Divorce To Restart: Vengeful Ex-Wife Strikes Back!

Chapter 57 Gossip Mill

NINA’S HOME, NEW YORK. Carla observed Nina’s every move. She was surprised when Nina returned home and headed straight to her room again, which she had been doing for some days. Every time she takes dinner to Nina, she hears quiet sobs from inside. It had put Carla on the edge for a while, worried that something terrible might happen. Morning came, and Nina was awake at the usual time. However, Carla didn’t fail to notice the stressed lines on her face. She exhaled slowly and walked towards the dining with the food bowl in her hand. “Good morning, Miss Nina. How are you doing today?” She asked, holding up her motherly smile. Nina’s voice sounded coarse as she spoke. “Fine, thank you.” Carla didn’t believe a word she said. The woman sat opposite her with a concerned look on her face. “I know you were crying last night. I didn’t mean to evade your privacy, but I had brought you food when I heard you sobbing, and from the look of things, you didn’t eat last night. Did something happen at work?” Nina blinked as she stared at the woman who had been more like a guardian to her since she started living in the house. “Can I ask you something, Carla? Will you answer me sincerely?” She nodded. “Yes, of course. I am too old to be hiding my feelings. No one will rebuke me for it.” A weak smile tugged at her lips. “Do you think I am leeching off Xander?” Carla didn’t respond as quickly as Nina had expected, causing her to wave her hand in dismissal. “It’s alright, you don’t have to answer. I guess the answer is right in front of me.” “That is not the case.” Carla defended her silence. “Of course it is; they have all been talking. Maybe my neediness prevented me from seeing it, but now I do. It is why Xander is probably tired of me.” She wasn’t able to hide the hint of sadness in her tone. It was clear she might cry again. “No, whatever false narration is said to make you ask that question is wrong. And I am not saying this to appease you. I have seen how hard you work, Nina. You push yourself every day despite the delicate state you are in. I need you to know that Xander never keeps an irrelevant relationship. You are worthy of attention and respect. Take it; you have indeed earned it. I don’t know what happened. But never let anyone get to you. Everything that has happened in your life is all to make you stronger. You can’t back down now.” Tears lingered in her eyes heavily. “My heart can’t take it. I would collapse at this point.” She clasped her shaky hands together. “You won’t be collapsing under my watch. I will make sure you are well taken care of before and after you have put to bed. Just make sure to put your mind at rest.” She mused, patting her hand gently. Nina sniffed. “I should head to work now.” Carla got up and reached for the lunch box. “Yes, you should. Here is a box of varieties. I figured you might crave different things. So have fun choosing.” Her eyes laced heavily again as she hugged Carla tightly while blaming it on the hormones. “Thank you.” She uttered in a whisper. “You are most welcome,” Carla said. After Nina left, Carla returned to the house and picked up her phone to dial a number-the line connected on the second ring. “Hey, baby. Do you miss me?” Came the voice on the other end. Carla rolled her eyes. “Where are you?” “On my way to work.” “Come by the house; I need to talk to you.” “Is there something to eat?” She chuckled. “I must feed your belly, so I made toast and eggs.” “Alright, I will be there.” Just as promised, Jace, whom Carla had called, arrived fifteen minutes after the call. Carla already set the table, and the first thing he did was eat before they got talking. “How is Xander?” Carla asked as she carried the plate off to the kitchen. Jace followed suit. “He is fine. It’s been a while since I saw you. How are you doing?” “I am fine, and you would have known sooner how I was doing if you had tried to come by occasionally.” He embraced her from behind. “I am sorry. You know I love you.” She slapped his hand off. “I know you don’t mean it. Since you must return to work, I will go straight to the point.” Jace folded his arms, looking severe all at once. “What is going on?” “You see, since Xander traveled, Nina hasn’t been much of herself. It’s almost as if something is wrong. She does not answer Xander’s calls, and being too busy at work worries me. She shouldn’t be overworking herself or skipping meals for someone in her condition.” “She is skipping meals?” He inquired with his eyes bulging out of their sockets. “It was just last night. All the same, I am very confident that something is happening at the company that she isn’t saying, and I need you to find out.” “What if nothing is going on?” “Then we would know it’s just her pregnancy hormones at work. But I do not think that is the case with Nina. She is too much of a strong-willed person to break down when nothing is going on.” Jace thought for a brief second. “Truth is, Xander keeps calling every time to ask if something is happening that I am unaware of. I was at a conference yesterday and couldn’t check to see if anything happened. Since you have drawn my attention to it, I will check and get back to you.” Carla nodded. “Please do. It will be well appreciated.” “Xander will have my head if he learns something went wrong, and I was unaware. I should get going now. I have a meeting with my team. I will call you if I need anything.” “Okay, baby. Have a nice day.” She smiled, waving at him. Jace got into his car and turned on the ignition. He inhaled deeply when Xander’s pestering message came in again. He sucked his teeth. Xander hardly presses anyone’s neck for anything, not even him. He misses the time when he was the one pestering. Driving faster, he made up his mind to figure out what the hell was happening. ***************Nôvel/Dr(a)ma.Org - Content owner.

