###Chapter 19: A Distant Tenderness
In the midst of the scuffle, Nina Wainwright was suddenly knocked to the ground.
Someone stepped on her hand, and she cried out in pain.
Adrian Pemberton frantically pushed aside the people surrounding her and rushed forward to help her up.
Nina Wainwright’s ponytail had been pulled loose, leaving her utterly disheveled.
But the woman leading the group was still shouting, "If you don’t give us the money, we’re sleeping in this hospital room! Either you figure out a way to pay us back right now, or the hospital can kick her father out too! If we’re going down, we’re all going down together!"
They were determined to be shameless thugs, and the hospital was at a loss.
"Pay up!" another woman yelled, shoving Nina Wainwright’s shoulder forcefully.
Nina Wainwright stumbled back two steps.
The debt collectors clamored menacingly.
Nina Wainwright felt like she was being backed into a corner with nowhere left to turn.
The clamor of the debt collectors drew a growing crowd of onlookers, making her chest feel as if it were being crushed by a giant stone.
Soon, security guards arrived.
They forcibly removed the debt collectors.
The hospital room quieted down. The director of the inpatient department came over and looked at her with displeasure. "Dr. Pemberton has already put in a good word for you several times. If this isn’t resolved today, you’d best find another hospital."
Before Nina Wainwright could speak, Mrs. Wainwright, who had been hiding in the restroom, suddenly rushed out. She grabbed Nina’s hand and pleaded, "Just save your father! You clearly have a way to pay the debt, so why won’t you help?! Do you really want your father to die?!"
Suffocation felt like a sharp claw, gripping her heart tightly.
"Nina, you have a way, don’t you? Mom is begging you, I’ll get on my knees!" As she spoke, Mrs. Wainwright knelt on the floor.
Nina Wainwright looked as if she were about to collapse, but she still managed to drag her mother up from the floor. "Am I not trying to figure something out? Everyone else is pushing me, and now you’re pushing me too?!"
"Go ask your husband for it!" Mrs. Wainwright said, tears streaming down her face as she sobbed. "He’s obviously rich! If you just ask him nicely, you’ll have the money to pay off the debt!"
The moment she finished speaking, a knock sounded at the door of the hospital room.
Nina Wainwright looked over.
Silas Sinclair stood by the door. His eyes swept across the room, taking in the situation, before he said calmly, "Mr. Hawthorne is looking for you."
The moment Mrs. Wainwright saw him, her expression turned inscrutable and she clammed up. She only gripped Nina Wainwright tightly, secretly pinching her hand to urge her to go ask Zachary Hawthorne for money.
"Miss Wainwright, I’ll be waiting for you at the door. If you want to see him, please come out." Seeing no reaction from Nina Wainwright, Silas Sinclair stated this coolly, then turned and left.
As soon as Mrs. Wainwright saw him leave, she whispered to Nina Wainwright, "Hurry up and go. You have to get the money today! If you can’t, I’ll just die with your father. Then we won’t be a burden to you anymore."
Hearing her words, Adrian Pemberton felt a surge of sympathy for Nina Wainwright.
Mrs. Wainwright pushed Nina Wainwright a step forward.
She bit her lip, but still walked out of the hospital room.
Silas Sinclair was waiting at the door. Seeing her emerge, he said, "Mr. Hawthorne is waiting for you on the stairwell landing."
When Nina Wainwright reached the hospital’s stairwell landing, she saw the man with his back to her, looking out the window at the scenery.
She stopped.
Zachary Hawthorne suddenly turned his head and looked her up and down. "Nina, as long as you bow your head, your troubles will be resolved immediately."
But Nina Wainwright didn’t soften at his overture.
Her voice was slightly hoarse. "Is this the only reason you were looking for me?"
Zachary Hawthorne had thought that, after being pushed this far, she would have learned to stop being so stubborn and opposing him.
But now it seemed he had not only underestimated Nina Wainwright, but had also been fooled by her usual gentle demeanor.
"Why were you hospitalized? Are you unwell?" Zachary Hawthorne wasn’t in a hurry for her answer now. He changed the subject instead.
In fact, he had only found out this morning that Adrian Pemberton had arranged for her to be admitted to the hospital.
