Chapter 10 Kill It In The Cradle
"Thank you for helping me out today, Mr. Gu. I wish you a good evening."
Nicole tried to squeeze out a smile, but her cheek ached in pain. "Ouch!" she cried out instinctively, which was noticed by Kerr.
He held her hand just when she was about to get out of the car. Nicole was surprised by the sudden contact, and was even more puzzled when she saw a glint of warmth in his eyes. She thought she was imagining things.
"Where are you going if you're not going home?"
He scanned their surroundings and noticed a pharmacy nearby. It suddenly dawned on him that Nicole wanted to go inside the pharmacy.
"I can't go home like this. Jay will worry about me," answered Nicole softly.
When her gaze met the concerned eyes of Kerr, she was slightly stunned. The warmth of his hand on hers made her a little uncomfortable. This was the second time that Kerr took her hand today.
Kerr gave a signal to the driver. The driver unfastened his seat belt, got out of the car and walked towards the pharmacy.
Now that they were left alone in the car, Nicole felt even more embarrassed and uncomfortable. She tried hard to think of words to say to break the heavy silence between them.
"Mr. Gu, won't members of the Chu Group think we are insincere because we left the event early? I'll go to their headquarters and explain it to them tomorrow. I don't want my personal affairs to affect the prospects of the company."
She looked at him earnestly.
Since what happened today was her fault, she would bravely take the responsibility and be responsible for the consequences.
"You'd better worry about yourself rather than the partnership. I don't want my employees to become the focus of attention tomorrow."
There was a sense of helplessness in Kerr's eyes when he said that. He was obviously concerned about her, but he didn't want to be outspoken about it.
His tone surprised Nicole. Just now, he sounded like Jay. In other words, she finally knew whom Jay inherited his character from.
Jay had told her the same thing on her first day to work.
"I understand. Don't worry, Mr. Gu."
Kerr noticed a chilling politeness in Nicole's words and manner. He didn't know that she was keeping her distance from him on purpose.
The driver came back with the ointment shortly. Looking at Kerr's expression through the rear-view mirror, the driver immediately understood what he had to do. He handed the items to Kerr, got off the car and walked away to enjoy the stars in the night sky.
"I can do it myself," quipped Nicole while averting her gaze.
Kerr opened the ointment and squeezed a small amount on the tip of his forefinger. When he was about to apply it on Nicole's face, she turned her face to the opposite side and made an attempt to snatch the ointment from his hands. Unintentionally, she met his gaze and saw the worried look on his eyes.
"Come here," he patted the spot beside him.
He talked to her in soothing voice.
Still stunned by his words and actions, she had no choice but to scoot closer to him. She turned the swollen side of her face towards him and avoided eye contact. She could feel his cool fingers gently touch her face which was a stark contrast to the burning sensation in her chest.
She knew that Kerr was being kind and considerate of her. It was her first time being this close to him, so she couldn't help but blush. She could only pray that her red cheeks were not noticeable in the dim light of the car.
"Do you leave your child alone at home when you go to work?" Kerr asked suddenly.
Earlier, he noticed that she was nervous. She was avoiding his gaze and clasping her hands tightly. He thought that she must be hurt because of the swelling on her face, so he tried to divert her attention from the pain.
But
to his surprise, the mention of her child made her even more nervous.
"Oh, he's already a primary school student. Usually, I go home on time and accompany him after work. Do you like children, Mr. Gu?"
She tried to sound him out. She didn't know why he suddenly asked about Jay, but she clearly remembered how indifferent he was when he asked another woman to abort his child.
If Kerr had known seven years ago that she was carrying his child, he would have given her a large sum to shut her up. He would have asked her to abort the baby.
How could such a person like her bear his child? However, she never regretted having Jay, as she had loved him the moment she laid her eyes on him as a baby. Thinking of this, she couldn't thank Kerr enough for bringing Jay into her life.
"I don't have a child, so I don't know if I like children or not."
Growing up, Kerr never had a child by his side, so he had no idea what children were like. His first thought about them was that they were needy and troublesome.
"Of course not. You killed them all in the cradle,"
Nicole muttered in a very low voice. Her eyes were filled with contempt. Powerful people like Kerr were indeed cold-blooded and ruthless.
"What did you say?"
He only saw her lips move so he didn't hear what she was saying.
"Nothing. I'm fine now." Nicole tried to change the topic.
Her face was no longer painful and swollen like before, so she pushed his hand away from her face and returned to her former seat.
Before Kerr could say anything, the phone inside Nicole's pocket rang.
It was Jay.
"It's already twenty past nine."
When she picked up the phone, she heard Jay's voice. It was obvious in the boy's tone that his patience was running out.
Jay lived a regular life and he always followed his schedule. He went to bed at 9:30 every night. However, Nicole promised to come back before his bed time, so he called to remind her of her promise.
Nicole was a very honest girl, and she always made it a point to set a good example to Jay.
"Really? I'm already near the gate of the community, so I'll be home soon."
When she raised her wrist and looked at her watch, it was indeed nearly half past nine. To keep her promise to Jay, she wasted no time opening the door to get out of the car. She was a little anxious to be late that she forgot to thank Kerr and say goodbye to him.
"Good night," Kerr spoke softly.
He didn't stop Nicole from leaving. Her mind was preoccupied with going home and she didn't hear his voice. The only response heard by Kerr was the sound of the closing door.
Suddenly, Kerr's face darkened and his eyes turned cold.
No one had ever dared to ignore his words. Well, Nicole was the first one to do so.
Nicole didn't hear Kerr's 'good night', but Jay heard it clearly on the other end of the phone.
Jay was a clever boy. He recognized at once that it was not Baron's voice.
He sat up from the bed and lifted the quilt. Without enough time to put on his slippers, he ran to the balcony with his short legs.
However, when he looked at the direction where Nicole ran from, there was nothing. He was a little disappointed.
It seemed that a new man had come for his mother. He must pay more attention to her now.
Soon, the sound of the door opening was heard from the entrance. Before Nicole could finish changing her shoes, a small figure rushed over and hugged her waist tightly.
Fortunately, the light was turned off so Jay couldn't see her swollen face.
"Why haven't you gone to bed?"
Nicole bent down and hugged her little body. Then, she kicked off her high heels and walked towards Jay's bedroom.
He put his head on her shoulder, and his arms wrapped around her neck tightly. He hanged on her like a koala.