Chapter 42: Chapter 42: Where Should She Choose to Wait for Death?

"Be good. Stop making a fuss. You can have me tonight, hmm?"

He was being uncharacteristically patient, trying to coax her.

He hoped she would realize she was in the wrong and listen obediently.

He could try to accept the occasional tantrum.

His breath ghosted against her ear and temple.

Noelle Sutton felt like she was going insane.

’When had she ever acted like she was sexually frustrated?’

She reached out and pressed her hand against Tristan Lawson’s chest.

Tristan Lawson straightened up, his dark eyes fixed on her. The gentle, refined expression he wore moments ago had now darkened slightly.

Noelle Sutton angrily signed, "I don’t want this. Don’t just assume you know what I want, or what happened last time will happen again."

She had made her feelings perfectly clear.

Even though she hadn’t seen him physically cheat on her.

She couldn’t accept the emotional affair either.

There was no way she could be intimate with him again.

Tristan Lawson felt a surge of anger.

He wasn’t normally a short-tempered person, but he had lost his temper with her several times recently. And wasn’t it all because she kept pushing his buttons?

’It seems I’ve been too good to her these past few years. I’ve spoiled her completely.’

Tristan Lawson was done negotiating.

’Women,’ he thought. ’They always soften up after a night together.’

As for the last time, when she’d bitten her own tongue until it bled, he would be more careful.

He would hold her jaw, making sure she couldn’t hurt herself again.

Bleeding, after all, was painful.

Before Noelle Sutton could react, he sealed her lips with his.

Noelle Sutton struggled to push him away.

But the difference in strength between a man and a woman was stark and insurmountable.

He was forceful this time, giving her no chance to resist. He held her jaw, preventing her from biting herself.

Unable to fight him off, hot tears streamed from her beautiful eyes, soaking her butterfly-wing lashes.

A faint, salty taste filled their mouths.

Tristan Lawson’s movements came to an abrupt halt.

He released her lips and saw the reddened corners of her eyes.

Tiny droplets clung to her thick, curved lashes.

Her cheeks were flushed, the heat of passion not yet faded, but her eyes held a shattered expression. She looked soft, fragrant, and so fragile it tugged at the heartstrings.

Tristan Lawson used the back of his index finger to gently wipe away the tears clinging beneath her eyes.

"Why are you crying? Did I hurt you?"

Noelle Sutton clenched her jaw so tightly it felt like her teeth would shatter.

She was mute. She couldn’t make a sound. She couldn’t immediately voice the things she wanted to say.

She slowly raised her limp arms and signed, "Tristan Lawson, can you please not do this?"

"Not do what?"

He slid his arms around her waist, lifted her by her bottom, and picked her up as if she were a child. 𝐟𝕣𝕖𝐞𝐰𝕖𝚋𝐧𝗼𝚟𝐞𝕝.𝗰𝐨𝐦

Noelle Sutton saw the desk...

Overcome with shame, she instinctively buried her face in the crook of his neck.

Tristan Lawson didn’t want any ripples to disturb his otherwise peaceful marriage.

He had too much work to do every day; it was difficult to squeeze out time to handle such domestic trifles.

If he could just placate her and stop her from acting out, it would save him a lot of time.

A married couple needed a bit of intimacy to spice things up now and then.

So he simply held her there and leaned in to kiss her...

Just as their lips met.

Sophie Hughes’s voice came from outside. "Tristan."

Followed by Joshua Lawson’s.

"Dad, Sophie and I are back..."

Tristan Lawson immediately set Noelle Sutton down.

"Joshua’s back. Get yourself cleaned up. And..." Tristan Lawson glanced at the desk, his voice low and raspy. "Clean up the desk, too."

After giving his instructions, Tristan Lawson elegantly smoothed out the slightly wrinkled front of his shirt.

In an instant, he was once again the suave, handsome man in a sharp suit.

