Chapter 25
In her previous life, few people knew she couldn’t drink alcohol.[]
The only one who knew was Nathaniel, after she got drunk that night in Switzerland.[]
Scarlett stared at Nathaniel, a strange feeling rising within her. Just as she was about to question him, Nathaniel tilted his head back and drained the glass.]
Tyler smiled and offered another. “Mr. Blackwell certainly can handle his liquor.”
Nathaniel glanced at the glass before him and silently accepted it, downing it in one go.]
Tyler kept offering drinks, and Nathaniel kept accepting them. Even though Scarlett wasn’t familiar with drinking etiquette, she realized Tyler was deliberately getting Nathaniel drunk.]
She frowned, grabbing Nathaniel’s wrist. “Mr. York, what exactly are you doing?”
Tyler smiled. “Isn’t this how business is conducted over drinks?“]
Scarlett pressed her lips together, her gaze toward Tyler turning cold.[]
Of course she understood that drinking was unavoidable in business settings, but she had expected Tyler to be different.[]
She took a deep breath, feeling her respect for Tyler diminishing with each glass Nathaniel drank.
Scarlett pressed her lips together and took the glass from Nathaniel’s hand. “I’ll drink it myself.”
She remembered Nathaniel’s alcohol tolerance wasn’t particularly good.[]
But just as she was about to drink, a slender hand pressed down on her glass.
Nathaniel gazed at her intensely, then suddenly stood up and looked coldly at Tyler. “I’m sorry, but it seems this deal won’t work out.”
Before Scarlett could process her surprise, he took her hand and walked straight out.[]
The cold touch on her wrist startled her as she stared at Nathaniel’s back, momentarily forgetting to pull away until they reached the door and he released her.
She pressed her lips together. “Weren’t you specifically here to meet him? You just…
Before she could finish, Nathaniel swayed and began to fall toward her.
Scarlett quickly caught him, looking at his flushed face with a mixture of anxiety and exasperation. Glancing back at the hotel, she decided to call a taxi to take him back to their accommodations.[]
After carefully placing him on the bed, Scarlett tried to leave but found Nathaniel still gripping her wrist tightly.[]
She tugged, unable to free herself, and tapped his face. “Are you really drunk or just pretending?“]
Nathaniel’s long eyelashes fiuttered slightly, but he didn’t answer.]
Scarlett studied his sleeping face intently. The Nathaniel of three years later had indeed changed–sharper, colder. His features remained largely the same, yet nothing about him resembled his former self:[]
Only in this moment, with his eyes peacefully closed, did she finally see a shadow of who he used to be
Scarlett poked his typically pale cheek, listening to his sleep mumbled plea: “Don’t go.”
Her heart softened, and in this moment when Nathaniel couldn’t see her, her gaze finally gentled.[]
She sat quietly on the edge of the bed. “Okay, I won’t leave.“]
The city’s neon lights filtered through the floor to ceiling windows, gradually transforming into golden sunlight.]
Nathaniel opened his eyes, his head still aching slightly, but this was expected []
He propped himself up and saw Scarlett asleep with her head on the edge of the bed. His gaze lingered []
In a flash, he was transported back seven years to the night after college graduation, when he drank for the first time and suffered a gastric hemorrhage []
Waking up in the hospital the next day, he found Scarlett dozing at his bedside, having cried all night. When she saw he was awake, she both hit him and cried []
“If you can’t handle alcohol, why did you drink? What am I supposed to do if you drink yourself to death?“[]
That was the first time someone had ever said. “What would I do without you?“[]
But unfortunately, he ultimately lost her anyway]
Nathaniel slowly reached out, wanting to touch Scarlett’s hair, but before he could, she drowsily opened her eyes.[]
He clenched his hand into a fist and withdrew it behind his back.[]
Watching Scarlett’s still hazy expression, he kept his tone neutral. “Thank you for last night.“[]
Scarlett murmured an acknowledgment. “If you’re alright, I’ll head back to my room now.“[]
She stood and walked toward the door, but at the threshold, Nathaniel suddenly spoke again:[]
Don’t you…. have anything to say to me?“]
Though his voice was even, a slight tremor betrayed him, making Scarlett pause.[]
She tightened her grip, turned calmly, her expression momentarily overlapping with that moment at his hospital bedside seven years ago.[]
Under Nathaniel’s expectant gaze, she smiled and said, “No, Mr. Blackwell. What should there be between us?“]
