Too Late to Love Her: When She Divorced, He Fell Apart-Chapter 132: I Won’t Make Things Difficult for You

Chapter 132: Chapter 132: I Won’t Make Things Difficult for You
Claire was taking off her coat and hanging it on the rack.
Her slender waist was pulled in by Tristan Lockwood and she was embraced entirely.
She gave him a symbolic hug back and asked casually, "Your grandmother is urging you to get married?"
Tristan Lockwood released her, his gaze skimming over her cool face, and replied blandly, "But for now, I don’t have that plan."
"So, when you do have a plan, will you break up with me?"
He frowned slightly and gave no clear answer, "We’ll talk about the future when it comes."
"Mm."
Claire didn’t ask further, but before sleep, she said to him again, "If you’re planning to leave, you must let me know ahead of time. I won’t make things difficult for you."
Tristan Lockwood remained silent and didn’t reply.
Her excessive compliance gave him peace of mind, yet Tristan felt that Claire wasn’t like this before.
The Claire he knew before was full of sharp edges, constantly challenging him. Although difficult to get along with, she felt like a living person.
But over the past two months, she had become increasingly quiet, compliant, and her sharpness had vanished.
She looked obedient, yet always gave off a feeling that something was missing.
This inexplicably made Tristan Lockwood somewhat restless and irritable.
Even when doing that thing, seeing her being extraordinarily cooperative made him a bit fed up.
After that, for a long period, he didn’t go to Claire’s place.
During this time, Claire even took the initiative a few times to contact him, but he was busy with work and combined with the inexplicable irritation in him, he was especially aloof when replying to her messages.
Claire sensed that he didn’t wish to chat with her, and sensibly said, "I won’t disturb you anymore. When you’re done, just come find me."
He looked at the message but didn’t reply.
They met again at a business banquet.
Amidst the hustle and bustle, Tristan Lockwood saw Claire walking his way arm-in-arm with a stranger, smiling lightly.
When she saw him, Claire’s smile visibly faded.
But when the man greeted him, she still cooperated, smiling politely toward him.
Tristan Lockwood’s gaze lingered on her, not moving away.
The man noticed his unusual demeanor and asked, "Do you know Claire, Mr. Lockwood?"
Tristan Lockwood answered absent-mindedly, "Met a few times."
Claire curled her lips slightly and said a few words in agreement before leaving with the man.
Midway through, she went to the restroom, and upon coming out, Tristan was leaning against the wall, watching her.
She nodded slightly toward him, neither cold nor warm.
This polite and distant demeanor made Tristan Lockwood increasingly uncomfortable.
He asked, "Who is that man?"
"A blind date introduced by Ms. Wan," Claire answered truthfully, "I’ve declined several times, but she was very enthusiastic, so I agreed to meet. Today, we just happened to both attend this banquet together. I won’t have anything with him."
She paused and looked at him, "You won’t be mad, will you?"
A trace of cautiousness leaked from her cool eyes, and Tristan Lockwood frowned slightly, replying coldly, "No."
"That’s good." She smiled at him, with a hint of flattery, "I was quite surprised to see you earlier. I thought you wouldn’t want our relationship to be known, so I deliberately acted unfamiliar."
After she finished speaking, Tristan Lockwood stared at her for a long time.
After a while, he stepped forward and suddenly held her chin with one hand, forcing her to raise her head, "How long are you going to keep pretending?"
She was stunned, "Pretending what?"
"Explaining a bunch of things and showing that pitiful and flattering expression," Tristan Lockwood said, "This isn’t you."
She was taken aback, and after staring at him for a long time, her eyes turned slightly red.
Tristan Lockwood released her and asked, "Did I hurt you?"
"No."
She shook her head, her voice tinged with a hint of sobbing, stirring an unbidden pity in him.
Yet when she looked at him again, her expression turned calm once more, but there seemed to be some constrained restraint, "If you don’t like me this way, I’ll change. I could become anything you like."
"I never said you should change." Tristan Lockwood irritably pinched his brows, "With me, I’ve always let you be yourself."
She lowered her eyes, her palm instinctively clenched into a fist, as if gathering great courage before saying, "Then why haven’t you been paying attention to me lately?"
Her voice sounded very aggrieved.
"Are you tired of me again? If that’s the case, just tell me directly. I’ve said I’ll leave, I won’t cling to you."
She truly looked pitiful.
This was the first time Claire appeared so fragile in front of Tristan Lockwood, so heart-breaking.
Of course, more than heartache, there was a surge of hormones, an impulse wanting to torment her fiercely injected into Tristan Lockwood’s veins.
"When the banquet is over, wait for me in the car."
He slipped the car keys into her bag, speaking without a hint of compassion.
Claire obediently nodded.
However, after Tristan Lockwood turned away, the heart-breaking sadness in her eyes instantly faded away entirely.
She returned to her usual cool demeanor, devoid of any warmth.
When the banquet was over, Claire bid farewell to the man and as agreed, waited for Tristan in his car.
It was unclear whether something had delayed him, but Tristan had not come out for a long time.
Claire stepped out of the car and went back into the venue, asking the hostess if she had seen Tristan Lockwood.
The hostess pointed to a private room at the other end and said, "Mr. Lockwood just went in there with Mr. Jennings. They said not to disturb them."
Claire thanked her and waited a while longer but couldn’t resist approaching the private room.
She reached the door and saw it was ajar, and was about to enter when she heard Jenson Jennings’ smooth voice, "I heard you and Miss Zhao have cut ties, so why haven’t we seen you around?"
He thought for a moment and teased, "I spotted Claire at the banquet earlier. Are you two still in touch? It seemed like there was a male companion with her, possibly with plans to advance."
"She doesn’t."
Jenson paused, "How can you be so sure?"
Tristan Lockwood, "Because she’s involved with me."
"What?" Jenson looked at him in disbelief, "You’re back together with Claire? Why haven’t you mentioned it? Planning to remarry?"
"Of course not," Tristan Lockwood said coolly.
From that, Jenson immediately grasped his meaning, "So you mean, you and Claire are secret lovers now, just having fun, and you’ll discard her once you’re bored?"
Tristan Lockwood said nothing, a shadowy emotion in his eyes.
Silence generally implies consent.