Noelle Sutton, on the other hand, was a mess. Her blouse was loose and rumpled, with several buttons undone.

Tristan Lawson strode out and closed the study door behind him.

With trembling hands, Noelle Sutton straightened her clothes.

A crushing sense of shame enveloped her...

’They were husband and wife.’

’How could she not have known that he’d been aroused just now?’

’It was one thing for her to not want to be intimate with him anymore. It was another thing entirely for him to hear Sophie Hughes’s voice and regain his composure in a split second.’

Noelle Sutton had never imagined that Tristan Lawson, a man of such supposed class and refinement, could be involved in a taboo affair.

"Tristan, is Noelle back?"

Noelle Sutton had just finished tidying herself up when she heard Sophie Hughes’s voice from outside.

"She’s back."

"My dad asked me to bring her a gift. Is she in the master bedroom? I’ll go give it to her."

Noelle Sutton stood by the study door, her heart wound tight with tension.

’Sophie Hughes’s father... that would be Tristan Lawson’s maternal grandfather.’

Noelle Sutton truly didn’t understand. In seven whole years, Tristan Lawson had never once taken her to meet any of his relatives on his mother’s side.

In fact, the entire Lawson family never mentioned them.

’Maybe their marriage was kept secret, so his mother’s family didn’t know she existed. Or maybe they looked down on her because she was mute. But Joshua was Tristan’s own flesh and blood.’

’Yet, no one from his mother’s side had ever come to see Joshua before Sophie Hughes showed up.’

’It was all very strange.’

Noelle Sutton thought it over and over, and could only come to one conclusion: it had to be related to the taboo relationship between Tristan Lawson and Sophie Hughes.

’Forget it,’ she thought. ’I’m not going to think about it anymore.’

’None of this has anything to do with me.’

"Give it to me. I’ll take it to her later. You and Joshua just got off the plane, you should go get some rest."

"Dad, can I sleep with Sophie tonight?"

Tristan Lawson patted Joshua Lawson’s little head. "You can."

Joshua Lawson jumped for joy.

"Sophie, that’s great! I get to sleep with you again tonight!"

Noelle Sutton could hear his joyful laughter clearly from inside the study.

Before, Joshua Lawson had been the most attached to her.

Because he was a boy, Tristan Lawson had given him his own room early on.

When Tristan was home, he wouldn’t allow Joshua to pester Noelle into letting him sleep with her.

Fortunately, Tristan traveled for work often. Whenever he wasn’t home, Joshua would cling to his mother at night, insisting on sleeping with her.

Now, however, he was attached to Sophie Hughes.

He was so happy to be sleeping with Sophie.

A bitter smile touched Noelle Sutton’s lips.

After a while, the sound of footsteps heading upstairs faded, and Noelle Sutton finally emerged from the study.

The living room was empty.

She returned to the master bedroom, which was also empty.

She had just heard Tristan Lawson helping them carry their luggage upstairs.

Noelle Sutton went into the bathroom.

A heavy fatigue weighed on her body, making her feel uncomfortable.

So she filled the tub with hot water, wanting to take a hot bath.

Lately, she had begun to feel a distinct decline in her physical stamina.

The doctor had said the most terrifying part of cancer was when the cells began to spread.

Lying in the tub, Noelle Sutton couldn’t help but wonder where she should choose to wait for death in six months’ time.

’The hospital?’

’Her old hometown?’

’Or some place where no one would find her?’

As she mulled it over, she drifted off to sleep.

When she opened her eyes again, it was because the cold had woken her.

The water in the tub had gone completely cold.

Her body was ice-cold, and she began to shiver uncontrollably.

She scrambled out of the tub and turned on the shower. Only when the warm water sprayed over her body did she slowly start to feel better.

When she stepped out of the bathroom, the bedroom was still empty.

Tristan Lawson was gone.

Noelle Sutton glanced at the wall clock.

Two in the morning... ’He still hasn’t come down...’