Lady Warrior's Warth on Divorce Day novel Chapter 139

Chapter 139

The reporters asked questions one after another, “Ms. Ingram, can you share what was going through your

mind back then?”

“We heard it was the son of your late colleague who kidnapped you. Do you think you’ll ever be able to forgive him for the kidnapping?”

“Is Cloud Airlines going to let you go because of everything that’s happened?”

“Word is, Austeville’s authorities and the Fire Commission are investigating you for not stepping in to save your colleague. If your title of the Firefighting Hero gets stripped, will you accept it or fight back?”

The questions hit Jasmine like thunderclaps, each camera and lens locking right onto her.

She awkwardly threw her hands up, desperate to block the cameras aimed at her face, but the reporters and photographers practically swarmed her, pushing closer.

“Move! Just move. I have no comment!” Jasmine yelled, trying to squeeze her way out of the crowd.

However, it was useless.

Nicolas tried to shield Jasmine, but the reporters shoved him aside. Fareed and Deborah got pushed so hard that their faces were getting squished out of shape.

Deborah was shouting, “My earring. My purse! If you’ve wrecked it, can you even afford to pay for it? Get out of the way! Move!”

It wasn’t until hospital security arrived that the reporters were finally held back. Jasmine and her parents practically dove into the car to escape.

Jasmine’s hair was all over the place, her eyes wild with terror. Deborah’s makeup was hopelessly smudged. One of her earrings was crushed, and her luxury purse looked like it had been trampled.

“Mr. Mayer, you’re a grown man. Even if you don’t bother protecting me, how could you let Jasmine get mobbed like that? She’s your fiancée!” Deborah snapped with clear annoyance.

“I…” Nicolas tried to explain, but Fareed immediately cut him off.

“Nicolas, you really dropped the ball here,” Fareed said. “How could you let those reporters hassle Jasmine? You should’ve shut this down before it ever happened.”

Deborah huffed, “Seriously! Did you not think ahead at all? Of course, the reporters would be camped out when Jasmine got discharged today!

“And look at my earring and my purse! I spent a lot of money on them, and now they’re ruined. Nicolas, you’re going to be part of our family, so you should at least buy me replacements.”

Nicolas couldn’t escape the nonstop barrage from Fareed and Deborah. Every single one of their words was either complaining or demanding new things from him.

‘Why am I the punching bag here?‘ Nicolas thought, frustration building up inside Jasmine was right besine him, yet she didn’t say a single word in his defense

Back when he was with Zoya, nobody ever called him out or tried to hit him up for stuff.

It was the opposite back then. Nicolas‘ mom and sister would constantly pick on Zoya right before him, always making Zoya jump through hoops for them.

Nicolas froze for a second, suddenly hit with the thought, ‘Did I ever actually stand up for Zoya back then,

even once?‘

Now that Nicolas thought about it, he’d stayed silent every time, like Jasmine was doing now. He never said a word to defend Zoya.

In fact, whenever Zoya wasn’t willing to do something, Nicolas’d complain about how unreasonable she was, thinking, ‘She’s my wife now. Why won’t she suck it up and help out my mom and sister a bit?

As those memories flashed through his mind, Nicolas felt crushing heaviness on his chest, so thick it made him struggle to breathe.

When they got to the hotel, Nicolas told Jasmine’s parents to head back to their room, then accompanied Jasmine back to her room.

As soon as they stepped into the room, Jasmine clung to Nicolas, her panic barely contained. “Nicolas, what am I supposed to do? I’m done for! You know those reporters will spread all kinds of crazy rumors. I know the kidnapper and Zoya are working together to destroy me!”

“There’s no evidence the kidnapper and Zoya teamed up,” Nicolas told her gently. “Just give it a little time. Once this blows over, nobody will even care”

“But what about my job?” Jasmine burst out, her voice trembling with outrage. “If Austeville strips me of my title of the Firefighting Hero, Cloud Airlines will drop me for sure. All my hard work these years will be gone, just like that!” The thought made her clench her jaw with bitterness.

“Honestly, if you’d explained what happened to your colleague back then, maybe it wouldn’t have come to all this,” Nicolas said, trying to keep calm. “After all, the situation was dangerous at that time. Even if you couldn’t save him, well…”

Jasmine shoved Nicolas away and said, “What? You’re siding with the kidnapper? Are you going to be like them and blame me, too?”

“No, that’s not what I mean,” said Nicolas hurriedly. “I just think that things mightn’t have gotten this out of control if you’d told the truth from the start. Even if you lost the title of the Firefighting Hero, it wouldn’t have turned out like this.”

“How am I wrong here? I put out the fire, so I deserve to be called the Firefighting Hero!” Jasmine kept muttering. “And that guy? He was unlucky and got burned. The fire was way too intense. That was why I couldn’t save him. Why should I be blamed? I did nothing wrong! Not saving him isn’t a crime!”

A flicker of disappointment flashed in Nicolas’s eyes.

He realized Jasmine, whom he’d thought of as a hero, was nothing like he’d imagined anymore.

Chapter 139

“Nicolas!” Jasmine clung to his arm again, clearly on edge. “You’re on my side, aren’t you?”

Nicolas looked down, her hand clutching his like a pair of handcuffs he couldn’t shake loose. “Yeah, I’m with you. You dragged me back from the brink once. How could I not have your back?”

Jasmine froze for a split second, then pasted on a smile. “Exactly. I saved your life, so you won’t bail on me. No way you’d turn out heartless! That’s why I fell for you in the first place!”

Nicolas didn’t say a word. Deep down, something in him was shifting, slow but unstoppable. Nothing felt the way it used to.

Inside the study, Wren’s bodyguard handed him a whole stack of files.

“Here’s what you wanted, Mr. Richmond,” the bodyguard said.

“Okay. You can head out,” Wren said.

Once the bodyguard left, Wren started flipping through the files.

Mixed in with the files were a slew of photos. If Zoya had been there, she would’ve instantly recognized every face because every shot was Oscar Lucero, her brother.

Wren took his time examining the photos, but when he landed on one specific shot, his expression shifted dramatically.

Wren’s long, elegant fingers were practically shaking as he picked up the photo.

Oscar was shirtless in the shot, a vicious, gnarly scar slashing across his shoulder.

It was so much like the one burned into Wren’s memory–uncannily familiar.

Wren thought, ‘So, if the guy I met back then was Oscar, whom Zozo has been hunting for, then …

For a split second, Wren felt like the air had been sucked out of the room, and he could barely breathe.

‘If Zozo ever found out, would she blame me? Or would she… just walk away from me for good? No, that can’t happen!‘ Wren wondered, his heart pounding.

He couldn’t even let himself imagine a world where Zoya walked out on him.

Just then, there was a soft knock at the door of the study.

Wren jumped in surprise. “Who is it?”

“It’s me!” Zoya said, pushing the door open and walking right in.

Wren’s face turned ghostly pale, and he instinctively tried to stuff all the photos and files into the drawer.

However, his fingers seemed to have a mind of their own. Instead of putting them away, he fumbled and

spilled everything across the floor.

All at once, photos and files were scattered everywhere.