CEO Ex-Husband, Don't Bother Me-Chapter 168 - 144: Ruthlessness and Love

Back in the hospital room, Julian was changing Joy’s dressing; the driver had already taken Dylan to school. Naomi walked over and said to Julian, "You can go see to other matters. I’ll do it."

Julian scoffed and ignored her, simply handing her the cotton swab. Naomi took it and stepped forward, but one glance at the wound on Joy’s leg sent the blood draining from her face. Her vision went dark, and she nearly collapsed. Although she was a nurse who had seen all manner of gruesome injuries, she found it unbearable when such a wound was on her own daughter. Even though Julian had stitched it perfectly, she couldn’t stop her body from trembling.

Julian took the cotton swab from her hand and continued disinfecting the wound himself, shooting her an irritated glare. "Didn’t you want to do it? Look at yourself. Do you really think you can in this state?"

Did she think changing Joy’s dressing was so easy? How could she possibly know how much pain he had to suppress just to get through it?

Naomi sank into a nearby chair, struggling to calm the pain and fear in her heart. She averted her gaze, not daring to watch Julian change Joy’s dressing because she saw that his hands were also trembling faintly. She knew his heart was aching, too.

Joy, though sensible, was still just a child. The sting of the antiseptic on the wound was too much, and she burst into loud sobs. "Mommy, it hurts..."

A knife twisted in Naomi’s heart. She rushed over, pulling the little girl into her arms to comfort her, but soon she couldn’t stop her own tears from falling. With every one of Joy’s cries, Naomi’s own heart felt as if it were being violently torn apart. Julian could do nothing to comfort them. Joy’s pain was unavoidable, and Naomi’s heartache for her was even more so. And so he watched them, his heart aching for them both, while a vicious thought took hold: he had to find the person behind this incident.

Just as he finished changing the dressing, Julian’s phone rang. He answered it, and his expression instantly darkened as he listened. "Get what I want. Destroy it. Then your job is done!"

Fine. So it really was Charles Donovan who wanted them dead. In that case, he shouldn’t be blamed for what came next.

Having cried her heart out from the pain of the dressing change, Joy finally fell into a deep sleep in Naomi’s arms. After Naomi had gently laid her down, Julian, who had just ended his call, walked over to her. "Are you and Joy moving in with me, or are Dylan and I moving in with you?"

It wasn’t a question. It was merely the choice he was giving her.

Now that he knew Joy was his daughter, it just wasn’t his style to let Naomi keep running from him.

Naomi’s head began to throb with frustration. "I am in no mood to discuss these things with you!"

Would he ever give it a rest? Her mind was completely focused on how to care for Joy, not on how to navigate a romance with him!

Julian frowned. "I’m not in the mood to discuss it either, so hurry up, make a choice, and give me an answer!"

Naomi was on the verge of frenzy. "How am I supposed to answer such a tyrannical ultimatum?"

No matter which option she chose, the outcome was living with him and both children. Had she ever met anyone so forceful?

"Is it that hard to choose?"

Julian seemed to have completely lost his patience. He stood there with his arms crossed, his displeasure clear on his face. "Fine. I’ll decide for you."

His relentlessness made Naomi’s head ache. "Julian, can you please just stop? Can we talk about this after Joy’s wound has healed?"

Julian stepped forward and pulled her into his arms. He looked down at her simple, pale face and softened his tone. "Naomi, I can feel it. You still have me in your heart. Why won’t you let yourself get closer to me? Do I make you feel that insecure?"

What would it take for her to open her heart and accept him? Did he really have to use the idea Felix Draper had given him? If possible, he hoped she would accept him before that. Then he wouldn’t have to go through with it.

Flustered, Naomi looked away from him. He was right. He was precisely what made her feel so insecure. Even though he said he had fallen in love with her, she felt no security. She didn’t know if, after they got together, he would just plunge her back to the bottom of an icy cellar.

Her silence rendered him helpless. He gritted his teeth, steeled his heart, and decided he would have to use Felix Draper’s plan after all—swallow his pride and put himself out there for all to see. If she still wasn’t moved after that, then he was truly out of options.

Someone knocked on the door, and a young nurse’s voice called out, "Director, your breakfast is here!"