CHAPTER 55: CHAPTER 55: HONEY, I LOVE YOU

Seeing that Nathaniel Gallagher still doesn’t react.

Vivian Shaw’s breathing became rapid, and she grew a little bolder.

Her small hand hesitantly reached for his lower abdomen, while her small mouth nervously kissed his chin and cheeks...

Ever since her heart first stirred with love, she dreamed day and night of becoming his wife.

Unfortunately, he never gave her the chance.

"Uh uh~" Nathaniel, in a daze, felt a little strange.

It seemed like someone was gently touching his body.

But he was currently running a high fever, his head spinning. Coupled with overindulging the night before last, he simply couldn’t get excited now.

"Honey, my head hurts so much, I’m so uncomfortable..."

Nathaniel subconsciously thought it was Josephine Thompson, reaching out to grasp her small hand.

"Brother~, I love you, I want to be your wife."

Seeing that Nathaniel didn’t resist much, obviously mistaking her for Josephine Thompson.

Vivian Shaw’s heart raced, but she didn’t stop there.

She carefully lifted the blanket, undressed and slipped in.

"Brother... brother..."

She kissed his lips greedily.

Nathaniel’s body temperature was very high, and he was in a daze due to the fever.

Suddenly, it felt like there was warm, smooth jade laid on him.

He instinctively embraced Vivian, thinking it was Josephine.

"Honey, don’t leave me."

"Brother, I will never leave you." Vivian completely let go of her inhibitions, nervously pulling down his pants.

Nathaniel’s heart skipped a beat, faintly sensing something was amiss.

Josephine was conservative and shy, she would never be this forward.

The most proactive thing she ever did was a kiss on his cheek.

"Brother..."

Nathaniel’s brain exploded, and he suddenly opened his eyes.

He looked down at the person lying on him.

Boom!

Upon seeing it was Vivian Shaw, his expression froze, and he immediately pushed her away, "Why is it you? What are you doing?"

Vivian Shaw was startled, but she recklessly persisted, "Brother, I love you, please don’t reject me, okay?"

"I don’t want anything, I just want to be with you..."

She frantically finished speaking, then leaned in again to kiss him wildly.

"Brother, I know you like me, please don’t hold back anymore, okay? What’s so good about Josephine Thompson? She doesn’t appreciate you and doesn’t want to be with you, but you still have me!"

"Get out!"

Nathaniel stiffened and forcefully threw Vivian off the bed.

"Ah..." Vivian, completely bare, fell heavily to the ground.

"Brother... please don’t reject me..."

Nathaniel frowned deeply, his face dark and terrifying, "Shameless thing, get out now."

"..." Vivian shivered in fright, feeling utterly embarrassed.

"Still not getting out!" Nathaniel bellowed angrily again.

Vivian was both scared and ashamed, tears uncontrollably streaming down, "Brother, please don’t be mad, okay? I just love you too much, sob sob sob..."

"I don’t want anything, and I don’t demand any status, I just want to be with you!"

She finished speaking, then cried and wailed as she pounced to plead again.

Nathaniel, burning with rage, raised his hand and gave her a hard slap, "Smack!" A crisp sound echoed.

"...Truly a shameless thing, don’t let me see you again."

He never had those kinds of thoughts about Vivian Shaw.

He was kind to her, doted on her, only because she resembled her aunt.

Seeing her face, he would inexplicably soften!

"..." Vivian held her face, tears in her eyes, sat slumped on the ground.

Then, in a panic, she hastily put on her dress and ran crying out of the hospital room.

Just as she rushed out the door.

"Bang!" She bumped right into Mrs. Gallagher.

Mrs. Gallagher almost got knocked down, angrily scolded, "Hey, who is that! So rash, what are you doing?"

"Sorry, godmother." Vivian cried while apologizing and ran off covering her face.

It was only then Mrs. Gallagher saw it was Vivian, "Vivian, what’s wrong with you?"

Vivian didn’t stop, nor did she look back as she ran off.

Mrs. Dixon, seeing her daughter’s disheveled and ragged state, also felt a pang of unease, "What’s the matter with her?"

"Forget it, let’s go check on Nathaniel." Mrs. Gallagher said, pushing open the hospital room door.

Just entering, she saw Nathaniel pulling on his pants.

The blanket had fallen to the floor, the bed sheets were a mess.

"..." Mrs. Gallagher was stunned, staring in disbelief for half a minute.

Mrs. Dixon, seeing this, also instantly ’understood’.

It seemed her daughter had just been with President Gallagher.

That unruly girl!

"Mom, why are you here?"

"Nathaniel, you... you and Vivian..."

Nathaniel frowned deeply, looking impatient, "You’re overthinking, nothing happened."

"Oh oh~" Mrs. Gallagher and Mrs. Dixon exchanged a knowing glance.

"Feeling any better?"

"A bit better."

"That’s good, I’ll call the doctor to change your medication."

Mrs. Gallagher and Mrs. Dixon didn’t feel comfortable staying in the room anymore, quickly finding an excuse to leave.

Mrs. Dixon put on an expression of helplessness, but was really seeking an explanation for her daughter, "Madam, what do you think... what should we do about this?"

"Our Vivian is still a young maiden, we can’t just leave this unclear, can we?"

