Chapter 258: Nathan Fawcett Is Jealous
Nathan Fawcett sat to the side. Seeing Anne Sutton and Justin Shields so engrossed in their food, he didn’t dare start eating. Instead, he picked up the menu and ordered different dishes.
Justin Shields watched Nathan Fawcett and said, "So Ethan really can’t handle spicy food! No wonder Anne always had to compromise when she was with you."
"She told you she had to compromise when she was with me?" Nathan Fawcett gave Justin Shields a suspicious look, suspecting he was trying to drive a wedge between them.
He turned to Anne Sutton and asked, "Did you have to compromise when we were together?"
Anne Sutton nodded. "I did."
Nathan Fawcett: "..."
’It was one thing for a guy like Justin Shields to have ulterior motives!’
’But he never expected Anne Sutton to do it, too...’
’Doesn’t she feel guilty saying that about me?’
Nathan Fawcett said, "Fine, then tell me. In what way did you have to compromise? Say it. I’m listening. I’ll see if I can change."
"Don’t bother," Anne Sutton said. "You can’t change."
"Who says I can’t change?" Nathan Fawcett retorted. "What is there about me that I can’t change?"
’He’d even managed to go from being Nathan Fawcett to Ethan Linden, so what couldn’t he change?’
’He refused to believe such nonsense.’
Anne Sutton said, "Then have a bite."
She glanced at the spicy dishes in front of her.
Nathan Fawcett: "..."
’That’s one thing he really couldn’t change!’
’He’d had poor health since childhood, so he never really ate spicy food.’
’For him, eating spicy food was practically a death sentence!’
Anne Sutton said, "See? Some things can’t be changed. Anyone living with you has no choice but to accommodate you, right?"
’That was just the kind of person he was!’
’Anne Sutton had never expected him to change anyway.’
Nathan Fawcett looked from Anne Sutton to Justin Shields, feeling utterly stifled.
’Are they trying to say Justin Shields is a better match for her than I am?’
’Looks like those two are getting closer and closer!’
’He wondered what had happened while he was away.’
But right now, Nathan Fawcett felt like he’d been cast aside.
’He suddenly realized the only advantage he ever had with Anne Sutton was their marriage certificate.’
’Now that the marriage certificate was gone, replaced by divorce papers, she was completely unrestrained. She no longer showed him any respect and couldn’t care less about him!’
’In the end, he just wasn’t worthy!’
’She didn’t like him one bit!’
Nathan Fawcett found himself feeling a little sad.
’It felt as if his one and only advantage with Anne Sutton was gone!’
His dishes arrived quickly, but he barely ate.
He didn’t have much of an appetite to begin with.
He was a picky eater, so it was perfectly normal for him to not feel like eating.
Ian noticed that Nathan Fawcett had eaten very little—so little that even Ian, who had been eating from the start, wasn’t full yet.
"Aren’t you eating anymore, Dad?"
Nathan Fawcett said, "I’m done. It’s terrible."
He was deliberately trying to undermine Justin Shields.
Justin Shields said, "This place isn’t for you. It was picked for Anne’s tastes. If you want to come back next time, Anne, we can come again! If Ethan can’t come with you, I will."
Anne Sutton glanced at him and nodded. "Okay."
Nathan Fawcett sat there watching Justin Shields, so angry he felt like storming out.
’But then he thought, if I leave, won’t I just be letting that guy Justin Shields have his way?’
He stayed put, his jealousy alone fueling his determination to stick it out until the end.
After dinner, Anne Sutton went to pay the bill. They had agreed she owed Justin Shields a favor, so taking him to a movie and treating him to dinner was her way of repaying it.
But when she went to pay, she discovered that Justin Shields had already taken care of it.
Anne Sutton looked at him. "I thought we agreed I was treating."
"Didn’t you already pay for the movie?"
Anne Sutton said, "That doesn’t compare to you helping me find a house."
Even a real estate agent would have charged a commission of several thousand dollars, but Justin Shields hadn’t taken any money at all.
Anne Sutton didn’t want to be indebted to him.
Justin Shields said, "Then how about next time?"
"..." Anne Sutton stared at him, realizing he was quite the schemer. "So if I invite you out next time, you’ll just pay in advance again? Does that mean I’ll never be able to repay you?"
The corners of Justin Shields’s lips lifted. "Then you can just take a lifetime to repay me."
Anne Sutton was at a loss for words, staring at the man before her.
She wasn’t used to him saying things like that, and it made her uncomfortable.
Justin Shields said gently, "If there’s anything I’m doing that makes you uncomfortable, you can tell me. You’re just not used to it yet, and you’re still not over your relationship with Nathan Fawcett. But I believe in you, and I can wait for you to move on. I’m patient."
He was very patient with her.
Anne Sutton said, "I’m just a woman with nothing to my name, except for my child."
During those years with Nathan Fawcett, those years she spent living like a widow, nearly all of Anne Sutton’s expectations for life had been ground away.
So, when faced with Justin Shields’s advances, she really didn’t know what to do.
She felt no impulse to develop things further with him, either.
Justin Shields said, "All that matters to me is that you’re wonderful."
Nathan Fawcett stood off to the side with Ian, who looked up at him and said, "Dad, Uncle Shields is going to snatch Mom away!"
Hearing this, Nathan Fawcett glared at him. "Then why don’t you go get her? We’re leaving! Or we can just let her be with Uncle Shields and leave without her!"
"We can’t do that!" Ian said. "A gentleman must learn how to wait."
"Who taught you to talk like that?"
"Uncle Shields did."
"..."
Nathan Fawcett had the sudden urge to start cursing.
But he managed to hold it in.
When Anne Sutton finished talking with Justin Shields, she said, "I have to go now."
Justin Shields said, "Okay. I’ll call you when I find another good place to eat."
His voice was very gentle.
Anne Sutton heard him but didn’t say anything, walking over to Ian instead.
Nathan Fawcett was standing right beside Ian.
Seeing that she had finally finished her conversation with Justin Shields, his face was positively thunderous.
Seeing his dark expression, Anne Sutton knew he was unhappy again.
’This man’s temper had always been like this.’
’After spending so much time with him, Anne Sutton knew that the second his face darkened, he was upset again.’
’But now that they were divorced, Anne Sutton was no longer afraid of him!’
’He could be as moody as he wanted; she couldn’t care less.’
She walked over, glanced at Ian, and said, "Come on, let’s go home."
Then she took Ian’s hand and started walking out.
Nathan Fawcett followed behind the mother and son without a word.
Once they were in the elevator, Nathan Fawcett looked at her and said, "You seem to be getting along well with Justin Shields."
Anne Sutton said, "I can’t stay hung up on one person forever. We’re divorced. You have no right to control me, Mr. Fawcett."
’I wonder who it was that insisted on coming, only to show up so late!’
’He has some nerve talking!’
’I shouldn’t have even bought him a ticket.’
’Anne Sutton thought she was being strange, too.’
’So what if he didn’t come? Why was she so angry about it?’
’She hadn’t even been able to focus on the movie, just kept wondering when he would show up.’
Nathan Fawcett said, "I just had something come up at the office this afternoon."
"If you were busy, why did you have me buy you a ticket?" Anne Sutton turned and shot him a glare.
Ian nodded from the side. "Yeah!"
He was on Anne Sutton’s side!
Nathan Fawcett stared at his son as if he were a little traitor. "That’s enough out of you!"