Husband With Benefits
Chapter 148: The Misunderstanding

Chapter 148: The Misunderstanding

"Grandpa has told me everything." As the words seemed to almost echo in the room, Nora looked up at Demetri and Demetri stared back at her, the silence charged with tension.

Carefully, Demetri straightened and stepped away from her. He looked down at the bags that were tightly clenched in her hands and slowly took them from her hands. Instead of saying anything or even trying to explain himself, Demetri turned and started to spread out the food on the table.

Seeing his calm expression and his unshaken silence, Nora could not help but frown," Are you not going to say anything? Grandpa William has told me about Nellie! How can you be calm after knowing that I know the truth? Are you not going to even explain yourself?"

Demetri looked up from the food on the table and carefully plated the food, handing her the sandwich as he nodded," You can ask anything you want to know, Nora."

Nora looked up at him, stumped. Did he really have to be so calm all the time? Why could he not simply explain everything instead of telling her to question him. Where was she supposed to begin?"

"Did you really know Nellie? You met Grandpa William because of her?"

Demetri sat opposite Nora feeling perplexed himself. Shouldn’t she be asking him what had happened to Nellie? Why did he not tell her, etc.

But instead, he simply gave her the answer to her question," Yes."

Nora bit her lip as she considered his direct answer and looked at the sandwich in her hand," Is that why you married me and have been kind to me? Because of Nellie?"

Demetri took a bite of the sandwich that she had brought and cocked his head, staring at Nora quietly. Taking his own time, he answered, "No."

Nora blinked up at that, waiting for him to explain. She had already braced herself for an affirmative answer and this shocked her for a moment.

"What do you mean ’no’?" She asked hesitantly.

"I did not marry you because of Nellie and my actions toward you have nothing to do with her."

"Oh."

Nora paused and looked at him consideringly, at a loss on how to go further. The truth was that she had expected him to answer with a yes. She had not for a moment doubted that he would simply agree that he had been nice to her all this time because he was in love with Nellie...

"Eat your sandwich, Nora." She heard him say calmly and she simply followed his quiet command. However, the sandwich tasted like dust to her as she tried to come to terms with everything.

"I need to know everything, Demetri. Do you still love Nellie?"

Demetri paused and looked up at her when he heard the question. It seemed the old man had really not told her everything..." The man that loved Nellie? Yes, he still loves her."

Nora frowned at the answer. Why not answer her directly? What kind of an answer was this...

But before she could question him, he asked her," Why don’t you ask me how she died, Nora? I am not sure that William Doughby has told you anything about that."

"She died in an accident, didn’t she?" Nora asked with confusion.

But Demetri shook his head and answered," That is what I thought all this while as well. That her death was the result of an accident. After all, she’d been in an argument before everything happened, so she had probably been agitated. But after I saw how vicious Lara Anderson has been to you, I was forced to re-investigate the past."

No one could have said that Nora was not clever. It was only a few words and she instantly understood his words and whispered the question," You mean it was murder?"

"For now, that is what it seems like."

"Oh." Nora silently continued to eat the sandwich in her hand, while Demetri stared at her. The girl was in shock.

Putting aside the sandwich in his hand, he stood up and walked to her. Gently, he cupped her face and tilted her chin, looking into her hazy eyes. "Stand up." As she did what he said, he nudged her aside, sat down on the couch and pulled her into his lap.

She resisted for a moment, something she had not done in the past but soon settled as he firmly held her waist. Taking her in his arms, he gently tucked her head under his chin and rubbed her back," I never told you about Nellie because I wanted you to not be hurt. In the short time that we have known each other, I have seen you dealing with so many things, suffer so much and yet stay strong, I hoped to protect you a little longer from the pain, kitten."

"There are still many things that you do not know..." Nora looked up at him, wanting to know more, but he simply shook his head," There are still things you do not know. But with time, you will know everything. Until then, I only ask one thing of you, Nora. Trust me. You are important to me."

"Because of Nellie?"

"No. Because of you. Your sister has nothing to do with how I feel about you."

"But you loved her..."

"The past is the past, Nora. Nellie is already gone. Don’t let the ghost of the past make you doubt the present."

Nora sighed and leaned against him, unsure if she did trust him or not. But she did not argue as she closed her eyes and tried to calm herself.

On the other hand, Demetri closed his own eyes and wondered how he was so reluctant to tell her the truth. But of course, he knew the reason why he was fooling himself. He did not want her to know that the fight before the accident had happened between him and Erasmi had been because of Nellie. The girl was not someone who deserved to be put on a pedestal.

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