Chapter 15

Chapter 15

It just happened that they’d been waiting for ages at The Aerie, hoping to catch a glimpse of the clusive FireWing, but to no avail. They planned to swing by the Wright family for lunch, so Brian had instructed him to pick up a couple of boxes of pastries from here.

“Mr. Howard, would you like…”

Brian’s gaze settled on Natalie, and he fell silent in the car.

Natalie’s paper bag had been knocked from her hands, and as she looked up, her eyes flicked toward Gracia, who had pretended to be engrossed in her phone, feigning ignorance.

“Pick it up.” Natalie said in a low voice, devoid of emotion.

Instead, Gracia stepped on the pizza, kicking it aside.

“I said pick it up, not step on it.” Natalie continued, her voice still low.

“Are you talking to me?” Gracia acted surprised, pointing at herself and asking softly.

“I’m talking to a dog.” Natalie replied coldly.

“You…” Gracia was stunned, and then anger flared within her.

“Only a dog would get upset by that.” Natalie said, the corners of her mouth curling into a slight smirk.

“Natalie, don’t push it!” Gracia snapped back, and her brows knitted in frustration.

Seeing the altercation, the shop assistant quickly tried to mediate. “Don’t worry about it. It was our mistake for not handing it to the customer properly. Let me repack it for you!!

Natalie wasn’t interested in acknowledging Gracia’s pettiness and nodded to the assistant. “Thanks.”

But Gracia, who got irked by Natalie’s indifference, insisted. “I’d like to see who dares to repack it for her!”

The assistant stood by, not daring to move.

“What kind of skill is that by picking on a shop assistant?” Natalie turned to Gracia. “If they don’t want to repack it, that’s fine. You can pick up the pizza. Otherwise…”

“Otherwise, what?” Gracia raised her eyebrows slightly, challenging Natalie.

“I want to see how much clout you have,” Gracia thought inwardly.

“Otherwise, you won’t enjoy your lunch today.” As Natalie spoke, she pulled out her phone and dialed 911. “Let’s deal with this at the police station. I’m not bothered. But for you, Gracia, with your big reputation…”

Onlookers began to murmur, some recognizing Gracia.

18:47

Chapter 15

Gracia glanced around, and when she saw Natalie’s finger hovering over the call button, she quickly grabbed her hand. Turning to the assistant, she commanded sternly. “Are you blind? Repack a new one, now!”

Minutes later, Natalie left the shop, content with her freshly packed pizza, ignoring Gracia, whose face had turned a shade of thunder. She hailed a cab at the curb.

Brian watched her get into the cab, his emotions swirling. Natalie seemed different than before.

As Natalie approached the Wright family’s front door, her phone buzzed with a message from King. (They’ve upped their offer to twenty times the original. Do you want to take it?]

Her reply was brief. [No deal.]

As she pocketed her phone, she overheard the gardeners talking about Matthew coughing up blood the night before. He had terminal lung cancer, and it was beyond help. Every day alive was a gift.

Without a word, she slipped through the back door and walked toward the smaller building at the back of the estate.

Just as she was about to knock, she overheard Samuel’s voice from inside, “You know, the Foster family is one of the most esteemed in Streamville. With our Wright family’s standing. Natalie could never hope to marry up!

To put it bluntly, after the Howard family threw her out and the scandal that followed, who in the Streamville elite doesn’t know about it? And yet, she has the nerve to land the Foster family’s son in the hospital! Thankfully, they’re now interested in Gracia because of her connection to the Howard family. If Natalie married into the Foster family, they would let it go.”

Natalie’s hand, which raised to knock, froze mid–air.

Chapter 16

Chapter 16