie's lips.

"Well," Nicholas said, pulling his chair closer to Nathalie's bed.

"It's simple. As the heir of the family, I need a wife to complete my family's succession. It's a natural thing to happen in a big family circle with too much wealth to be fought over between siblings, cousins, and nephews. Not to mention the concubines, hopeful girlfriends, and children from affairs. You understand the situation, right?"

Nathalie nodded. "Euh, y-yeah, I understand. But why me? I'm not even officially divorced, just had a miscarriage, have a sick father, and I'm unemployed. Why me? You can get any woman you want without having to look for it. They're lining up behind you. The most beautiful, the sexiest, and the most attractive women."

Nicholas smirked and Nathalie was immediately worried that she would have a heart attack because her heartbeat suddenly became so fast.

Nicholas' smile is not good for my heart health, Nathalie thought. She didn't understand why she was so easily influenced by Nicholas, even though it had been more than a week since they met.

Nicholas stood up from his chair and with one foot, made his chair move back.  Both of his hands rested on the side of the bed and slowly his body leaned towards Nathalie who was sitting in the middle of the bed.

The soothing aroma of green tea, combined with the freshness of citrus, and the smoothness of woody, caressed Nathalie's sense of smell when Nicholas was so close.

"Ni-nicholas...." Nathalie was afraid that she would close her eyes spontaneously because of the pleasant masculine scent.

Nicholas stared at Nathalie's face which was originally pale, slowly turning pink. Very beautiful.

Nathalie smelled like sweet vanilla with a refreshing blend of cranberry and a touch of very smooth Jasmine.

"You're right, Nate. I can get anyone to be my wife, without having to try to find it. But, I also want to know why I'm only interested in you and not other women. What do you have that I can't think of other women?"

Nicholas' breath, which smelled of mint and cloves, caressed Nathalie's face and she realized how close they were now. Nicholas' lips were right in front of hers.

No, Nathalie stopped herself from moving towards Nicholas. Keep your dignity, Nath. He is charming, very handsome, sexy, and smells so tempting, but no!

Nathalie held back a shiver as she felt her core wet as Nicholas got closer. Owh, Nathalie, you are so shameless!

"Nicholas," Nathalie raised her hand and pushed Nicholas' shoulder gently. "Th-this is so confusing. I n-need some time to think about it. Please?"

Nicholas pulled himself up and sat back in his chair. Giving himself time who was almost losing control, wanting to pounce on the beautiful woman in front of him.

He crossed his legs so that Nathalie couldn't see his manhood hardening just because Nathalie's unique scent woke it up.

"Sure, Nate. You have plenty of time to think about it. I'll wait. If my help is considered a loan that must be repaid, there is a due date that you must meet, Nate."

Nathalie bit the inside of her cheek which felt hot.

"Y-yeah, I know."