Chapter 25 Envious Zachary
At once, Colton was taken aback. He could feel Nicole helplessly shaking in his arms. His arms stiffened, but he eventually raised them and gently patted her, comforting her with his hoarse voice. “It’ll be okay.”
After crying for a while, Nicole sniffled and incidentally sensed a unique smell on the man. It was a subtle scent of tobacco, but it wasn’t appalling. She then nodded and raised her head.
At that moment, Zachary came and found Nicole and Colton snuggling against each other under the tree, as well as how Colton’s hand was on her back. The sight was rather intimate. Withdrawing his gaze, he hurried over and stood beside Nicole. With a sympathetic tone, he muttered, “Are you okay, Nicole?”
Flickering her sore eyes, Nicole lifted her head and revealed her damp eyes that were stained with a hint of redness. She seemed awfully pitiful. Accordingly, she pulled herself out of Colton’s arms, and since she had squatted for a long time, her legs started to numb. Thereupon, when she tried to get up, she tripped herself and almost fell down, but luckily, Zachary managed to grab her. Drained, she shut her eyes. The makeup on her face was smeared by her tears and marred her appearance.
Looking at her captivating face, Zachary bitterly caressed her cheek as a trace of guilt flashed across his eyes.
Nicole had her eyes closed. Because of her tears, her long eyelashes clumped together and were clinging to her skin.
As Zachary had come, Colton stood up and blandly stared at the two as they embraced each other. He wordlessly pursed his lips.
On the other hand, while Zachary was tenderly fondling her head, he gazed at Colton as if he was looking at a stranger. “President Gardner, thank you for taking care of Nicole. We shall postpone the discussion for our partnership to a later time. It’s not quite appropriate to do it now.”
Colton’s ebony eyes twitched. Watching Nicole, who was in his arms earlier and now in Zachary’s embrace, he, for some reason, felt disturbed, but that might have been him overthinking. Regardless, he did not reveal his thoughts and simply responded with a light smile and a nod. “I’ve had my men look into it. I’ll give Miss Lisa an answer as soon as possible.”
Zachary grew relieved. “Thank you very much, President Gardner.”
Beaming, Colton replied, “Don’t worry about the meeting. After all, it shouldn’t be hard to actualize the partnership between Gardner Corporation and F&M Apparel.” Having said that, without further chatter, he came up with an excuse before getting into his car and leaving.
Seeing as he left, Zachary lowered his head to look at the woman, who stopped crying but was still hyperventilating, in his arms and dolefully wiped the tears off the corner of her eyes. “Nicole, how’s Hayden?”
Nicole raised her head and looked at the man’s benign smile as she blinked her irritated eyes before rubbing them and shaking her head. “I don’t know either. During the annual dinner, Hayden called over and told me there were some bad people at home. But when I got home, my house was already turned into a mess. I couldn’t find him and my calls wouldn’t go through.” She gritted her teeth, and as she was speaking, her eyes, once again, started to moisten.
Zachary had known her for about four years, but that was his first time seeing her crying and her downhearted look. That was also the first time he held her in his arms and let her depend on him. Followingly, he grasped her shoulders as he revealed determination in his eyes. “I’ve asked some of my friends in the country to investigate the matter on my way here. We’ll definitely find him. Don’t you worry, okay?”
Nicole nodded and wiped her tears off. Right now, Hayden was her only hope. Her emotional outburst earlier might have been excessive. “Yes, Hayden will be fine,” she resolutely stated, as if she was also encouraging herself at the same time.
