CEO Ex-Husband, Don't Bother Me-Chapter 60: Passionate Phone Call (Part 1)

But then she heard him say,

"What happened? Injured from the wire harness? Didn’t I tell you not to push yourself so hard?"

The person on the other end of the line said something else, and he frowned slightly.

"I have some things to deal with here, so I can’t come back right away. I’ll call the director about your filming schedule."

Who else could be calling about something like that? The situation suddenly struck her as incredibly ironic and laughable. ’If he has someone in Meridia he can’t forget, then what was last night’s brief moment of tenderness supposed to be?’

Without staying a second longer, she grabbed her bag and strode out from behind him. ’And here I thought that with his explanation about Juliet Jennings and his show of affection, he wanted to reconcile with me. Am I just too naive, or is he just too good at playing games? But I have to admit, I’m not cut out for this. I can’t play his game of two-timing.’

Julian Donovan, who was in the middle of his call, noticed her leaving and urgently called out to her.

She didn’t listen, running out without a single glance back.

On the other end of the line, Juliet Jennings sharply heard Julian Donovan call out a name and immediately asked, on high alert,

"Julian, who are you talking to? Naomi? Didn’t you say you don’t love her? Why are you two together so early? Did you spend the night together?"

Juliet Jennings had previously confronted him about his marriage, and his explanation had been that he didn’t love Naomi but married her because her father had done him a great favor.

Julian Donovan watched Naomi Shaw’s figure disappear behind the door and replied to Juliet Jennings with a hint of irritation,

"We’re husband and wife. What’s wrong with spending the night together!"

Then he hung up. He wanted to chase after her but didn’t know what he would say if he caught up. Besides, she wouldn’t believe him no matter what he said.

He called Ken to have the car readied, packed his luggage, and set off. Before leaving, he suddenly felt the urge to see his son, so he made a trip to the Shaw Residence first.

Mrs. Sommers said she was in the garden with Dylan, taking a walk. He said a word to Ken and then headed to the garden alone. The early morning garden was quiet and fragrant. He heard her voice drifting over softly, singing an unfamiliar lullaby, apparently to soothe Dylan.

He stood at a distance, watching the way her eyes crinkled as she smiled at the little one in her arms, cooing soft words to him that he couldn’t quite make out. He felt his own heart soften. He suddenly wanted to come back and live a simple, quiet life with her and their son. ’That sounds pretty nice,’ he thought.

A well-behaved, sensible wife, a lively, adorable child, a flourishing career—he had everything he wanted. This was the vision of home he had always hoped for. He had just always assumed it would be Juliet Jennings who would give him all this, not this woman named Naomi Shaw.

But remembering he was in a hurry, he cleared his throat, interrupting her one-sided conversation with the baby, and walked over. Naomi Shaw was surprised to see him there. She glanced up at him, noticing the gauze still taped to his forehead.

Julian Donovan walked over and looked at her.

"I’m heading back to Meridia today, so I came to see our son..."

He almost blurted out the two words "and you." He was a little stunned by this uncontrolled emotion, and even more so that she was the one who caused it.

"Oh. Have a safe trip."

After saying this, Naomi Shaw handed the little one to him, his expression complex.

"Thank you for all those toys. But you don’t need to buy so many expensive ones in the future. He’s still little; he can’t play with any of them yet."

Because she had cried as soon as she got back yesterday and then went to the hospital, Mrs. Sommers hadn’t had a chance to tell her. But as soon as she returned this morning, Mrs. Sommers rushed to inform her that during the time she was away on her trip, Julian Donovan had come to see Dylan several times a day. He had bought him all sorts of toys, enough to practically buy out an entire toy store. Dylan’s nursery was piled high with toys he had purchased.

"Dylan is my son, too!"

Julian Donovan said this and then lifted Dylan above his head, expecting to make him laugh. But the little one just bit his fingers and gave his father a placid look, as if mocking his childishness. Julian felt quite hurt and noticed for the first time how unusually mature his son was.

It wasn’t until Ken called to hurry him along that Julian Donovan reluctantly kissed Dylan several times and handed him back to her. As he did, he suddenly said in a low voice,

"During my time in Meridia, I really didn’t sleep with Juliet Jennings. Believe it or not."

After saying this, he gave her a deep look, then turned and strode away. Naomi Shaw stood there, holding Dylan stiffly, watching his straight back as he departed.

He had just explained things with Juliet Jennings again!

She knew a man like him wasn’t one for sweet nothings. The fact that he was explaining it over and over meant he probably hadn’t done it. But what about all their intimacy and those rumors?

’Can’t he just stop messing with me like this? I’ve worked so hard to train my heart to be calm and composed. Why does he have to say such confusing things again?’ Thinking this, she felt her mind fall into turmoil and carried Dylan back into the house.

After Julian Donovan left this time, something was different. For instance, he started calling home frequently. Usually, it was once a week, but sometimes, if he was busy, it would be every two or three weeks, or even once a month. He always used the excuse that he missed his son.

Naomi Shaw truly believed he missed his son. She was self-aware enough to know he couldn’t possibly be missing her. After all, in the two years from their wedding night—when he left for Meridia—until now, with their son nearly a year old, he had never called. The only explanation was that after seeing how cute and well-behaved his son was during his last visit, he had started to feel attached. Even if he didn’t love her, that didn’t stop him from loving his son.

So, every time he called, she would just hand the phone directly to their son. Dylan Donovan had shown signs of high intelligence from a young age. At just one year old, he could already handle simple conversations, which was more than enough to satisfy Julian Donovan’s initial excitement.

At first, Julian Donovan was indeed very excited. He found it a source of great pride and happiness to talk to his brilliant son on the phone. But he later discovered that their conversations always circled around the same few simple phrases. If he tried to say anything too complex, Dylan wouldn’t understand. This left him increasingly frustrated. ’Someone’s being really heartless,’ he’d think. ’She won’t take my calls, not even once. She won’t even talk to me.’ Sometimes he could hear her in the background, teaching Dylan how to say a certain word, but she would never take the phone herself to say it.

One time, having reached his limit, he roared into the phone.

He knew she had it on speakerphone over there; she could hear everything he said.

Sure enough, he heard her walk over and pick up the phone. He immediately lost his temper.

"Naomi Shaw, would it kill you to say something? And another thing, does it never occur to you to call me?"

"There’s nothing to talk about, so why would I call?"

Naomi Shaw frowned and replied calmly. She never called him. Firstly, ever since the last time she’d called him and Juliet Jennings had answered, she’d been traumatized by the idea of calling him. Secondly, they really didn’t have anything to talk about.

His voice was furious.

"You can tell me about our son!"

"But you’ve already been talking to him, haven’t you?"

Naomi Shaw felt innocent in all this. She didn’t know why he was angry again. She was just trying to give him and their son time together to ease his longing. How was that wrong? ’I guess no matter what I do, it’s always wrong in his eyes.’

"Can’t you tell he can’t express himself clearly? I want you to report his daily activities to me every day!"

Julian Donovan felt like it was impossible to communicate with her. Naomi Shaw’s tone was a bit self-deprecating as she asked,

"But after Dylan is asleep, it’s nighttime here. Over there, it’s daytime, right in the middle of your workday. Wouldn’t it be inconvenient for me to call then?"