The Divorce That Brought Us Back novel Chapter 409

Another dinner date.

This time, hotpot.

Nora couldn't just keep her head down and inhale her food forever. She meticulously used the communal chopsticks to cook the meat, placing two pieces on Maloney's plate for every one she took for herself.

"Here," she said, her movements stiff, her voice soft.

"I've got it. You need to eat more." Maloney smoothly intercepted the communal chopsticks from her grip. His hand positioned slightly lower than hers, his palm subtly, intentionally brushing against hers as he took them.

Nora instantly released her grip.

Maloney caught her eye and stated evenly, "You're too thin."

There was an unfathomable depth to his dark, predatory gaze.

Unable to hold eye contact, Nora murmured awkwardly, "Okay."

After dinner, Maloney announced he was taking her to an opera.

"Do you have any interest?" he asked, holding up two tickets. His tone was perfectly detached, giving the impression that if she said no, he would simply tear them up right there.

"I..." Nora stammered, visibly flustered. "I've never seen one."

"Then let's go experience it." Maloney finalized the decision.

During the drive to the theater, Nora sat rigidly in his passenger seat. Her posture was flawless, her entire body locked in tension, her gaze locked straight ahead—she looked so determined she appeared to be heading into battle.

Once the performance began, she sat beside him with the solemnity of someone attending a swearing-in ceremony.

It was painfully formal.

Neither of them absorbed a single minute of the show.

One spent the entire time covertly staring, while the other let her mind wander completely.

When the curtain fell, Nora was terrified Maloney would try to discuss the plot.

After all, the woman sitting next to her had sobbed openly.

Nora had felt absolutely nothing. She had zoned in and out and hadn't understood a fraction of the story. If he asked her why she wasn't moved, she wouldn't be able to string a single sentence together.

Thankfully, Maloney didn't bring up the opera once they returned to the car.

He simply said, "I'll get you a hotel room so you can rest."

Nora jumped. "No, no, no, that's really not necessary! I can just go back to my dorm."

"It's 10:00 PM. The drive from the theater to your campus will take an hour and a half. By the time you get there, curfew will have passed," Maloney reasoned, his tone impossibly gentle and leveled. "Don't worry. Just stay the night at the hotel, and I'll drive you back in the morning."

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