Too Late to Love Her: When She Divorced, He Fell Apart-Chapter 130: I Have You Now

Chapter 130: Chapter 130: I Have You Now
After a moment of intimacy, Tristan Lockwood released her, still unsatisfied, and said, "If you let me kiss you a few more times, maybe this fever will go away sooner."
Claire Hale wanted to roll her eyes at him, "I think your fever is a punishment for what you did the day you returned."
Tristan Lockwood’s lips curled slightly, a shallow arc, but the smile reached his eyes.
Claire was momentarily dazed upon seeing this.
Tristan looked up and asked her, "What’s wrong?"
"It’s nothing."
She withdrew her gaze, her mind filled with memories of him smiling warmly at her when they were young.
Claire stayed with Tristan for a while, but with work to do, she left before long.
As soon as she left, Clarence Finch walked in with a in hand, pointing at a certain value on it to Tristan Lockwood, "Old Lockwood, this value seems off. Should we check again?"
Tristan replied with a light "hmm" and added, "You didn’t tell her, did you?"
"No," Clarence joked with a raised eyebrow, "Wanting her care but not her worry, you’re quite a piece of work today."
Tristan said, "It’s not a big issue. There’s no need to let her know and add unnecessary worries."
...
After staying in the hospital for two days, Tristan was discharged once he confirmed his fever had subsided without recurrence.
For that week, Claire juggled work during the day and cared for him at night. It was a week of back-to-back efforts, and only after sleeping a whole day at home did she regain her energy.
Upon waking up and walking to the living room, Claire saw Tristan emerging from the kitchen, with an apron tied around his waist.
Seeing her awake, Tristan casually said, "Come eat."
Claire paused slightly and walked to the kitchen entrance to see his busy figure inside.
"You can cook?"
It was her first time seeing him in the kitchen, which surprised her.
Tristan brought out two dishes and said, "I checked a recipe and learned it on the spot."
He then used chopsticks to pick up a piece of fish and offered it to her.
Claire hesitated for a moment, but when she met his expectant gaze, she ultimately ate the piece of fish.
To be honest, his skills were quite good; it didn’t feel like a beginner’s attempt at all.
She couldn’t help but say, "It seems you’re quite a genius in areas other than gaming."
Tristan put down his chopsticks and said, "I’m good at gaming too. Didn’t I carry you to get an MVP last time?"
"That was just once. And your rank is only in the easy pool; nothing to brag about."
"Who says? Want to try it now?"
Tristan’s competitive nature surfaced, and he pulled Claire into playing a couple of rounds, both of which they won. However, Claire, having seen Dylan Skinner’s skills that reached the top ranks, found Tristan’s playing not quite up to par.
Claire added indifferently, "There’s no need to get worked up over this. Dylan is much younger, and as you age, your reaction speed will only slow down."
Her words infuriated Tristan, spoiling his mood.
After dinner, he pressed her onto the bed.
The old saying has some truth: after a full meal, thoughts of intimacy arise.
"Am I slow?"
As he held her waist, Tristan deliberately paused to ask her.
Claire kicked her legs, irritably wanting to push him away.
Only then did Tristan let her go and began to get serious.
Claire’s interest waned significantly when she saw Zoey Adler’s name light up on Tristan’s phone screen.
Those two words were like an alarm bell, reminding her that she had carelessly fallen in again.
"Miss Adler is calling you."
The once sticky tone turned cold in an instant.
Claire withdrew from Tristan’s embrace and threw the phone to him.
Tristan took the call, not bothering to avoid her, and directly answered it.
Whatever Zoey said on the other end, Tristan only responded coldly a few times and finally said in an extremely icy tone, "There’s nothing possible between us. Don’t think so."
When Tristan turns cold, he’s like a block of ice, making people shiver all over.
Claire glanced at his indifferent expression, feeling a complex mix of emotions.
She had met Zoey a few times; she was the kind of mature, sophisticated woman. Even so, Claire faintly heard Zoey’s voice tremble a little.
Tristan, lacking patience, hung up the call.
Claire said, "You shouldn’t treat Miss Adler like that."
Tristan leaned over her again, pinching her waist, "I have you. Would you want to see me tangled up with other women?"
His words sounded rather ominous.
"What do you mean by that?" Claire looked at him seriously and asked, "Tristan, don’t forget why we got divorced."
"Things like that only stirred waves for a moment," Tristan said absentmindedly, "As for Zoey, her family accepted investment from the Lockwood Family. She’s just helping me act to boost the Lockwood stock; it’s mutual benefit."
He tightened his grip on her waist, wanting to continue where they left off.
But Claire was exceptionally clear-headed and asked, "So what am I to you now? A kept mistress that can’t be revealed?"
Tristan studied her for a while and asked, "What do you hope for? To go back to being my wife? Compared to us now, wasn’t the previous way less enjoyable? Don’t you think?"
His words, straightforward and to the point, essentially meant that being lovers is convenient; they can be intimate when they want and part without much fuss when things end.
Claire said, "I don’t want anything. I just want to draw a clear line between us."
"Impossible."
Tears welled up in her eyes as she looked at him in disbelief, "Why won’t you let me go? There are so many women out there. Go find them; no woman wouldn’t want to be with you."
"But you don’t."
Tristan said casually.
Claire was so angry that tears began to fall, "Tristan, I really don’t want to be tangled up with you anymore."
"You still have feelings for me."
Tristan reached out, gently wiping her tears away.
"Claire, you can deceive yourself, but not me. If you didn’t care, you wouldn’t have taken such good care of me when I was sick."
She sobbed, her shoulders trembling, "So this is just your excuse to have a hold over me?"
"It’s not."
He lowered his head and kissed her lower lip.
"Claire, I can’t believe you don’t feel that I also have feelings for you."
Claire clenched her fists, looking up and staring at him, "So what? Would you marry me again? Would you publicly announce to everyone that I’m your wife? You wouldn’t, Tristan. Don’t think that saying you like me is enough to tie me down."
Tristan rubbed his temples, having just recovered from his illness, suddenly feeling a bit weary, "Is being public that important? Didn’t I always give you whatever you wanted before? I’ve never shortchanged you on material and financial things."