Too Late to Love Her: When She Divorced, He Fell Apart-Chapter 94: Cherish the Present

Claire knitted her brows, "What are you up to now?"

She didn’t believe he couldn’t understand. When she said those words, she just didn’t want him staying there.

Tristan Lockwood, however, smirked slightly, looking at her seriously, "We’re already getting a divorce. There’s only a few days left, can’t we get along?"

Her heart tightened, she pressed her lips together and changed the topic, "Didn’t you say you were going on a business trip?"

"Leaving tomorrow morning." Tristan walked beside her, and before she realized it, he took her hand, looking sideways at her, "When you’re home alone, eat and rest well, don’t always ruin your health because of work."

She wanted to pull her hand back, but even though he didn’t use much force, it was deftly done, not giving her a chance to escape, and instead interlocking their fingers tightly through hers.

Claire’s hand froze.

In an instant, Tristan held her firmly, his eyes quietly watching her.

She turned her head away, avoiding his deep gaze, and said uncomfortably, "Don’t say things like that to me, I’m not used to it."

Tristan raised an eyebrow, "If you hear it often, won’t you get used to it?"

At first she was stunned, then quickly pressed her lips tightly, lowering her eyes to stare at their tightly intertwined hands for a while before she said softly, "There’s no chance to get used to it anymore."

Tristan’s eyes slightly deepened, they swept over her lightly trembling long eyelashes.

"Then cherish the moment." His voice was clear and elegant, like it came from afar, "What do you think?"

Claire did not answer him.

But the hand held by Tristan stopped struggling.

...

The next day, nearing lunchtime, Joy Sharp knocked on Claire’s office door, looking uneasy as she asked, "President Hale, today I received a wage payment with a significant amount, I don’t know what it’s for, was it a mistake?"

"No, that’s the attorney’s fee from Sean Lockwood." Claire said while tapping on the keyboard, "He said it’s compensation for you. Just keep it. By the way, how’s your hand?"

Joy hid her hand behind her back, smiling as she said, "It doesn’t hurt anymore."

Then, she awkwardly added, "President Hale, I just ran an errand for this case, I had nothing to do with the entire process. I feel really uneasy accepting this money, should I return some of it to the company?"

When she saw the six zeros following the number, she was almost in shock.

Claire raised an eyebrow, "Complaining about too much bonus?"

She stood up, walked over to Joy, her gaze landing on the hand she had hidden behind her back, saying flatly, "Let me see your hand."

Joy was reluctant, but facing Claire’s stern gaze, she hesitantly extended her hand.

The burn on the back of her hand, initially quite alarming with blistered red swelling, was now gone, but the scar left was particularly conspicuous, like a twisted centipede, quite scary at first glance.

Claire’s eyes darkened.

Joy immediately withdrew her hand, smiling indifferently, "It only really hurt at the time, these past few days it’s almost better. Anyway, I’m not that concerned with appearances, it’s not a big deal."

Claire looked at her, "Trying to comfort me?"

"I don’t want you to feel guilty." Joy squinted, seriously looking at her as she said, "Actually that day, when I heard Miss Sutton say she knew you before, I guessed that you might have had a bit of a history with her, which was why you didn’t want to meet her, and arranged for me to go instead. Otherwise, with your personality, you would definitely have done it yourself."

Claire pressed her lips together, guilt flashing in her eyes, and said softly, "I’m sorry."

That day, she was originally supposed to go to Jade Sutton to get a signature. Unable to attend due to a case in court was one reason, but honestly, she was also somewhat averse to meeting Jade Sutton.

Discussing another time with Sean Lockwood probably wouldn’t have been a big deal either.

Yet, she chose to avoid, letting someone younger to bear the pain brought by Jade Sutton.

"I promise you, such a thing won’t happen again in the future."

As soon as Claire finished speaking, Joy hugged her lightly.

"I’m telling you these things not to get an apology from President Hale. I just want to tell you, I’m very willing to take over the tasks you don’t want to do."

Claire’s eyes felt warm.

She lightly knocked on Joy’s head, "Why are you so silly, empathizing with a capitalist like me."

"You’re not a capitalist." Joy pouted, "That Tristan Lockwood is the real capitalist! When I saw him in the hospital that day, I really wanted to curse him, having such a bizarre mistress, his eyes must be in his butt! What a waste of such a handsome face!"

Claire chuckled, "That sounds like something you picked up from Tina, completely uncivilized."

Joy blinked, "Why do you need civility to curse a scumbag?"

As Claire was about to joke about it some more, her phone suddenly buzzed with a few WeChat messages, and she swiped the screen to see a red number 3 at the corner of Tristan Lockwood’s avatar.

He sent her a picture, a bowl of very appetizing minced noodle dish.

Then came a line of text: [Kingsford specialty.]

Claire stared at the chat interface for a few seconds before slowly reacting. Tristan Lockwood seemed to be sharing his daily life with her.

The chat box showed that the other party was typing, and before she could reply, Tristan sent another message asking her: [Have you eaten?]

Quite an appropriate question.

Claire paused, her fair fingers typed two words: [I have.]

[You better really have eaten.] Tristan quickly replied to her, [Liars are supposed to swallow a thousand needles.]

Claire looked at the last line and couldn’t help but laugh softly.

"President Hale, what’s so funny?" Joy curiously leaned over to ask.

"Nothing." Claire put her phone away, her eyes smiling gently as she said, "Let’s go eat."

Until ten at night, Tristan sent Claire another message asking her: [Off work yet?]

At this moment, Claire was still in the office of the law firm, researching the divorce case Renee Lynn had entrusted her with involving Jared Jennings.

In this case, she had consulted plenty of materials back and forth, and even asked about Jared Jennings’ situation from Dylan Skinner’s side, but she still had no clue on where to start.

After all, Renee Lynn, a stay-at-home mother without a job, fighting for child custody against the prestigious Jared Jennings was truly challenging.

Seeing Tristan’s message, for a brief moment, Claire thought about asking him for help.

But that idea only lingered for a second before she herself dismissed it.

She replied to him: [I’m off work.]

Tristan immediately placed a voice call.

Claire was startled, instinctively clicking to hang up.

Tristan: [You don’t want to take my call?]

Claire, feeling a bit guilty for rejecting his call, replied: [I don’t.]

Tristan called again.

This time, she was prepared and answered it. The noise from over there suddenly came through, making her frown slightly.

Following that, she heard footsteps, likely Tristan searching for a quiet place. Until the commotion subsided, and she heard his clear and pleasant voice, "Not home yet?"