CEO Ex-Husband, Don't Bother Me-Chapter 59: Won’t Touch Him

"Doctor, isn’t he supposed to have a concussion? Is it really okay for him to be getting so angry?"

The doctor looked extremely frustrated.

"Concussion? What concussion! It’s just a few scrapes, but he insisted we write ’concussion’ on his medical chart. I have no idea what Mr. Donovan is thinking. Who insists they’re sick when there’s nothing wrong with them!"

With that, the doctor left. The moment Naomi Shaw heard his words, she knew she’d been tricked by both Julian and Ken. Furious, she turned to leave. But then, she had a change of heart. ’Well, I’m already here. I might as well go in and see him. Even if it’s just a minor injury, it’s still my fault, right?’ And so, carrying the fruit she had brought, she turned around and walked back.

She knocked and entered the room. Julian Donovan was propped up against the headboard, his chest rising and falling sharply. Clearly, his anger hadn’t faded. There was a bandage wrapped around his forehead, making him look somewhat comical and pathetic. ’He looks so different from his usual self.’ For some reason, Naomi Shaw wanted to laugh.

Seeing her, Ken offered a quick greeting and made a hasty exit. He was barely outside the door when he heard Julian Donovan roar angrily,

"Naomi Shaw, you have the nerve to show up? Did you come to see if you managed to kill me?"

Ken shook his head helplessly. ’Why does he have to make things so difficult for himself? He lied about the concussion, hoping she’d feel guilty enough to visit. He was furious because she hadn’t come, yet now that she’s here, he’s lashing out at her. When will he ever stop being so difficult and just be honest with his own feelings?’

Naomi Shaw placed the fruit on the nightstand, stopped in front of his bed, and apologized sincerely.

"I’m really sorry about what happened today. I didn’t mean to."

Julian Donovan shot a displeased glance at the fruit she had brought.

"What did you bring fruit for? I haven’t even had dinner yet. Go make me something to eat!"

Naomi Shaw raised an eyebrow at his bossiness, but she decided to tolerate it. ’After all, I’m the one who hurt him,’ she thought. 𝐟𝚛𝕖𝚎𝕨𝗲𝐛𝚗𝐨𝐯𝐞𝕝.𝐜𝗼𝗺

"I’m sorry, I haven’t cooked in ages. I’m out of practice and afraid I’d mess it up. What do you want to eat? I can ask Ken to go buy it for you."

Naomi Shaw was telling the truth. She hadn’t cooked at all since becoming pregnant—it was always Mrs. Sommers or another servant who did. After Dylan was born, she was even busier taking care of him and cooked even less. She no longer had the heart for it anyway. The long-gone desire to cook a feast for the man she loved was never coming back.

Julian Donovan, however, assumed she was just making excuses.

"Naomi Shaw, is this your idea of a sincere apology? I ask you to make me a meal, and you refuse. You offer to buy food, but you want to send someone else to do it. You think saying a few words is all it takes to apologize?"

Naomi Shaw felt a headache coming on.

"Fine, what do you want? I’ll go buy it for you!"

Julian Donovan scoffed.

"You know I don’t have an appetite for food from restaurants."

Of course, Naomi knew how picky he was. ’How did he survive in Meridia all this time, then? Did Juliet Jennings cook all three of his meals by hand?’ The thought soured her mood. She stood up and reluctantly spoke.

"Fine. What do you want to eat? I’ll go buy the ingredients and cook for you. But I’m warning you now, don’t complain if it doesn’t taste good!"

Unexpectedly, he just threw a reply back at her: "Just make whatever."

She turned to leave, but his displeased voice rang out again.

"Get me a glass of water first!"

Naomi Shaw was on the verge of snapping. ’It’s not like his arms or legs are broken. Does he really need to order me around like this? Besides, his injury isn’t even a big deal!’ ’Fine, whatever.’ She turned, poured him a glass of water, and handed it to him. ’Maybe tormenting me is the only way he can work through his anger about me injuring him.’

