chapter73.
Stella only then realized that she had unwittingly pushed Nathaniel to the very edge of the sofa during their conversation.
She blushed, then immediately stood up.
“Sorry. Time’s up. I’m going to cook now.”
Nathaniel also stood up. “I’ll help you.”
Stella was taken aback. “What?”
Nathaniel took off his suit jacket and rolled up his shirt sleeves. “Is there a problem? I’m not working right now. If I help you, we can have dinner earlier.”
Stella looked at his hands. His hands looked like they had never done housework. Now he was actually saying he wanted to help her cook.
His words shocked Stella as much as Jack’s apology.
But she didn’t refuse. Should they focus on living a good life first?
A man who helps is always better than a man who only knows how to command.
Stella laughed, “Okay. But you’ll have to wait a moment.”
chapter73. “Why?”
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Nathaniel stood at the kitchen doorway, puzzled, watching Stella on her tiptoes reaching for the top cabinet.
During the renovation, he didn’t pay much attention to the kitchen, so he didn’t notice that the height of the overhead cabinets was extremely unreasonable.
“Let me do it.”
“Thank you.”
After speaking, Stella wanted to make way for Nathaniel. But she didn’t expect Nathaniel to stand directly behind her, his presence instantly enveloping her.
She was a bit shy and immediately pressed her body against the counter, fearing that she might accidentally bump into Nathaniel and give him the wrong impression.
“What are you looking for?” Nathaniel asked above her head.
Stella lifted her head. Her hair brushed against Nathaniel’s chin. Nathaniel paused, all he could smell was the fragrance from her hair. Although it was just the scent of ordinary shampoo, he could always vaguely smell something else.
Stella pointed to a white plastic bag inside.
“There’s a new apron in that bag. Your shirt doesn’t look cheap.
chapter73.
Don’t get it dirty.”
“You’ve prepared even this?”
Nathaniel frowned. But when he took out the new apron, his frown deepened.
Buy one, get one free.
His apron was given for free.
Noticing his expression, Stella explained, “Usually, this one costs thirty dollars. Now it’s buy one get one free, which is essentially half price. Of course, I’m going to buy it.”
Her parents used to take her to the supermarket often, telling her which discounted items were worth buying. She inadvertently revealed this.
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She wasn’t sure if it was an illusion, but she felt that her words were somehow adding fuel to the fire. Nathaniel’s expression became even worse.
She immediately changed the subject. “Let me help you put it on.”
She unfastened her apron, causing both her and Nathaniel to feel embarrassed.
This apron was blue and white checkered, but Stella didn’t expect it to actually have lace edges.
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Stella, holding an apron, awkwardly asked, “Mr. Beaumont, will you wear it?”
Nathaniel squinted his eyes, pointing at her red checkered apron that lacked lace trim.
“Let’s switch.”
“Okay.”
Stella and Nathaniel exchanged aprons. Stella thought Nathaniel wearing an apron would be very strange.
But when she looked at Nathaniel, she couldn’t help but pause. She couldn’t resist looking down at the apron she was wearing.
She thought, “Aren’t our apron styles almost the same?”
“Why does Nathaniel look better in clothes than I do?”
He wore a black shirt. It contrasted sharply with the red apron.
His strong arms and taut chest were clearly visible under the apron, exuding a sense of restraint.
“What are you looking at?” Nathaniel leaned against the counter, slightly raising an eyebrow.
“Nothing.” Stella immediately turned around, a bit blushing.
“What should I do?”
chapter73.
“Please wash the vegetables.”
Stella took out a basket and put some vegetables in it, then handed it to Nathaniel.
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Nathaniel didn’t say anything. He turned on the faucet to wash the vegetables.
Stella then opened the refrigerator to take out the ingredients needed for today.
After collecting the ingredients, she found that the refrigerator was more than half empty. She couldn’t help but say, “We need to go grocery shopping again.”
At that moment, the sound of water behind her stopped. She immediately closed the refrigerator door, ready to take over Nathaniel’s position to wash the other ingredients.
But the Nathaniel behind her also just turned around. The two bumped into each other directly in the not–so–large kitchen.
“Hiss!” Stella’s forehead bumped heavily into Nathaniel’s chest. The carrots and shrimp in her hand fell to the ground.
“Why do you always get into trouble?”
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Stella pursed her lips. In fact, her troubles seemed to be never–ending after she met Nathaniel.
chapter73.
But she dared not say this. She only said sorry, preparing to bend down to pick up the food on the ground.
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Nathaniel reached out to shield her body, then handed her the washed vegetables.
“Don’t move.”
Stella was just about to ask what was wrong, when she saw the tall Nathaniel crouch down.
He picked up the shrimp one by one, even calmly brushing aside the ice cubes that had fallen out of the shrimp bag.
It was then that she noticed quite a few ice cubes had scattered around her feet. Had she stepped on them earlier, she would have fallen.
Stella gratefully withdrew her gaze, just in time to see the vegetables in the basket in her hands.
Although the vegetables were not particularly dirty, she could tell that Nathaniel had indeed washed them very carefully.
Suddenly, she felt a bit complicated.
Jack remembered the time he had gone to her house for dinner. He had offered to cook, not wanting Diane to tire herself out. Leaning against the kitchen door, he spoke of his dreams for married life.
She really thought at that time that Jack wanted to marry her.
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Otherwise, who would constantly talk about the scene of cooking together with her?
So she casually stuffed the vegetables she was holding into Jack’s hands, smiling as she let him get a taste of it in advance.
Jack’s expression was slightly unnatural at the time, but he quickly accepted it with a smile.
Stella didn’t mind his awkwardness, thinking it was only right for a man to help with housework. But Jack didn’t even get the vegetables wet when he washed them. He was merely going through the motions for her.
Jack said he had never done it, and didn’t know how to do it.
He spoke as if it was a matter of course. Yet he forgot that he once mentioned his ordinary family background, having to do everything on his own since childhood, and therefore he would never let her suffer in the future.
At that time, she and Jack were in the throes of passionate love. So, she instinctively made an excuse for him, without giving it much thought.
Alright, she admitted she was foolish. The reason she thought of now was simply ridiculous.
Nathaniel, who had also suffered hardships with Jennifer since childhood, seemed to have never treated her perfunctorily.
“Alright.” Nathaniel stood up, placing the picked shrimp back
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onto the plate.
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Stella snapped back to reality, looking down at the floor. To
her surprise, she found that Nathaniel had actually cleaned the floor.
“Thank you.”
“Um, let’s cook. What else do I need to do?” Nathaniel said seriously, looking a bit stern but also a bit amusing.
“Help me wash the shrimp. Oh, and check for the shrimp line.”
“Mmm.”
Nathaniel nodded, then began to prepare the shrimp.
Stella stood beside him, washing the beef.
As night fell, their tall and short figures were reflected in the glass window in front of them.
Perhaps sensing something, they almost simultaneously looked up at the glass window, and at the same time saw the slightly surprised expression on each other’s faces reflected on the glass.
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