WARMING THE BILLIONAIRE COLD HEART

Nicholas exited the room and found that Kimberly was not at her desk. He had intended to invite her to lunch, hoping to mend their relationship, which seemed to be hanging in the balance. However, it seemed like he was too late because the person he was looking for had disappeared, and he had no idea where she had gone.

Curious, Nicholas attempted to contact Kimberly on her phone. Unfortunately, after several tries, her number appeared to be inactive. It briefly crossed his mind that Kimberly might be in Alex and Keyra’s office as usual.

With confidence, Nicholas proceeded to their office. However, even there, he couldn’t find Kimberly. Eventually, he coincidentally crossed paths with Andrew, who was the finance division supervisor.

“Can I assist you, Mister?” Andrew asked when he noticed Nicholas standing around, looking puzzled in front of the office.

Nicholas turned his face away. “I’m looking for Kimberly. There’s an agenda I need to discuss with her urgently. I thought she was here,” he deliberately lied. He couldn’t possibly tell Andrew the truth that he wanted to invite Kimberly to lunch.

Andrew nodded in understanding. “If I’m not mistaken, Kimberly is having lunch with Alex and Keyra in the building’s cafeteria. If you want, I can help you join them.”

“No, thank you,” Nicholas declined. “I’ll go there directly. Thanks for the information.”

Nicholas then headed to the cafeteria. Once there, he scanned the area, searching one by one among the people who were busy having lunch. He looked around until his gaze locked onto the person he was looking for. Nicholas quickly approached Kimberly, who was engrossed in conversation with her friends.

As Nicholas got closer, he faintly overheard them discussing the celebration party Andrew was hosting later that evening. However, that wasn’t what bothered him. Mike, one of the employees, was teasing Kimberly. The man was deliberately inviting Kimberly to the party together. Annoyed, Nicholas immediately interrupted Mike’s words.

“No one can take Kimberly away without my permission.”

Suddenly, Nicholas’s baritone voice startled those who were conversing in the cafeteria. Not only that, but almost all the employees present there looked in surprise at the athletic-looking man.

It was quite unusual because during his tenure as CEO, Nicholas had never set foot in the cafeteria. Everyone was surely wondering what had prompted him to come there himself.

“Mis-ter Nicholas,” Michael stammered. Clearly nervous because Nicholas’s words had struck sharply at him.

Nicholas raised an eyebrow, displaying his displeasure towards Michael.

“No one can just take Kimberly away without my permission first,” Nicholas paused for a moment, then glanced around before speaking again. “And for all of you here without exception, I don’t want to see anyone among you teasing Kimberly anymore. You all should know that she is my fiancée.”

Kimberly’s eyes widened in disbelief as she gazed at Nicholas. She hadn’t expected him to casually announce their status to everyone present. The situation instantly became noisy, with people pointing and whispering in Kimberly’s direction as she sat there.

“Come with me right now!” Nicholas ordered. His tone left no room for argument this time. He continued to assert dominance, even though he knew Kimberly was angry with him.

Not wanting to argue, Kimberly complied. She got up and followed Nicholas, who had already started walking.

“Wait for me!” Kimberly exclaimed, grabbing Nicholas’s wrist as they walked toward the elevator.

Nicholas’s steps halted. “What is it now?”

Kimberly stepped forward, positioning herself beside him, and they entered the elevator together.

“You’re really crazy!” Kimberly teased.

Nicholas turned to her. “Yes, I’m crazy for you.”

Kimberly sighed. “Why did you announce our engagement to everyone?”

Kimberly felt uncomfortable with everyone knowing that she was the CEO’s fiancée. Other employees would likely treat her differently, and there might even be some who didn’t like it.

“Why did I do it? It’s simple, so that everyone knows you’re my fiancée. No one will dare to bother you or tease you like earlier. I’ve told you before, I don’t want my fiancée to be close to any man, without exception. Besides, you should be proud that I announced it to the public. It means I acknowledge your presence,” Nicholas explained at length.

He was completely insane!

Why was he angry? His feelings toward me aren’t clear yet.

Kimberly continued to glare at Nicholas.

How could he be jealous like this?

If it’s love, what’s so difficult about saying it?

Instead of being so unclear.

“Why are you looking at me like that?” Nicholas asked, realizing that Kimberly was still staring at him with an annoyed expression.

Kimberly shrugged non-dramatically. “You’re really the strangest person, Nick. You should realize that I’m angry with you right now.”

“If you’ve forgotten, I already apologized this morning. And you asked me to forget everything, right? So, where did I go wrong?” Nicholas debated. Unbeknownst to Kimberly, he smiled faintly. He preferred arguing like this to seeing Kimberly acting strangely like she did earlier.

“I even thought about ending our ridiculous engagement. Why continue it? You always make me so angry. I’d be better off in a relationship with someone else!” Kimberly threatened, making Nicholas beside her startle.

