Married Without Love

Chapter 14

Since we were in a public place, I didn't want to make a scene and got in the car. He got in the driver's seat and pulled out of the parking lot of the restaurant.
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The car ride was quite but the tension in the air was palpable, much like our last car ride. He was pissed and angry but didn't utter a word. I noticed that he took the road to the mansion instead of my penthouse. I had already texted Mr Lewis to pick up my car from the restaurant.

"Nathan, you're on the wrong road," I told him. "This is not the way to my place."

He grunted but didn't say a word.

"Nathan-"

"Just shut up will you!" He snapped at me and hit the acceleration, driving faster.

I kept silent for a while. But he was driving fast and I was scared. My parents died in a car crash and he was speeding like a lunatic. I was having a bad feeling in the pit of my stomach.

"Nathan slow down!" I begged but to no avail. He ignored me and instead just went faster.

My heart was beating fast and my breathing got heavier. I shut my eyes and slumped on the seat, begging for this to be over. I reached over and turned on the radio to calm my nerves. Tears were threatening to spill from my eyes as I remembered the officer at our doorstep with the news of my parents death, the reporter on the news, the funeral. All the bad memories were coming back.

Suddenly, I felt like I couldn't breathe. My head was spinning and I couldn't see straight. Luckily, the car came to a stop. My body jerked forward but the seatbelt pulled me back. I looked out to see that we reached the mansion. I was still filling dizzy and there were unshed tears in my eyes.

Nathan looked in my direction. Anger radiated from him. But as he took in my condition, all the anger disappeared from his eyes and they were instead filled with concern.

I unbuckled my seat belt and pushed my head in my hands with my elbows on my knees. I took deep breaths trying to calm down from my near panic attack. I fought to regain control of my body and found that I was shaking uncontrollably.

"Oh my Hailey, what happened?" Nathan's voice was filled with concern but I couldn't tell if it was genuine. I couldn't answer him.

He pulled out a bottle of water from the dashboard, uncorked it and held it to my lips. One of his hand went around to grip my shoulder. I was too weak or else I would have pushed it away. I tried to hold the bottle but my hands were trembling, so I let him feed me the water.

"Are you ok?" Nathan asked but again I didn't answer him.

I tried to pull myself together. I hated being weak infront of him, for him to see me vulnerable like this.

"Hailey..." He tried again. This time, I gave him an answer.

"My parents..." My voice came out in a whisper and I wondered if he could actually hear me. "They died in a car crash."

"Oh.. I..I didn't mean for you to..." He stammered, realising his mistake "I'm sorry Hailey. I.. I.."

Not knowing what to say, he sighed and wrapped his arms around me, giving my shoulder a tight squeeze. I welcomed his warmth, but after a while pushed away. I nodded at him and opened my door and got out. I walked into the mansion and he trailed behind me.

I went straight to my room and fell on the bed. After lying there for a while, I took a shower and changed into short pajama pants and t-shirt since I already had my clothes here. I decided I needed a cup of coffee and went downstairs to the kitchen.