Tonight Her Love Ended novel Chapter 74

Belinda actually wanted to give Nova some money, hoping she would just go buy whatever her heart desired.

A woman like Yvette Sellers would never step foot into the Forrester family in this lifetime!

But considering how many people were in the room, she didn't want to paint a bigger target on Nova's back. So, she kept quiet, merely squeezing Nova's hand tightly as she instructed Tristan, "You make sure you treat her right!"

Tristan didn't respond verbally. In front of his grandmother, he simply reached out and held Nova's hand.

Nova's instinct was to pull away, but recalling his chilling warning from the previous night, she let her muscles relax.

The moment they stepped out of the bedroom, he dropped her hand.

When they reached the car, she automatically opened the back door and slid into the rear seat.

Calling shotgun was usually reserved for the girlfriend or wife, and she knew full well how protective some women were of that "exclusive" front seat.

Tristan met her eyes through the rearview mirror but didn't utter a word.

She knew what he was probably thinking. He likely assumed she was just throwing a childish tantrum, playing hard to get.

He probably thought this little performance was a ploy for his attention—a bid to make him ask her to sit up front.

After all, in his eyes, and in the eyes of everyone else, her feelings were not only worthless but often reduced her to pathetic begging for his affection.

But none of that mattered to her anymore.

Right now, all she cared about was her future.

Throughout the entire ride back, she didn't bring up the fact that he had abandoned her on the side of the road, that her phone had been stolen, or that she had been caught in the freezing rain.

And Tristan clearly had zero interest in asking.

It wasn't until they walked through the front doors of Clearwater Manor that the silence broke. The moment they stepped inside, Tristan turned to the nanny. "Keep an eye on my wife starting today. Until she finishes copying her lines, she is not to take a single step outside this house."

Nova froze, her hand pausing mid-reach for the agreement in her bag.

Writing "Know your place" thirty thousand times... if she had to finish that, she could kiss her new job goodbye.

She refused to waste her time on something so utterly meaningless. Gathering her courage, she pushed back. "I found a new job. I start first thing tomorrow morning. If I have to finish writing that before I leave, I'll be late..."

He didn't even break his stride as he headed for the stairs, tossing a cold reply over his shoulder. "That sounds like a 'you' problem."

She knew he had been suppressing his anger toward her all day.

If she disobeyed him now, it would undoubtedly set him off.

But their marriage, their relationship—it had already deteriorated to this point. She had nothing left to fear.

"I'm not writing it. I don't have the time."

She followed him to the door of his study, staring at the man sitting behind the massive desk, and spoke with quiet stubbornness.

It was just money. A man of his stature wasn't going to aggressively nickel-and-dime her for it.

But despite clearly lacking the ability and having absolutely no tangible proof to back it up, she kept stubbornly repeating, "I'll pay it back."

She placed the contract back on the desk.

Whether he believed her or not was his problem.

Tristan stared at the folder, the coldness in his eyes intensifying.

Just as she reached the door, his voice cut through the air, devoid of all warmth. "Do you actually believe that if you just try hard enough, you can magically possess the brilliance and capability of other people?"

She froze. Slowly, she turned to look at the man behind her.

He sat bathed in the stark, white light of the study, every word he spoke deliberately slicing her heart to ribbons. "The worst flaw a person can have is failing to know their own limits."

Her lips pressed into a thin, tight line.

He thought her promise to repay him was just some pathetic attempt to compete with Yvette.

He was practically spelling it out for her: You don't have Yvette's talent, and you never will.

You will never measure up to her!