CEO Ex-Husband, Don't Bother Me-Chapter 95 - 93: The Cruelest 3

’Was it really just to say he was sorry?’

’Or was it because he loved her and wanted to win her back?’

The word "love" had long since vanished from his world. After his experiences with Juliet Jennings and Naomi Shaw, the very concept of love left him feeling lost.

He once thought he was deeply in love with Juliet Jennings. But after the initial obsession faded, he realized his fixation on her back then was merely a way to get even—to vent the anger he felt when she’d dumped him without a second thought. That was why he’d lavished so much attention on her and spoiled her after he made his fortune. In reality, he just wanted to prove that she had been wrong to give him up.

He once believed he would never fall in love with Naomi Shaw. That was why, for those six years, he had never once properly faced her. But why, then, did the sight of her now—living happily with another man, raising a family with him—tear his heart apart with such pain?

’Could this be love?’

Ever since Dylan Donovan’s talk with him that day, Julian Donovan had calmed down somewhat. He hadn’t sought her out or given her any trouble until Joy Donovan’s report was ready. His original plan was to have her pick up the report from the hospital, but on some strange impulse, he called to ask her out instead. He had saved her number from the young nurse the other day.

It was noon, and Naomi Shaw was busy at work in the hospital. They say a nurse needs nimble hands and a kind heart, and she had both. Although she had initially joined Donovan Hospital because of Sean Donovan, in three years, she had become the head nurse of the Intensive Care Unit through her sincere attitude and superb skills.

The so-called ICU centralized the hospital’s most advanced instruments and equipment, as well as its best-trained medical staff, with the goal of increasing the success rate of emergency treatments and thus reducing mortality rates. The work was exhausting and the mental pressure immense, because no one ever knew if a person sent there would make it out alive.

Normally, the nurses worked in three rotating shifts, but Sean Donovan, considering she had Joy to look after, had specially arranged for her to work a regular nine-to-five schedule, with weekends off to spend with Joy. She felt deeply indebted, but Sean Donovan insisted.

Sean Donovan had told her that if she insisted on working rotating shifts, he would hire a nanny for Joy, because she couldn’t possibly afford one on her salary. Not wanting to owe Sean Donovan too much, she had chosen to work regular hours and send Joy to daycare during the day.

Her phone rang just as she finished giving a patient their medicine. Seeing it was an unknown number, she answered with a frown.

"Hello!"

Very few people here knew her number. She assumed it was another telemarketer selling insurance or something, so her tone was a bit brusque.

A man’s voice, both familiar and strange, came through the phone.

"Ms. Quinn, are you free for lunch?"

"And you are...?"

They had been apart for so long that she couldn’t place the voice at first, though it felt somewhat familiar.

The person on the other end paused for a moment before stating his name.

"Julian Donovan!"

She froze. She never expected him to call her. A moment later, she asked politely,

"Oh, hello, President Donovan. How may I help you?"

Julian Donovan struggled to keep from being provoked by her cold tone.

"Your daughter’s report is ready."

"Okay, I’ll find time to pick it up."

Her voice was distant. On the other end, Julian Donovan gritted his teeth.

"I’m heading back to Thailos tomorrow!"

He really was leaving, but he deliberately emphasized the word "Thailos." It was the place she had lived for over twenty years. Surely she wasn’t completely devoid of feeling for it.

But he had truly underestimated her. If she could act nonchalant when they were face-to-face, what was a single phone call, a single mention of Thailos? She showed no trace of a reaction.

"I see. In that case, could you perhaps leave it at the nurses’ station?"

Her indifference finally made him lose his composure. He snarled through gritted teeth,

"Don’t you want to hear my analysis?"

When they were once together, he would stride ahead without a backward glance while she followed timidly behind. Now, meeting again after years apart, she was composed while he was losing control. She had stopped in her tracks, unwilling to take another step, while he was the one turning back, wanting to get closer to her.

Naomi Shaw fell silent. She had to admit his words were tempting. The report was just a piece of paper; the doctor’s analysis was what truly mattered. She hesitated, unsure of what to do. ’I really don’t want to see him again, but for Joy’s sake...’

"I’m at the Thailosian restaurant across from your hospital. Come and get it."

He didn’t wait for her response, tossing out the sentence before hanging up.

Naomi Shaw stared at the disconnected call, bit her lip, then took off her white coat, changed into her clothes, and walked out. It was lunchtime, and things weren’t too busy anyway.

Julian Donovan sat by a window on the second floor of the Thailosian restaurant directly across from her hospital. He smoked with a frown on his face, wondering what he should say when he saw her. He hadn’t chosen this restaurant for any particular reason—other than to test her.

From a distance, he spotted a young woman in a black coat crossing the crosswalk, heading in his direction. He was surprised he had picked her out of the crowd at a single glance.

Her long, dark hair billowed in the wind. Her slender figure gave no hint that she was already a mother of two.

’Two children...’ The thought of her daughter made his chest tighten. The thought that she was Sean Donovan’s child made him want to ignore it all. But then he would remember how worried and anxious Naomi was about the girl, and he would force himself to analyze the report seriously.

In the brief moment his mind had wandered, she vanished from his line of sight. His heart suddenly felt empty. He shot up, frantically craning his neck to search for her. The street was bustling with people, but the person he was looking for was gone. A tide of disappointment washed over him, and he slumped back into his seat.

"President Donovan, are you looking for something?"

The cool voice by his ear made him jump.

He looked up with a complex expression to see her standing calmly before him. A flash of embarrassed frustration crossed his face, but his heart settled. He stared at her and spoke quietly,

"Someone. I lost them by accident. I don’t know if I can get them back."

He had never imagined he would blurt out such a thing upon seeing her. His heart hammered uncontrollably in his chest. After Dylan’s words the other day, he hadn’t known what to make of his own feelings for her. He hadn’t expected his heart to betray him so instinctively in this moment.

He wanted her back.

That realization struck both Julian Donovan and Naomi Shaw at the same time. But compared to Julian’s loss of control, Naomi was as composed as ever. She sat down gracefully across from him and smiled faintly.

"If you’ve lost it, just let it be. Don’t go looking for it. Out with the old, in with the new, right? That’s how I am."

Her completely emotionless "That’s how I am" was like a heavy punch to Julian Donovan’s chest—painful, yet he couldn’t cry out, because he had brought it all on himself.

’Is that how she is? Is that why she so decisively abandoned him for Sean Donovan?’

’She’s definitely Naomi Shaw. She definitely hasn’t lost her memory. She must have had an ulterior motive for saying that.’ He never thought that the gentle woman who once couldn’t utter a single harsh word would become so ruthless after all these years.

But who could he blame? Who was it that had forced this once-soft girl to become indestructible, to need words as weapons to protect herself?

Naomi Shaw watched his face turn pale, completely unmoved. Inside, she felt a frantic sense of irony. ’Julian Donovan, do you think some people are just things you can throw away and then pick back up whenever you please?’

"President Donovan, weren’t you going to give me an analysis of Joy’s test results?"

Julian Donovan was still reeling from her last words and hadn’t recovered. Now, hearing her mention the report, he forced himself to pull it together and handed the file to her. Just as her hand touched it, her phone rang. She gave him an apologetic look and said,

"Excuse me, I have to take this call."

Then she turned aside to answer it.

"Hello, Sean!" 𝙧𝙚𝙚𝔀𝒆𝓫𝓷𝙤𝓿𝒆𝙡.𝒄𝙤𝓶

Her gentle tone made Julian Donovan, who had just raised a cup to drink, suddenly tighten his grip. He clutched the cup tightly, all desire to drink gone, his dark eyes fixed on the expression on her face.