I Was His Wife, Then His Widow, Then No One's But My Own novel Chapter 149

Nora turned her head and found Xander sitting in the armchair beside her bed. His arms were crossed over his chest, his eyes closed, but his tone was razor-sharp, completely lacking the grogginess of sleep.

He was still wearing the same dress shirt from last night, the bloodstains on his cuff now dried to a rusty brown.

Nora stared at him in disbelief. Had he really sat there the entire night without leaving? That was more shocking than discovering aliens existed.

She coughed lightly, her throat parched. "Mr. Harrison, why are you still here?"

Xander opened his eyes, ignoring her question as he leaned forward slightly, his tone flat. "Do you feel uncomfortable anywhere else? Does the wound hurt?"

Nora shook her head. "It doesn't hurt."

Of course it hurt. It was a massive gash held together by several stitches. Now that the anesthesia had worn off, her entire arm was throbbing with a brutal, burning ache.

But she figured there was no point in complaining to a man like him. He would probably just assume she was playing the victim to get something out of it, and she couldn't be bothered to defend herself.

Her gaze casually dropped downward, and she suddenly froze. The watch she had gifted him was actually strapped to his wrist.

The metallic face caught the cool morning light, the sleek band fastened perfectly over his prominent wrist bone.

How could an insanely paranoid man like Xander wear something from a dubious source?

Noticing her staring, Xander glanced down at his wrist, his tone as nonchalant as ever. "I sent it in for maintenance a while ago and just got it back today."

Nora looked surprised, but then slowly shook her head. Her voice was weak, but her tone was dead serious. "I saved Bonnie because I adore her, nothing else. Please don't misunderstand, Mr. Harrison. I don't want your funding. It makes it seem like I had ulterior motives."

Xander was visibly taken aback. He was offering an open checkbook, and she was turning it down?

In his world of business, every investment required a return. She risked her life for his daughter; he pumped money into her institute. It was a clean, perfectly balanced transaction.

But Nora clearly didn't want to clear the ledger. He leaned back into his chair, his eyes sweeping over her calculatingly as his voice dropped to a frosty register. "Then what exactly do you want, Ms. Newman?"

Nora pressed her lips together, her tone calm but unwavering. "I know you want to draw a clear line and avoid any entanglements with me. I drove you to the airport, so you immediately sent men to the Fletcher estate to back me up. I saved Bonnie, so you immediately throw funding at my workplace.