Kissed by Winter [Discontinued]

26. The One Thing He Wanted from Her

A/N: Hullo Hullo. Back from the dead. New Chapter with new twists. Happy readings. Accepting love in votes, comments, and shares. Heart Heart JPC <3 <3 <3

"There he is," Lyanna announced to no one in particular as she sprinted toward Nick, who had just entered the apartment.

"I got that email from your PA. It has all the missing pieces I needed to complete the picture. Thank you so much, Nick."

She hugged him hard oblivious to the devious thoughts going on in her husband's head.

What Lyanna had received was nothing but a treasure map leading to the wrong pot of gold.

"His real name isn't even Matthew Gerald. Some PI you have hired, Lyanna. I told you they can't be trusted," Nick casually said those words while still hugging Lyanna. For some reason, her hold only tightened on him and unknown to her, he was arrogantly smirking to himself.

Oh, I'm going to enjoy this one.

"Yes, but I know now that I can trust you," she let go of him to stare straight into his eyes. Something about that look created a lump in his throat. Her brown eyes were dazzling with pure hope and another emotion he couldn't quite put his finger on. Guilt?

"What is that supposed to mean? Was this some sort of a test?" He acted injured and took a step away from her. Now all he had to do was wait for her to try to smooth things over with her syrupy sweet talk.

Quite unsurprisingly, she did exactly the opposite of what he expected.

"Yes, Nicholas. But don't worry," she added cheerfully, "I figured out a way to make it up to you on my way back home. Come with me," she held him by his arm and gently coaxed him to follow her to her room.

It's on.

Nick smiled wickedly at her back.

***

What is wrong with this girl?

Nick stared with utmost disbelief at the spread in from of him. Not one, not two, but twelve white cotton shirts each belonging to a different brand.

"This is . . ." Nick was at a loss of words at the drastic turn of events. When Lyanna asked him to follow her to her to bedroom, he expected to undress her from her slim-fit white knee-length dress. Instead, she somehow brought in twelve different layers of clothing into the picture. How can anyone plan anything around this girl?

"And don't worry. I didn't buy these from my father's money. I bought them with my own."

"So that night, when you said you'll give me the one thing I want from you the most, you meant . . . this?" Nick couldn't help but ask. Mentally, he was kicking himself. This woman, once again, had brought him back to square one.

"Oh no, God no!" Lyanna defended.

Nick's eyes lit up. Maybe there is still hope.

"I owed you this one anyway. I was merely sweetening the pot."

A sweet pot. Now we're getting somewhere.

Nick took off his suit jacket and started rolling the sleeves of his gray shirt as Lyanna excused herself. While she was retrieving something from her cupboard (lingerie, he hoped), her back toward him, Nick began unbuttoning his shirt. As he had reached his third button, he noticed that she took a deep breath before turning around.

Again, unfortunately, Lyanna had something completely different on her mind. Instead of lingerie, Lyanna was holding a plastic file.

"Would you rather we do this outside, Nick?"

"It depends. What exactly do you have in mind?" Could Nick not read the room? Probably. But did that stop him from believing that his dastardly plan to seduce Lyanna was going to work? No.

"Here is fine then," she gingerly pushed back the shirts on her bed to make space for both of them.

By now, any rope of hope Nick was holding onto had reduced to a mere silk thread. As she tentatively stole a glance at him before opening the file, Nick could sense there was something really amiss.

Satisfied with whatever it was, she handed him the file. The hope in her brown irises still intact, she carefully studied Nick's expression as it changed from curiosity to plain confusion and then something akin to red-hot panic. That last one she still had trouble comprehending. SNAP! The silk thread broke sending Nick spiraling into an unknown dark abyss.

"What the hell is this?" Nick got up in a flash. His calm and casual exterior, the mask he almost always wore, was completely shattered.

"This is the one thing you wanted from me. I am giving you a divorce."

A/M: Started watching Riverdale and completely ship Bughead <3 <3 <3