“Mr. Harding, that’s not—’” Natalie started to protest. But Garrett raised his hand to show that he didn’t need any explanation from Natalie. Knowing that Emani was just going to speak ill of Natalie, he played dumb. “Natalie is still young and inexperienced. Emani, even you used to be like that before. Now you’re matured and much experienced. Why can’t you be more tolerant of our new employee?”
Emani was infuriated by his words. She pointed at Natalie and said in a shrill voice, “Mr. Harding, you don’t know what happened.
She wore a dress similar to mine, but your designer had the audacity to ask me to change my dress!”
Emani jutted her chin out arrogantly. She was a popular star now. Natalie was below her. Now that she had explained what had happened to Garrett, she thought that he would finally take her side and put Natalie in her place.
Sipping his champagne, Garrett looked Emani’s dress up and down.
‘I think the dress you were wearing earlier didn’t suit you. You look much better in this one.” .
Emani was dumbfounded. She never expected that she would hear such a thing from Garrett. Everyone in the circle knew that Garrett was a smooth operator. He had always been gentle and privy to women. While Garrett hadn’t blatantly insulted Emani, it was still obvious that he was on Natalie’s side.
As far as Emani could think, there seemed to be only one possibility as to why Garrett was protective of Natalie. Natalie was either his girlfriend, or he was planning to ask her out.
Thinking of it, Emani couldn’t help but glance at Natalie’s dress again.
Garrett was famous for his generosity. She wondered if the dress was his gift to Natalie.
Emani then turned to look at Natalie. She was indeed a beautiful woman, so it wouldn’t be a surprise if Garrett liked her
“You’re right, Mr. Harding.” She forced a smile at Natalie, her eyes no longer domineering as before. She looked calm and composed even though she wasn’t happy about it. “This dress does look better on you than it did on me, Miss Quinn.”
“Thank you, Miss Gomez,” Natalie could still sense the sarcasm in her words. She was impressed at how fast Emani had changed her attitude.
The woman would make a fortune If she acted for a living.
Garrett didn’t say anything more. He took a sip of the champagne and glanced at the dancing floor. Sebastian was walking toward the hall. Garrett looked away and glanced at Emani.
“You guys carry on.” Emani wasn’t in the mood to talk with Natalie. She looked down upon women who seduced men and then slept their way to the top. But she couldn’t afford to offend Garrett. Therefore, she had no choice but to smile at her and carry on a polite conversation.
“Did Mr. Harding gift this dress to you?” Natalie shook her head.
“The company held a dinner party last time, and my evening dress got stained. So he lent this dress to me.” However, Emani didn’t believe it. She assumed Natalie was ashamed to admit her relationship with Garrett simple because she
was just his mistress.
There were many such women in the industry. Besides, Garrett was a well-known playboy. Sensing that Emani had misunderstood her, Natalie hurriedly waved her hand to clarify herself. “Mr. Harding and I work in the same company. That’s all.” Emani arched an eyebrow, still doubting her words.
“Right, of course,” she said perfunctorily Garrett had brought Natalie here just to distract her so she would cut Sebastian some slack.
Seeing Emani now eye Natalie with suspicion, he quickly explained,
“Emani, when did you become inquisitive? You shouldn’t jump to conclusions.” Garrett looked stern.
He feared there would be another misunderstanding. After all, Sebastian was here; he didn’t want to make him unhappy and face his wrath.
Hearing that, Emani returned to her booth without uttering another word.
“Shall we go back, Mr. Harding, or should we go and check on Mr. Larson?” Natalie didn’t want to talk to Emani from the very beginning. She hated the woman for what had happened earlier. Natalie would never get along with such an arrogant woman.
“Mr. Larson is fine. He is busy with his work and has already teft,” Garrett said, pretending to look at his phone.
Natalie took her phone and found that Brandon had texted her back.
“You are welcome.”
The message was brief and concise.
With one last glance around the banquet hall, Garrett surmised that Sebastian was no longer in danger of being exposed.
“lm sorry but I need to help my girlfriend with something. Shall I walk you to your husband?”
With a smile, he gestured in the direction of the gate. After a moment’s consideration, Natalie nodded and followed him into the garden.
Sebastian was seated in one of the benches outside, his legs crossed, a glass of wine in his hand.
Garrett didn’t linger. He all but fled the scene after escorting Natalie to her husband.
“What are you doing out here? Aren’t you cold?” Natalie plopped down on the bench opposite Sebastian’s with a huff. Her eyes were clouded with disappointment.
She had come here for nothing. She didn’t even get to see Sebastian and Brandon together.
“It’s too noisy in there,” Sebastian replied softly. He took a sip of his wine as the music from the ballroom started to dwindle down. He heaved an inward sigh of relief.
The party was finally coming to an end. Sebastian glanced at Natalie and found her fiddling with her fingers, seemingly deep in thought. He walked over and held out his hand.
“Shall we go home?” His voice jolted her back to her senses. Natalie nodded and accepted his hand. There was no point in staying when Brandon had already left.
The Larson Group had pre-arranged for cars and chauffeurs to send the guests home. Wearing a mask, Sean pretended to be the driver and opened the door for Sebastian.
Natalie slumped in the backseat, her eyes fixed outside the window. She remained quiet and dejected throughout the drive.
Despite her best efforts to distract herself, she just couldn’t stop thinking about the relationship between Sebastian and Brandon. She would sneak glances at the man beside her from time to time. Natalie considered asking him once and for all, but ultimately decided against it.
It wasn’t an easy question, after all, and who was to say that Sebastian would tell her the truth?
As for the man in question, he had sensed that something was bothering Natalie since the moment she had joined him back at the garden. And yet, he somehow knew that she was still unaware that he and Brandon were the same person. Otherwise, she would have confronted him there and then. Sebastian reached over and closed the window on her side. A slight tension fell in the car, which Sean took as his cue to slow down.
Sebastian gathered Natalie into his arms.
“Is there something in your mind? Perhaps something you would like to ask me?”
He always wanted to know what she was thinking, especially when her thoughts started bothering her.
They might have grown closer recently, but Sebastian couldn’t shake off the feeling that Natalie had put up a wall between them. A couple of times, she had instinctively recoiled from his touch, and other times, she would avoid it altogether.
