Chapter 288: James At Justin’s Home

Natalie received the report about what was going on with Briena.

"Mr. Dwen, you can continue as you wish. What matters to me is the result," Natalie said on the call. "This should be the end of her."

"Don’t worry, Ms. Natalie," the man assured her. "We’ve hired the right person, and he will do his best. The worst is yet to come."

Natalie hummed and hung up the call. Her gaze was cold as she looked out of the window. There wasn’t a tinge of guilt in her eyes for what she was going to do to Briena.

She closed her eyes, and horrific images once again flashed before them.

"Let me go. Please! I beg you."

"Stop whining, you bitch. We paid a lot for you, and we are free to do whatever we want with you. We’ll earn double what we spent on you. With this beautiful face of yours, they’ll pay whatever we ask."

The horrific scene shifted, and voices from the past echoed in her ears.

"Mom, wasn’t she sold to the traffickers? Why is she back?" It was Briena’s voice. "I thought by now she must have been raped, and her dead body thrown somewhere in a dump."

"That bitch somehow managed to escape," Clara’s voice came through.

"Mom, I want her ruined entirely if not dead. I don’t want her to get what’s mine."

"Don’t worry. We’ll send her back there again."

After that, mysterious hooligans came after her several times, trying to take her away. But by that time, Natalie had become stronger and was able to protect herself. If not for her resilience, the repeated attempts would have killed her in the most horrific way—one she couldn’t even begin to imagine.

Natalie opened her eyes. They were moist yet cold, carrying the weight of anger suppressed deep within her.

Just then, Mia entered the office.

"What are you thinking about so deeply, sweetheart?" Mia asked, setting her bag on the table before settling into a chair.

Natalie turned her chair around to face her friend. "Nothing much."

Mia placed a file on Natalie’s table. "This is the agreement for your new perfume with my company—the one you won the perfume competition with. You can check it and see if you want to change anything."

Natalie hummed softly, flipping through the file.

Mia continued, "By the way, last night I saw your dear sister entering the hotel, and she didn’t seem to be in great shape."

"It must have been late at night," Natalie said calmly. "What were doing in Steve Davis’s hotel so late?"

Mia looked taken aback. "Are you spying on me?"

"As if I have no other things to do," Natalie said with a faint smirk. "I was just guessing based on Briena’s whereabouts. I don’t care if you are getting back with Steve Davis."

"What the fuck are you talking about? "I had an important meeting there," Mia brushed it off. "Let’s talk about your sister. Seems like she had such a wild night with her fiancé that she couldn’t even walk properly."

"Not with her fiancé, at least," Natalie concluded.

Mia’s eyes widened. "You mean..."

Natalie hummed in confirmation, prompting Mia to exclaim, "Damn! This will be the first time I’ll watch a porn video starring someone I actually know." She leaned forward with excitement. "Let’s watch it together when it’s up."

"You can enjoy it by yourself."

"C’mon, let’s relive the time I showed you porn for the first time when we were still so young. I still remember how you were so grossed out you couldn’t eat for days," Mia teased.

"I’ve watched live porn back in Xyros. You don’t need to add more reasons for me to hate it."

Mia realized Natalie must have had some bad experiences in Xyros, though she never shared everything in detail. "Well, I’ll enjoy it with Cathy. It’ll be fun to see Briena getting screwed over. As a woman, I suppose I should pity her, but she’s not even human in my eyes."

"Do whatever you want. I need to head home now," Natalie said, standing up as the evening light cast long shadows across the room.

Mia stood up as well and followed Natalie. "I have to head to the airport to pick up Cathy. She’s returning from the business trip I sent on. Want to come along?"

Natalie shook her head. "She’ll start again, and I don’t have the energy to deal with her."

"Well, aren’t you going to ask Vincent to leave?"

"Why would I? It’s their fight. Either they live in peace or murder each other—it has nothing to do with me," Natalie replied. "They were the ones who forced their way into home."

"As long as she doesn’t force her way into Both friends got into their respective cars and drove off into the descending night.

----

James Harper received a call. The moment he answered, an angry voice of an old woman erupted from the other side.

"James, did you meet Justin?"

James’s voice was cold yet calm. "I was here handling important work, not interfering in his affairs."

"Brat! What kind of father and son are you two?" Julia’s angry voice crackled through the speaker. "Both of you are the same. I’m fed up with you two!"

"Mother..."

"If he weren’t an adopted son, would you still act this way?" Julia’s voice rose with frustration.

"He’s well aware of the situation, and he prefers it the way I do," James replied evenly.

"If he’s just an adopted son to you, then why have you cared for him all these years? You stayed awake so many nights when he was sick, you’d rush to him if something happened when he was away, and you ensured he..."

"Back then, he needed care and protection. If I adopted him, then he was my responsibility. Now he’s old enough to stand on his own," James said, his eyes void of any emotion.

"I don’t care. Call him and ask him to meet you," Julia said firmly. "To me, you two are the only family I have left, and I can’t bear to see you acting like strangers. If you won’t listen to me, don’t bother coming home."

"I have to head to the airport..."

"You’d better take that flight somewhere else than come home," Julia said sharply before hanging up.

James sighed deeply and turned to his assistant. "Head to Justin’s home. Inform him I’m coming to meet him."

"Yes, Mr. Harper."

James and Justin never tried to look into what the other person was doing in his life. Justin, who had tabs on everyone, never put his men to look into Jame’s matters and James did the same.

It was the rule both of them followed since the years back when Justin was independent person and took the charge of his life and his own matters.

It wasn’t the first time when both of them were at the same place, but didn’t meet each other, or was not aware of where the other person was.