When the elevator doors opened, Nicholas swiftly pulled Kimberly into his office. Skillfully, he locked the door to ensure no one would disturb them while they had a serious conversation.

“What did you just say? You want to end our engagement?” Nicholas inquired.

Kimberly nodded in agreement. “I even planned to move out of your apartment.”

Nicholas burst into laughter upon hearing Kimberly’s words. Despite Kimberly speaking seriously, he found it amusing. “That won’t be possible, Kimberly Rayder. You’ll have to step over my dead body if you want to cancel our engagement.”

Clearly, Nicholas had no intention of letting this engagement be canceled. Even though his feelings weren’t clear, it wasn’t easy to find a replacement who understood his habits and quirks to some extent. Plus, both of his parents had already taken a liking to their current partner.

Kimberly narrowed one eye, her frustration still evident on her beautiful face.

“Do I have to kill you first to escape from this unclear engagement?” she asked.

“Go ahead and kill me!” Nicholas replied quickly. “If I die, I’ll haunt you forever. I’ll follow you wherever you go. Even if someday you have a new lover, I’ll possess his body, and you’ll still be connected to me, whether you like it or not!” Nicholas’s threat this time sent shivers down Kimberly’s spine.

“You’re a psycho!” Kimberly muttered loudly.

****

Nicholas affectionately held Kimberly’s hand as they exited the car and entered HollyWings, an exclusive cafe often used for parties, located in the city center.

Upon entering, all eyes naturally turned toward Nicholas and Kimberly. Almost everyone was impressed by how well they looked together tonight.

“Kimberly…” Keyra called out when she saw Nicholas greeting business colleagues who were also in attendance. Quickly, Keyra and Alex approached.

“How does it feel to be Cinderella?” Alex teased, earning an annoyed look from Kimberly.

Kimberly sighed softly. “I thought the iceman had relapsed into his unstable condition. I also didn’t expect him to announce our engagement to everyone.”

Keyra laughed. “You should be proud that Mr. Nicholas acknowledged you as his fiancée. I don’t think he likes seeing you close to other men.”

Alex and Kimberly nodded in agreement. After all, no one liked to see their partner getting close to, let alone being flirted with by, someone else.

After greeting Andrew and other guests, Nicholas chose to take Kimberly home quickly. Kimberly even wondered why they had to leave in such a hurry. When they finally reached the car and began the journey, Kimberly couldn’t contain her curiosity and protested.

“Why did we bother going if we’re coming back so soon?” Kimberly complained, but Nicholas remained silent, focused on driving.

Kimberly grew irritated when he completely ignored her question. It wasn’t until they arrived and entered their apartment unit that Nicholas finally spoke up.

“I didn’t like seeing everyone look at you the way they did earlier. The admiring gazes that seemed to hope to possess you. Let me reiterate, I’m not the type of man who likes to share. That’s why I’ll never forgive you if one day I see you leaving with another man without my consent.” Nicholas sat on the sofa as usual when answering Kimberly’s earlier question.

Kimberly, who had intended to go into her room, turned around and walked over, taking a seat beside Nicholas.

“What do you really want, Nicholas? I don’t even understand everything you’re doing to me. You don’t love me, Nick,” Kimberly said.Nôvel/Dr(a)ma.Org - Content owner.

Nicholas stared deeply into Kimberly’s brown eyes. He remained silent for quite some time before speaking again. “You’re jumping to conclusions too quickly, Kimmy,” Nicholas countered.

“In reality, it’s like that. You’re even repulsed to touch my body. Am I really so far from your preferences?” Kimberly retorted.

“You’re wrong, Kimmy. You should be happy that I haven’t touched you until now. If I were a scoundrel, I would have taken you to bed a long time ago,” Nicholas said with tenderness.

Kimberly scoffed. “Nonsense! Isn’t it common for Westerners, especially men, to express their love through physical touch? I even suspect you’re actually homosexual!”

Nicholas laughed, finding it amusing that Kimberly considered him abnormal during such a serious conversation. In fact, he had been struggling to restrain himself from touching her all this time.

“Not all men. Maybe I’m among those who prefer to have intimate relationships only after getting married. Once again, you should be glad I’m not pressuring you to do all that. Do you think it’s easy to resist the temptations you’ve directed at me?” Nicholas explained.

Kimberly’s face blushed with embarrassment. She cursed her own foolishness for wrongly accusing Nicholas. She had believed that love could be measured simply by physical intimacy. And now, she saw that Nicholas had been protecting her.

“I care about you, Kimberly. I care deeply about you,” Nicholas suddenly confessed, leaving Kimberly stunned. She looked at him in disbelief.

Nicholas nodded and pulled Kimberly into his embrace. “I may not be the kind of person who easily expresses my feelings. I’m not like Kenzi and Edward, who can easily show romantic gestures to their partners. But what you need to know is that I care about you, and also…”

“And what else?” Kimberly asked quickly when Nicholas intentionally paused mid-sentence.

“I love you, Kimberly Rayder.”