Chapter 600: Reaching a Hand Under Her Covers

"You are..." Christian Sawyer looked at the man, finding him somewhat familiar, as if they had met somewhere before.

Christian suddenly remembered. "He was at Yara Scott’s wedding last time. He’s your friend, right? Hello, hello. We’ve met before."

Miles Mercer, however, appeared extremely aloof. He simply turned to look at Nina Scott.

"A friend?" Nina thought. "True, I suppose I didn’t properly introduce him to Christian last time." She playfully swatted Miles’s arm. "Pudgy Sawyer is trying to shake your hand. What’s with the cold shoulder?"

"She and I are not friends," Miles stated.

Nina was taken aback. What did Miles mean by that? Even if their everyday relationship was a bit mundane, they weren’t exactly strangers. Were they not even considered friends?

"Hey, don’t embarrass me in front of other people," Nina leaned in and whispered.

Instead of complying, Miles pulled her forward, resting his hand squarely on her shoulder. "Why don’t you reintroduce us? Tell him what our relationship actually is."

Nina was left speechless. Did they even have a relationship to speak of? What was Miles playing at? Plus, she couldn’t shake the feeling that he seemed quite displeased.

She offered an awkward smile. "My friend here just isn’t quite right in the head sometimes. He is just a friend."

"Give me your bag," Miles said, holding his hand out to her.

Nina looked at him in confusion. "What do you want my bag for?" Despite her question, she handed her purse over. There wasn’t much inside anyway.

Miles rummaged through it, pulled out a piece of paper, and unfolded it right in front of Christian. "I won’t bother explaining. See for yourself."

When Christian saw the contents of the paper, his expression froze. He stared at Nina in disbelief. "You two... Nina, you’re married?"

"I... Yes!" Nina hadn’t expected Miles to whip out a photocopy of their marriage certificate.

Back then, for convenience’s sake, she had made several copies. When the Scott family came looking for trouble, she had passed them out one by one. She had casually tossed a leftover copy into her bag, completely forgetting about it until Miles dug it out. Besides, it wasn’t as if Miles enjoyed making their relationship public. So what was this all about?

"When did you get married? Why didn’t you mention it last time?" Christian asked.

"I was just trying to keep a low profile. I haven’t had the chance to tell you," Nina explained.

Christian glanced at Nina and Miles’s hands. "Then why don’t you have wedding rings?" Last time they had claimed to be just friends, and now they were suddenly married?

Nina thought for a moment before replying, "Well, we haven’t held the wedding ceremony yet. We’ll make up for it then."

Miles chimed in at exactly that moment, "We’ll send you an invitation when the time comes."

Christian was rendered speechless.

"If there’s nothing else, Pudgy, I’ll be heading back now. Be careful on your way home." Nina wanted to say something more, but Miles was already dragging her away. Before they left, he even reached out and snatched the photocopy right back out of Christian’s hands.

Christian stood there stunned. Everyone was getting married one by one. Even Nina was married now!

Miles pulled Nina into the car and took the driver’s seat.

"Why did you suddenly take that out just now?" Nina asked.

"What’s wrong?" Miles replied. "Are you afraid of him knowing about our relationship?"

"So what if he knows? Why would I be afraid?" Nina didn’t actually care about that; she was just worried about causing trouble for Miles. She merely found his behavior odd. He still seemed to be in a bad mood for some reason. "You still haven’t told me, how did you know I was here?"

Miles’s throat felt a bit uncomfortable. Perhaps he was coming down with a cold. He coughed lightly, then answered, "Just passing by."

"What a coincidence. You just happened to be passing by here?"

"Mhm." Miles nodded, omitting the fact that Quentin Blackwood had tipped him off.

Nina didn’t buy it for a second, but she didn’t overthink it either. "Why don’t you just drop me off at my place?" After what happened last night, she felt too embarrassed to sleep in the same room as Miles again.

"No. What if your mother is still staking out your place?"

"I can handle her," Nina said.

"And if she gets physical? Are you going to hit her back?"

"I... Surely she won’t be staking me out every single day, right?"

Miles said nothing more and simply drove the car back to the Mercer villa. Along the way, Nina occasionally heard him coughing.

"COUGH, COUGH!" Miles really did seem to have caught a cold.

"What’s wrong? Are you feeling unwell?" Nina reached out and touched his forehead. Her own body temperature was normal, but Miles’s forehead felt a little cool. Or perhaps it was just because they had been outside, making it hard for her to tell.

"I’m fine." He had likely just caught a bit of a chill last night.

"Do we have any medicine at home?"

Miles wasn’t entirely sure either.

"Wait for me here a second," Nina said. With that, she sprinted out of the residential complex. A short while later, she returned holding a box of cold medicine. "Let’s go inside. I’ll brew a cup for you."

Miles and Nina entered the Mercer villa together. After mixing the cold medicine with hot water, Nina handed it to Miles. "Hurry up and drink it."

Miles took the cup and drank the medicine. Soon after, he retreated into his room. Not long after that, he called Nina inside.

"What is it?" Nina had no idea what he wanted. Upon entering, she noticed Miles acting hesitant and awkward, as if he had something on the tip of his tongue. "If you have something to say, just say it," she prompted.

"Hold out your hand."

Nina extended her arm and opened her palm. "Why? What are you going to give me?"

Seeing Nina’s bewildered expression, Miles kept the ring hidden behind his back, completely at a loss for how to present it. "Forget it. It’s nothing."

Nina stared at him. How could he just say ’forget it’? Why was Miles acting so weird today? What on earth was he trying to do?

However, Miles abruptly turned and walked out, hiding his flushed-red face from her view. He simply couldn’t muster the courage. Knowing Nina’s temperament, what if she rejected it? He would have to come up with another plan.

When it was time for bed, Nina laid down first. She hadn’t slept much the previous night and was feeling quite drowsy. But it was already ten o’clock. Was Miles not coming to bed?

Nina couldn’t figure out his intentions. Midnight rolled around, and he still hadn’t appeared. Had he gone to sleep in another room? He probably thought last night was far too awkward, too.

As Nina lay there letting her imagination run wild, the bedroom door suddenly clicked open. She hurriedly squeezed her eyes shut and feigned sleep. Miles sneaked into the room stealthily. He looked toward the bed, unsure if Nina was already asleep.

He couldn’t hold back a soft cough and immediately froze. Seeing that Nina showed no signs of waking, he continued to approach with light, cautious steps.

Nina was buried under the covers with only her head exposed, her hands tucked safely inside. Miles walked over, dropped to one knee beside the bed, and gently lifted a corner of the blanket, reaching out to touch her hand.

Beneath her facade of slumber, Nina was panicking. What was Miles doing? Why was he lifting her blanket? And why was he trying to touch her?