As she was out buying groceries, she habitually picked out all his favorite foods. But then she threw them all away and replaced them with things he disliked. She had to admonish herself. ’I can’t keep thinking about his preferences for every little thing. He has his precious first love in Meridia, the one he’s head-over-heels for. No matter how good I am to him, he’ll never see it. Why am I asking for this misery?’

She returned to his hospital room with the groceries. Because he had sponsored the hospital’s construction, he was staying in a VIP suite despite his minor injury. The room had every amenity. She saw his face darken the moment she walked through the door with the grocery bags. She ignored him and took the bags straight into the kitchen.

It wasn’t on purpose; she was genuinely out of practice from not cooking for so long. Of the two dishes she made, one was too salty and the other was too bland. With no way to fix them and no ingredients to start over, she had no choice but to serve them as they were. She treated him like a critical patient, setting up the small bedside table, placing the dishes on it, and handing him his chopsticks and spoon. She stopped just short of feeding him herself.

’If he was going to put on a show, she would play along.’

Julian Donovan’s dark expression finally brightened at her attentive care. But after one bite of food, his brow furrowed. He tried the other dish, and his frown deepened. However, since she had already warned him that he wasn’t allowed to complain, he had to force himself to eat.

Naomi Shaw glanced over at him. He clearly had no appetite for the food, but who would? While he ate, she sat nearby with her head down, absorbed in her phone, completely ignoring him. Julian Donovan tilted his head to look at her detached, downcast silhouette, and he felt his anger begin to surge again.

The moment Julian Donovan finished eating, Naomi Shaw quickly cleared everything away and then bid him farewell.

"If there’s nothing else, I’ll be heading back. Dylan should be going to bed, and I need to be there to tuck him in."

She thought her son was the most reasonable excuse, but to her dismay, he just scoffed.

"He managed to sleep just fine on the days you were out having fun without him!"

Naomi was at a loss for words. Not wanting to argue with him, she just nodded.

"Get some rest. I’m leaving now."

Julian Donovan wanted nothing more than to jump out of bed and drag her back.

"As a wife, your husband is injured. Shouldn’t you stay the night and take care of him? Especially since you’re the one who caused this injury!"

"Julian Donovan, what exactly do you want?"

Between fetching water, cooking, and now being expected to stay the night, Naomi Shaw was completely exhausted by his antics, but he remained as energetic as ever.

"I don’t want anything. Just for you to fulfill your wifely duty and stay here with me tonight. That’s all."

Naomi glared at him resentfully. ’I honestly wish I *had* given him a concussion,’ she thought. ’Then I could at least take care of him willingly. Not like this, where I’m just disgusted by the thought of him faking it.’

In the end, she was the one who gave in. She simply didn’t have the energy to keep fighting him. If she refused, who knew what other stunt he might pull? She called Mrs. Sommers, told her she wouldn’t be back for the night, and asked her to put Dylan to bed. Then, she looked at him and said,

"I’ll be in the adjoining sitting room. Call me if you need anything."

Just as she turned to go into the room, his voice sounded from behind her.

"Naomi, if I told you... that Juliet Jennings and I never slept together, would you believe me?"

Julian Donovan hadn’t forgotten how she had cursed him out earlier, calling him dirty.

"I don’t believe you!"

"Let go of me..."

She could never get over what happened between him and Juliet Jennings in Meridia. She had even seen Juliet with another man with her own eyes. Even though he had just tried to clarify, she chose not to believe him.

Rejected by her again, he seemed to deflate. He didn’t press the issue, but simply lay down beside her, pulled her into an embrace, and grumbled a single word,

"Sleep!"

When Naomi Shaw woke up the next day, he was already gone from her side. She threw on her clothes, opened the door to the sitting room, and saw him standing by the window, speaking softly on the phone. His tall, upright figure and the sharp lines of his profile made her lose herself for a moment.