Nathan woke up pretty late, and if it hadn't been for the sound of his phone ringing once again, he'd probably still be in bed sleeping.
Riiiiing!
Riiiiinng!!
Nathan squeezed his face as the sunlight landed directly on his eyes the moment he turned to the other side of the bed to pick up his phone. "Ughh!! Who the hell's calling this early in the morning?"
He picked up the phone, and the moment he did, he regretted it. "Not again." Nathan slapped his face, using the opportunity to cover his eyes from the sunlight that found its way into the room through the small open space in the window curtains.
The call had been from his mother-in-law, and Nathan, currently, wanted nothing to do with the woman. She was the reason Marie had initiated the divorce in the first place, and the other men in the family had beaten Nathan nearly to death in an attempt to win her favor.
"The witch is at it again, huh? Who knows what evil thing she's planned next for her to call me? I thought she wanted me to be gone for good. Why is she being persistent with the calls?" Nathan couldn't think of any reason, so he decided he'd had enough sleep.
Seeing that it was already bright outside didn't quite convince Nathan that it was late, and the call that had just woken him up almost made him lose his cool. "Stay calm, Nathan. You've escaped."
As though he were someone with a dual personality, Nathan spoke again. "But why the hell would she call this early in the morning?"
Once again, he picked up his phone, and when he checked the time, he sighed. It was past eight. The present was precisely the time when she'd usually need him to drive her out, but he was almost certain she hadn't called him for that. "Then what?"
Just then, his phone rang again, and Nathan almost smashed it against the wall the moment he discovered it was his mother-in-law.
"Nope, she's not worth it. Not anymore." Nathan tossed the phone aside and got out of bed. Considering it was already past eight, he could as well say he'd woken up. There was no reason to sleep anymore.
Even if he wanted to, his mother-in-law had just given him reasons not to. He would simply continue to accumulate wealth until he had enough to disregard his wife's family and their influence.
As he got off the bed, he stretched and yawned almost simultaneously, his mouth widening just as he arched backward until he couldn't bend further anymore.
He looked around, his eyes searching for something. What? He had no idea. He was simply scanning the room like someone who had lost something of utmost importance.
"Tch!" Nathan expressed his dissatisfaction by clicking his tongue when he realized that his actions, such as scanning the room, were solely to distract himself from his mother-in-law's persistent calls, even though he hadn't responded to any of them.
"I should go shower. That should help me get my mind off her and that annoying family that keeps sucking up to her." Nathan turned, now facing the bathroom, and just as he took the first step on his quest to have his bath, the landline in the room rang.
Riiiiing!!
"I swear…" Nathan had almost started cursing when he heard the phone ring, but then he turned and realized it was the landline instead of his smartphone. "Oh!"
He started walking toward the bedside to pick up the landline phone, thinking, 'It's definitely Clarissa.'
The moment he picked up the phone, just as he had expected, it was Clarissa's voice he heard. "Good morning, Mr. Oaklore. I hope you enjoyed your night."
Nathan's face immediately lit up with a smile playing on his lips. "I most certainly did. I'm also surprised to find you're still here, which most likely means you didn't get to sleep. I thought you'd get some rest." As his sentence came to an end, his smile gradually turned to a frown while his voice simply showed mild concern.
"Haha… It's pleasing to see you worry about me, but I was on night duty. I'm about to sign out for the day so that I can return to work tonight, but first, I wanted to know if you would need anything this morning before the next worker takes my place. My apologies if my call woke you up." Her response almost made Nathan's heart melt. Instead, he just smiled from his end of the phone—the receiving end.
Clarissa was the kind of personal assistant anyone would want, and Nathan was already considering her suitability based on her recent statement.
"Not at all. This annoying lady had woken me up with several calls just before your call came through. Furthermore, I'd like to have breakfast. You can decide what it'll be, but please, no cinnamon. I'm allergic." Nathan stated that he remembered failing to inform her about his dinner order from the previous night.
"...noted. I'll be sure to relay that piece of information to the chef in charge." Nathan almost swore he heard her trying to control her laughter, even though he couldn't prove it in any way.
"Alright, I'll be expecting them soon. See you later at night, since I'll also be heading out after I've had my breakfast." Nathan concluded the call with a sense of relief. Breakfast was on its way. All he needed to do was wait for it to arrive or get dressed up before it did, so he would be able to leave immediately after he was done eating.
As he stepped toward the bathroom, his smartphone rang.
His mother-in-law was at it again. Despite Nathan's absolute certainty that it was her, he proceeded to the phone to verify the caller's ID, which was unquestionably hers.
With the caller ID confirming his assumption, he sighed and took up the phone. If left alone, she would probably keep calling.
He answered the call, brought it close to his ears, and, knowing completely well that the caller was his mother-in-law, he spoke first. "Greetings, Mrs. Winston. How may I help you?"