Chapter 404 An Opportunity
The dining room kept reverberating with cheerful laughter as the three enjoyed a very homely dinner.
When they finished having dinner afterward, Tessa played with Gregory for a while in the garden before taking the little boy to wash up and sleep. After he fell asleep, she quietly left the room and then turned around to go to the study. “Nicholas, I’m coming in.” She knocked on the door and entered, only to see Nicholas sitting at his desk; he looked very attractive in his black bathrobe with a large part of his chest bare.
Nicholas’ stony features softened the instant he saw her. “Gregory’s asleep?”
“Yeah, he’s asleep.” Tessa came to her senses and nodded. Then, recalling her purpose for coming here, she went up to Nicholas with a serious look on her face. “You’d better fess up. What actually happened? Why the sudden decision to settle down here?”
Seeing the lady’s unusually serious expression in the brightly lit study, Nicholas curled his lips into a faint smile. He confessed, “It’s nothing, actually. It’s just that I resigned from my position as the Sawyer Group’s president.”
“You resigned from your position as president?” Tessa was taken aback. She asked with a look of disbelief, “Why? Did your family agree to it?”
“Even if they don’t agree to it, it doesn’t matter. I’m gone now,” Nicholas said while pulling Tessa into his arms. Then, he joked, “You’re probably gonna have to support Greg and me from now on.”
“Oh, with pleasure,” Tessa replied while hugging Nicholas back around the neck. Still, she couldn’t get Nicholas’ departure from home out of her mind. She asked, “Am I the reason you left?”
Nicholas looked at Tessa with deep, fathomless eyes. He couldn’t help but chuckle, saying, “I suddenly realize that it’s not good for my lady to be too clever.”
Tessa frowned. Just then, Nicholas’ deep voice rang in her ear again. “Don’t overthink it. I left to teach Grandpa a lesson. His desire for control has grown over the years, and the only way to deal with him is to give an eye for an eye.”
“Still, it’s all because of me.” Tessa’s spirits drooped all at once with guilt. “Seems like your family really dislikes me very much.”
Nicholas’ heart ached somewhat when he heard the lady’s deep, depressed voice. He adjusted her sitting position to have her sit facing him. Then, cupping her little face with both hands, he comforted her in a tender voice, saying, “Like I said, don’t overthink it. This has nothing to do with you. Even if you were out of the picture, Grandpa and my parents would still force me into marrying the person they wanted me to marry.”
Tessa felt sorry for Nicholas upon hearing this. “Why do they have to do this? Don’t they take your wishes into consideration at all?”
“To them, I’m the Sawyer Group’s heir, so I have to prioritize the Sawyer Group above everything else. That’s why they’ve had my life planned out since I was little,” Nicholas explained as a hint of mockery appeared in his dark eyes. “But as I grew up, I disliked their arrangements more and more. After pitting my wits against them all these years, I’ve gotten increasingly sick of such a life. I’ve been wanting to do this since the past few years, but the opportunity never presented itself. Now’s the right time to do it, and I can take this opportunity to rest for a while.”
Tessa’s inner guilt lessened somewhat when she listened to Nicholas’ explanation and learned that her presence was just an opportunity. Still, her heart ached at the stress he had been under over these years. In a rare display of initiative, she leaned forward and planted a kiss on his warm lips. She comforted him, saying, “In that case, you may have a good rest here these days. Let’s not think about those depressing things.”
Nicholas’ deep eyes darkened at the soft and brief touch on his lips, and he stared fixedly at Tessa’s pink and tender lips.
The man’s gaze was so intense that Tessa couldn’t ignore it. A delicate glow slowly spread over her cheeks, making her look very sweet and charming as a lovely pinkness showed through her fair skin.
The couple’s heads drew closer to each other under the light as their warm, damp breaths mingled in the air. The moment their lips met, the longing that they had been suppressing all this while was unleashed, and the air in the study started to heat up.
