Chapter 51 Nora Reveals the Reason
Less than thirty minutes had passed when Isaac, under the guise of Steve, arrived at Nora's place with first aid supplies in hand.
Nora had fallen asleep on the living room couch while waiting.
Steve's eyes narrowed sharply at the sight of bloodstains on her, and a chill seemed to wash over him. Without a word or a gesture to wake her, he took a pair of scissors and carefully cut away her bloodied clothes.
The wound had reopened; even the stitches had come undone. It was beyond a simple home dressing now; she needed to be stitched up at a hospital.
He suppressed the surge of anger welling up inside him. How could she be so careless with her own well-being?
Pushing his frustration aside, he found a clean garment in her bedroom to dress her, then gently lifted her in his arms to take her to the hospital.
However, as he was lifting her, Nora's eyes fluttered open.
"Steve, you're back?" Her voice was soft and raspy, tinged with vulnerability that tugged at one's heart.
His voice dropped a notch as he replied, "I checked your wound. The stitches have come undone. I need to take you to the hospital to get it fixed."
"I don't want to go to the hospital," Nora protested, wrapping her arms around his neck and snuggling into his embrace. "Just stay with me; please don't make me go?"
As she spoke, her lips found his, delivering a tender kiss.
Steve furrowed his brows, tilting his head back slightly to avoid her advances.
"You're injured," he tried to remind her.
He stopped mid-sentence, noticing the tears that suddenly filled her eyes.
"What's wrong? Why are you crying all of a sudden?" Steve's voice was tense, betraying his bewilderment.
Through her tears, Nora looked up at him, her voice choked with emotion, "Don't take me to the hospital. Let's make love instead."
Steve was taken aback.
"You're still bleeding; it needs to be taken care of right away. Once you're better, I'll stay with you, I promise."
But Nora shook her head, adamant. "No, I want you now. Make love to me now."
She kissed him again, more insistently this time, her hands frantically tugging at his clothes.
Steve found himself breathing hard, his body temperature rising rapidly, his primal instincts starting to take over.
"Nora, stop this!"
Doing his best to fight the surge of desire, he set her back on the couch and grasped her hands to restrain her from further reckless movements.
With red-rimmed eyes, Nora glared at him angrily. "I've spent a fortune on you, and you still won't listen to me, even dare to reject my request. You're so unprofessional! Do you feel okay about earning that money?"
Steve's face turned ashen as he retorted, "Given your current state, what if I agree to your demand and you end up dead in bed? I don't want to end up in jail over this!"
Nora bit down hard on her teeth, defiantly asserting, "I'll write a waiver. If I die, it's on me, not you. You won't be held responsible."
Steve's mouth twitched fiercely.
He took a deep breath, trying to calm the rage building inside.
"What happened? Why are you in this state and refusing to go to the hospital, insisting instead on being with me?"
Swallowing her pride, Nora seethed, "My ex-husband humiliated me. He brought his mistress home and made sure they were loud enough to force me to listen from outside."
"So, you want to sleep with me just to spite your ex-husband?" Steve asked gravely.
Nora pursed her lips and fell silent.
But the answer was clear.
She just wanted to vent the bile in her heart.
Isaac had slept with Kalista, so she'd sleep with Steve.
She wanted to prove she wasn't lacking in male attention!
"What exactly went down between you and your ex? How did he humiliate you? And what about your injuries?" Steve probed.
Nora gave a bitter smile, her expression forlorn, "I tried to seduce him tonight, just like you suggested, in hopes of making him disgusted enough to throw me out. But things didn't go as planned. Not only did he not kick me out, he almost got intimate with me. To stop him, I deliberately called out another man's name. That's when he started throwing humiliating insults at me. He said that he almost fell for it because he saw me as some other woman. Not long ago, his grandfather drugged us, and we ended up together. He claimed that night he also mistook me for someone else, which was why he touched me in the first place. He even said that when he realized it was me the next morning, he felt so disgusted he couldn't eat all day."
Nora's heart seemed to tear open again as she recounted these humiliations, her pain palpable.
Covering her mouth, she broke down sobbing, tears streaming uncontrollably.
Steve's face was stormy.
Did Nora actually feel wronged?
Beneath him, she called out Mortimer's name, not his – wasn't he the one who should feel angry and aggrieved?
What right did she have to feel wronged?
Even if her ex had insulted her, it was still her fault!
Steve took a deep breath, suppressing his anger and attempting to see himself as a mere observer.
"Why would you call out another man's name? Don't you realize how humiliating it is for a man when you invoke someone else's name during an intimate moment?"
Nora's voice was tinged with bitterness. "I wanted to stop him. I didn't want to be with him."
"Why not?" Steve pressed.
"I heard him say to his grandfather, the morning after they drugged us, that he was disgusted by me," Nora confided.
"The very next day, he brought another woman he fancied back to the same room, the same bed we once shared. He slept with her there, aiming to erase my scent and the unwelcome memories of our past. He went as far as telling her that being intimate with me made him feel sick. That night he spent with me was just to shame me, to make it abundantly clear that I was perceived as promiscuous. I didn't want to endure that humiliation again, which is precisely why I resisted sleeping with him and intentionally called out another man's name. I knew that would put an end to it."
Holding back her pain, Nora laid bare her heart to Steve.
Perhaps it was the lack of someone to confide in and the strong sense of dependence Steve gave her that led her to reveal everything.
Steve's pupils contracted sharply, a cold glint flashing in his eyes.
Some of those words were the ones he had said to Kalista.
How could Nora know about them?
The answer was painfully clear!
Only Kalista could have told Nora. There was no other explanation.
At that moment, Nora took out her phone and started playing a voice recording.
"The moment she betrayed me four years ago, I was done with her. All I feel for her is disgust, nothing else! The only reason I slept with her the other night was to humiliate her, to make her realize that she's a woman of loose morals—anyone can have her, regardless of who they are or their status!"
A self-mocking smile formed on Nora's lips as tears streamed down her face.
"Listen, these are his exact words. This is how he shamed me in front of another woman. If I slept with him again, that would only confirm what he thinks of me—that I'm lascivious, and he would only despise me more, continuing to shame me in front of that woman."
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