Nina Wainwright didn’t know what act he was putting on now, and she looked at him with bewildered eyes.
Zachary Hawthorne walked closer, raised his hand, and gently rubbed the bruised bone of her forehead with the pad of his thumb. "Did those thugs hurt you here?"
Nina Wainwright was surprised. "How did you know?"
"Where else are you hurt?" Zachary Hawthorne didn’t answer her, his eyes lowered as he spoke with a tone of concern.
Nina Wainwright was in a bit of a daze.
𝙛𝒓𝓮𝒆𝔀𝒆𝙗𝓷𝒐𝙫𝒆𝙡.𝒄𝓸𝓶
They had been arguing so much lately; only when they were intimate would he speak to her in such a soft voice.
She had almost forgotten that although Zachary Hawthorne always wore a stern expression, he actually had a gentle side to him much of the time.
He would even show concern for her.
"Have you eaten breakfast?" Zachary Hawthorne asked, taking her hand and gently caressing it with his fingers.
Nina Wainwright blinked.
The sense of grievance from all their recent fights surged up in an instant.
Her nose tingled, and she felt the urge to cry.
"Let’s get breakfast first." Zachary Hawthorne led her downstairs by the hand.
"Zachary, there’s never been anything between me and Adrian Pemberton." Nina Wainwright ultimately didn’t want him to misunderstand. Even if they were going to separate, she didn’t want Zachary Hawthorne to think she had betrayed him.
Zachary Hawthorne didn’t respond.
When they arrived at the restaurant, Nina Wainwright was just about to sit down when a sharp pain shot through the wound on her abdomen.
She braced herself on the table, her face turning pale.
Zachary Hawthorne immediately supported her by the waist. "Where else are you hurt?"
"Just a cut on my abdomen," Nina Wainwright said softly.
Zachary Hawthorne carefully scooped her up into his arms, ignoring the stares of the people around them, and carried her out of the restaurant.
Nina Wainwright’s face flushed crimson. "Put me down. I can walk by myself."
Zachary Hawthorne ignored her and placed her in the car.
He drove Nina Wainwright all the way to Avelon Residence.
Back at the residence, he pushed her down onto the sofa, lifted her shirt, and bunched it up at her chest.
She tried to get up, but Zachary Hawthorne held her down.
"The wound is bleeding, the gauze is all red. Lie still, I’ll take care of it." Zachary Hawthorne wanted to see how bad the wound on her abdomen was.
He removed the gauze.
When Zachary Hawthorne saw the gash on her abdomen, his face instantly darkened.
His lips pressed into a tight line.
He stared at it for a long moment before going to get the first-aid kit.
He didn’t speak, and Nina Wainwright didn’t either.
Zachary Hawthorne applied ointment and then put on a fresh piece of gauze.
He sat to one side and said in a domineering tone, "Nina, as long as you go back to how you were before, your family’s debt will be taken care of. Think it over."
The warmth that had just begun to stir in Nina Wainwright’s heart vanished without a trace because of his words.
"I’ve already found a job," Nina Wainwright said.
’She had also considered going to the bank to see if she could get a loan to pay off a portion of it first.’
"Pay off the debt with the peanuts you’ll earn from your job?" Zachary Hawthorne sneered, his tone laced with sarcasm. "You want to fight with me, but you also want me to solve your problems. Where in the world can you find a deal that good?"
"I already gave someone my word; it wouldn’t be right to go back on it. Besides, I have the right to work. We don’t have children and don’t need to raise any, so you can’t restrict my freedom," Nina Wainwright said, her tone stubborn.
’Divorce and work. She had to solve at least one of them.’
’Right now, the job was already arranged, so of course she wanted to seize the opportunity.’
’And Diana Aldridge’s words had been rolling around in her mind for a long time.’
’For the past three years, she had been a moth drawn to a flame.’
’She had let her own talents go to waste for the sake of love, only to find that in the end, she couldn’t even afford a one hundred thousand yuan surgery fee.’
’She didn’t want to be like this anymore.’
’She didn’t want to hold out her hand and ask him for money.’
"Why on earth are you bringing up children all of a sudden?" There was a hint of inquiry in Zachary Hawthorne’s eyes.*****