Chapter 294
For a brief moment, Michelle froze under Nick’s gaze.
But she quickly forced herself to recover. She met his eyes again and even managed a faint smile.
“So you don’t fully trust Khloe either, do you?” she said softly. “Because you know no one can really endure that kind of pressure… so why can’t you forgive me?”
“Don’t wrap betrayal in something so noble.”
Nick’s voice was low.
Not loud—but heavy enough that the air itself felt compressed.
Michelle’s smile cracked instantly.
“I’ve never hurt an innocent person,” she insisted. “I just made a rational choice. You were the one who—”
“Enough.”
Lenny stepped forward immediately, his tone sharp. “Miss Keller, that’s enough. This is a business trip. Your personal matters are out of line. Please step back.”
Michelle’s eyes were red now, but she refused to retreat.
“Nick, I didn’t betray you. You were just too decisive. You never left room for—”
“I’ve made myself clear.”
Nick finally moved.
He stepped past Lenny.
The shift in pressure was immediate—like something in the air had tightened.
His gaze landed on Michelle again, colder than before, stripped of all patience.
“If she cannot accept me,” he said evenly, “then I will accept that.”
A pause.
Then he turned away and walked off without looking back.
No hesitation. No second thought.
Lenny exhaled quietly, the tension finally leaving his shoulders. “Miss Keller… please don’t push this any further,” he said curtly before following Nick.
Michelle stood rooted in place, as though all strength had drained from her body.
A staff assistant hurried over from a distance, holding a camera. “Miss Keller… are you alright?”
“Everything captured?” Michelle asked, steadying her breath and glancing at the device.
“Yes.” The assistant hesitated. “But… Mr. Hunt just now… wasn’t that a bit—”
Michelle took the camera and flipped through the photos.
From a distance, the images showed them standing close together—angles that could easily be misread as intimacy.
But she knew the truth.
There was no warmth in Nick’s posture.
Only restraint.
And rejection.
He hadn’t stepped closer because of affection.
He had stepped forward because of pressure—and then drawn a clean line through it.
Tomorrow, he would leave.
…
That night, preparations for departure were already underway.
Lenny quietly prepared Nick’s clothes for the next day, but Nick raised a hand, stopping him before he could enter the room.
Lenny hesitated, then nodded and withdrew.
The door closed softly.
Silence returned.
Only then did Nick exhale slowly.
He loosened his tie, rubbed his brow, and let the tension he had been holding all day settle into his shoulders.
Michelle’s words lingered in his mind like a stain that wouldn’t wash away.
And beneath it all—something darker, more persistent—began to rise again.
He stood still for a long time.
Then, with a quiet breath, he forced it down.
Finally, he reached for his phone.
He hesitated for a second before dialing Khloe.
It rang for a while.
Then she picked up.
“Nick… what’s wrong?” Her voice was soft, still half-asleep—warm in a way that immediately softened something in him.
His grip on the phone tightened slightly.
The coldness in his chest loosened.
“Sorry for waking you,” he said quietly. “I just… suddenly missed you.”
“Aww,” she murmured. “Aren’t we seeing each other tomorrow anyway?”
He could hear it now—movement on her side, the rustle of sheets, the faint click of a light being turned on.
“Yeah,” he replied softly. “I know. I just couldn’t help it.”
A pause.
Then, lower, almost reluctant:
“I thought you wouldn’t pick up.”
There was a soft laugh on the other end.
“My phone has your call alert set,” Khloe said. “No matter how late it is, I’ll answer. So you don’t have to worry about not reaching me.”
A yawn slipped through, quickly hidden—but not enough.
He heard her exhaustion anyway.
And for a moment, everything else faded.