X&J EMPIRE, NEW YORK. “Well, well, what do we have here?” Dawn drawled in mockery when she saw Nina in the car park, rummaging through her bag to take something. Nina glanced up and groaned inwardly. “Good morning, Miss Baker.” She mumbled and locked the car, making her way towards the elevator. But Dawn isn’t finished with her yet. She seems to enjoy seeing the stressed lines on Nina’s face and everything going on in the company. She must be having a hard time. “How is work?” She questioned, raising her voice. Pausing in her tracks, Nina turned to her. Even if she was the dumbest person ever to live, she could still hear the taunt in Dawn’s voice. “Not so bad, thank you.” She replied stiffly. “You do know there is no need to stick around if the job is weighing on you.” “I am most surprised by this concern of yours, Miss Baker. Thank you still. I love my job, and you don’t have to worry about finding someone as competent as I am. I am not going anywhere. Be rest assured.” Nina smiled as politely as she could and hastened her steps this time to avoid Dawn saying more. She could almost feel the fury emitting from Dawn’s pores behind her. A glimpse at the redness on her face would have made her day even though the micro management of the budget is shattering Nina’s back, which must have been Dawn’s initial intention. She plans to scale through victorious and not let herself drown in the hate. “Isn’t that the side chick?” A hushed whisper came from behind as Nina stepped into the lobby. Her heart skipped for a second. “Of course she is. Very shameless, I must say. How is she strolling about with no remorse?” Another asked. For a moment, Nina had forgotten she had more than just a budget-slash problem in her pouch. Every day is becoming quite disturbing. Nervousness nudged at the tail of her heart. Still hearing the snide whispers, she almost lost her footing. A strong arm wrapped around her, holding her steady as if on cue. “Hey, beautiful,” Jace whispered in her ear with a broad smile. Nina has never been so delighted to have Jace around until this moment. She smiled weakly. “Hi. How are you doing?” “Great. How about you?” He asked, letting her go subtly. She nodded in response, and her body had become calmer. “I am okay.” “Are you sure?” He asked, noticing the bag under her eyes. Nina laughed awkwardly and stared down at her belly. “Of course, this will always warrant the question, but I am okay, thank you.” “Alright. I will see you around then.” He said, waving her off. Jace didn’t fail to notice the breath of relief Nina had let out as she hurried off. He bit down on his lips and looked sternly at the gossiping women. Jace quickly noticed Nina when the ladies were talking as he passed by. Smacking his lips, he headed towards the customer service department. He paused halfway and went outside instead of making the short trip to the cafeteria opposite the company to get some sandwiches and smoothies. Grinning to himself, he opened the door to the office, glancing around quickly for Marilyn. His smile widened when their eyes met. He raised the package in his hands and nodded towards the break room. Her eyes widened in delight, and he knew he had hit the jackpot. Marilyn is the best way to find out grassroots gossip in X&J. Jace befriended her when he first resumed the company after college to hear any snide remarks the staff might be making about him. Some even accused Xander of nepotism since he is known as the CEO’s brother. Jace had made it a mission to make them eat their words by excelling at his job. It felt good to see them all cower now whenever he walked by. He knows that if anything happens in the company’s gossip realm, Marilyn will know what it is. “Oh, it is a pleasure to have his highness around.” Marilyn teased, snooping around the package he brought for her Jace held up a flirty smile; her face made a part of him tingle. He no doubt enjoys staring at her beautiful features, with her red hair complimenting it. A bedroom relationship never seemed to be in the works for them, even though Marilyn had shown interest many times. Jace can’t see himself extending such a hand. “You are welcome.” He snickered in response. “Hmmn, this is good.” She moaned after taking a bite of the sandwich. “So what do you want?” She asked, driving straight to the point. “I just want to know what is going on in the company. Is there any new gossip?” Marilyn giggled. “I have forgotten how much you enjoy the gossip drain. Well, it’s about the new branch of the company head researcher. I think her name is Nina.” She suddenly reduced her voice. “Rumor has it that she is trying to pin the pregnancy on the big boss, and she might be sleeping with him to get high praise.” “Those-” Jace wanted to curse, but he bit down on his tongue. “Alright. Do you know those who started the gossip?” She cackled. “I have no idea. I just got added to the group page, and there have been several angles of hot sizzling gist since then.” “Is there a way I can get added to the group?” “Sure, I will send the group link to you. It’s the least you deserve for buying me something.” She winked. Jace thanked her profusely after she sent the link. He couldn’t believe the number of messages that popped in as soon as he joined. It made him wonder if any of them were doing their jobs. He checked the group admin and had no idea who they might be. People wrote many awful, heart-wrenching comments about Nina. One would think they have a personal vendetta against her. It made him mad, and he wished he could get to know the culprit and have their sack letters handed over to them immediately. He can’t stop thinking that someone familiar might be involved because no one knows the relationship between Xander and Nina. He has to do something and inform Xander, too. But first, he has to report back to Carla.