Mrs. Gallagher frowned in thought, "Sigh~, young people do get carried away, we can’t control them."

"Let’s just see, if Nathaniel and Vivian truly... fall for each other, we can only turn a blind eye. You know, Nathaniel has a family, the Gallagher family needs face, Vivian will have to endure."

"But don’t worry. Since it’s happened, I definitely won’t let Vivian suffer."

The implication was already very clear.

Vivian Shaw could be a mistress or a kept woman for Nathaniel Gallagher, and The Gallagher Family would offer material compensation. But if she wanted to enter the Gallagher Family and become the legitimate Mrs. Gallagher.

Don’t even think about it.

Mrs. Dixon heard this, and with a dry laugh said, "Uh~, Madam has watched Vivian grow up, of course she wouldn’t treat her unfairly..."

...

The next day.

Waterside Pavilion.

Josephine Thompson slept for a full day and night before finally waking up groggily.

After waking up, she lay in bed in a daze for a while.

At this point, except for minimizing losses, nothing else held any meaning.

If Nathaniel Gallagher was just seeking the thrill of an illicit affair and took a mistress after marriage.

Then she would look down on him from the bottom of her heart.

She would think he was rotten to the core, despicable, shallow, and disgusting.

But the situation now was completely different from what she imagined.

He was indeed guilty.

But he also had his reasons.

If he hadn’t lied to her to give birth to someone else’s child, she would gracefully withdraw from this relationship and wish him and his ex-girlfriend reconciliation.

Unfortunately, he had to go to the extreme.

In this lifetime, she could never forgive him.

"Forget it, no point thinking about it, thinking so much holds no meaning anymore."

"What I have to do now is quickly detach and extricate myself from this situation."

"I must not let rotten people and rotten matters continuously wrap my life."

Adjusting her mindset.

Josephine Thompson’s brain automatically blocked out everything related to Nathaniel Gallagher.

After getting up and washing up.

She had the servants prepare a lavish lunch.

After eating and drinking her fill, she gathered all the paints she found the previous days. Then, she drove to The Antiquarian Market.

...

Office.

Josephine Thompson entered the office and then instructed her assistant, "Ruby, Sophia, cancel all appointments and social events for the next half month. Don’t let anyone disturb me."

"Okay, President Thompson."

"Everyone out, don’t come in if there’s nothing important."

"Understood."

Afterward.

Josephine Thompson locked herself in the office.

For this half month, she planned to work in isolation. She intended to cut off all external distractions and focus intently on restoring the five artifacts sent by Professor Warren.

For her, restoring the ancient paintings was relatively simple.

So, she arranged the five artifacts in order from easy to difficult.

First, she would restore two ancient paintings, then the bronze tripod and the Western Ancient Dynasty painting, and finally the Plain Silk Robe.

After all, the Plain Silk Robe was the most complicated, and it would be impossible for her to complete it alone. She would need to find a non-heritage traditional embroidery artist to help her finish it.

...

In the blink of an eye.

A week passed.

Josephine Thompson’s phone was off, and no one could reach her.

She hadn’t stepped outside the office even once.

In those seven days,

she had restored both ancient paintings completely, which now looked authentically aged without any visible signs of repair.

Josephine Thompson was very satisfied with her work, feeling full of accomplishment, "Hmm~, this time the execution was quite good, I hope Professor Warren will be pleased."

"Next, I’ll restore the bronze tripod."

Having said that, she carefully examined the damages on the bronze tripod.

This artifact was different from typical bronze items.

The surface of the artifact was inscribed, but it had oxidized so heavily that the inscriptions were nearly invisible.

She needed to research extensively through various sources and delve into the life stories of the original owners to decipher and recreate the inscriptions on the bronze artifact.

"This is a major undertaking."

"Mm~, it will probably take at least two months to complete."

"Better start with finding information..."

...

Meanwhile.

Nathaniel Gallagher had been hospitalized for a week, and his condition was gradually improving.

During those seven days,

he contemplated many things, trying to devise a win-win solution.

Unfortunately...

Even after thinking for seven whole days, he still hadn’t come up with a perfect solution.

He couldn’t bear to give up his current marriage, nor could he bear to part ways with Josephine Thompson.

However, he also couldn’t let go of Eleanor Churchill, and he couldn’t bring himself to fail her or hurt her.

More than a decade ago, the Gallagher Family almost faced destruction.

His father was in poor health and had no energy to maintain The Gallagher Group’s prominence. At a very young age, he had to take on the heavy burden of the Gallagher Family.

But at that time, he was just a young lad of fifteen or sixteen, and who would take him seriously? Facing countless wolves eying to devour the Gallagher Family, he could only be fiercer and more ruthless.

In his most bewildered and helpless times, it was Eleanor Churchill who brought him light.

She advised him and cleared all obstacles opposing the Gallagher Family. One could say that half of the Gallagher Family’s empire was built by her.

In the end, when he was being hunted by enemies, she risked her life to save him.

In order to save him, she was slashed over thirty times.

He was saved, but she became a vegetative person.

So, in facing the overwhelming debt he owed her, he couldn’t turn his back on her.

As he was lost in thought,

Eleanor Churchill called.

"Do do do..."

Nathaniel Gallagher was stunned for a few seconds, adjusted his emotions, and answered, "Hello~, Eleanor."