Laney swept her eyes across the crowd and clenched her fists.
“If I don’t make a move now, we might not be able to escape this place unscathed!”
“Don’t act as though we’re the bad guys here.Emani is still in the hospital. She’s such a kind-hearted woman! How could she ever offend you?” a girl said loudly, glaring at Natalie.
Right after she spoke, the fans grew more emboldened and agitated.
“Yeah! Emani never hurt you before, you bitch!”
“No wonder your parents deserted you! I heard that you even put your foster mother in prison! What an ungrateful child! Sisters, let’s bring Emani justice today!”
From the very beginning, Natalie had lowered her head and didn’t dare to provoke them.She didn’t want any trouble and thought that she could put up with this.
However, she didn’t expect that the girls would bring up her family.
“You don’t know what really happened.I’ve never hurt Emani.”
Finally, she raised her head and confronted them head on.
However, these fans were like rabid dogs.
One of them even threw an egg at Natalie, cursing, “You fucking bitch! You still won’t admit to your crimes?”
“Beat her! Sisters, somebody needs to teach this bitch a lesson!”
“Why are you acting like the victim? Do you think you can talk your way out of this?”
Before Natalie could defend herself, the crazy fans threw more eggs at her face.
Someone even shoved her from behind.
Unable to bear it any longer, Laney snapped impatiently, “Can’t you talk like decent human beings? You don’t have to resort to violence!”
“What’re you saying? She can push Emani into a lake and we can’t hit her? Looks like this bitch’s friend is also a bitch!”
“Enough with the bullshit! Beat the crap out of them already!” Chaos ensued.
The angry mob kept throwing whatever they had at Natalie.
Natalie and Laney were definitely outnumbered and there was no way for Laney to protect Natalie well while fighting their way out.
What with all the projectiles being thrown at them, they didn’t have the chance to call Sebastian.
As the two women were anxiously trying to escape, several security guards showed up.
“Enough! You’re in a shopping mall.If you have any personal problems, solve them outside!”
The security guards began to forcibly evacuate the crazy fans.
Before Laney and Natalie could make their escape, one of the security guards singled them out and took them to the mall’s administrative office.
Still shocked from what happened, Natalie followed the security guards in a daze and didn’t even bother to wipe the eggs in her hair.
“What on earth happened?”
The man’s voice sounded familiar.She looked up in surprise.
Sure enough, it was Kent.
Seeing the shocked expression on Natalie’s face, Kent couldn’t help but chuckle.
The woman before him looked so goofy at the moment.
Removing the egg shells from her hair, he asked, “Why are you so surprised?”
When Natalie finally gathered her bearings, she turned her face away and murmured, “Thanks.”
Kent threw the pieces of egg shells on the ground and frowned with disgust.
While wiping his fingers carefully with a handkerchief, he teased, “You’re always getting into trouble, aren’t you?”
“Why are you here?” Natalie answered his question with another.
“I own this shopping mall.I came here today on a routine inspection and I happened to see you being besieged by those girls, silly.”
As Kent spoke, there was a trace of affection in his eyes, which he himself didn’t notice.
Knowing that Natalie didn’t like him and didn’t want to spend any more time talking to him, Kent pointed to an exit and said, “You can leave through there instead of the front.Emani’s fans might be outside waiting for you.”
Staring at the exit, Natalie felt somewhat uneasy.She reached for Laney’s hand and turned to leave.
Just before she pushed the door open, she looked back hesitantly and mumbled, “Thanks, Kent.I owe you one.”
Kent turned to look at Natalie’s delicate face.
She wasn’t the most beautiful woman he had ever seen, but there was something about her eyes that made her stand out. What was it about her that obsessed him?
Natalie saw Kent looking at her steadily, as though he was thinking about something.she couldn’t understand what that look meant, but she couldn’t help but feel a little uncomfortable, what with Kent’s eyes being glued to her.
Unable to hold his gaze any longer, she raised her voice and asked awkwardly, “Did you hear me?”
Her question brought Kent back to his senses.
He felt as though he was going insane.
Recently, he hadn’t been himself.
He wasn’t exactly sick, but he had been feeling listless until he saw Natalie.
He didn’t know how long it had been since he had last been with a woman.
Ever since he met Natalie, he hadn’t even looked at another woman.
At first, he thought it was because he couldn’t get Natalie to fall in love with him that he felt drawn to her, prohibiting him from moving on to the next woman.
He didn’t want things to be like this. Wasn’t it better to keep playing the game than to commit to one woman who didn’t even like him?
Wanting to go back to his old self, he started gaing to all kinds of clubs and bars, but something felt different.Kent hadn’t noticed it at first until one of his friends made a casual comment about it.
“So, Kent, when did you change your type?”
“What do you mean?” Kent looked at him in confusion.
“You like young and innocent girls with big, bright eyes now! That wasn’t your type before.”
As if waking up from a dream, Kent blinked and stared at the woman in his arms carefully.
After a moment’s pause, Kent had to down a bottle of wine.
Since then, he had been having trouble getting Natalie off his mind.
The harder he tried, the more stuck he was.
One day, he had one bottle too many.
It suddenly occurred to his drunk self that a friend of his had once predicted that he’d be in love with someone who didn’t love him back, and that was the price he had to pay for breaking too many girls’ hearts.
Now, his friend’s prediction had come true.
“Of course you owe me one-a big one, at that.Since you brought it up, you should start thinking about how you can repay me.How about more than just a dinner this time?”
Kent smiled at Natalie gently.
However, this only made Natalie feel even more uncomfortable.
The look in Kent’s eyes was so strangely affectionate.
Rubbing the goose bumps on her arms, she skirted around the topic and said, “Let’s talk about it later. We have to go now. You don’t want Emani’s crazy fans to keep waiting at the gate, do you?”
“Be careful,” Kent said politely.
His affectionate tone sent a shiver down Natalie’s spine.
She hurried out, Laney in tow.
The exit led to a back alley behind the shopping mall.
After they made it to the street, they hailed a taxi and went straight home.
A mob of reporters and Emani’s fans were blocking the entrance to their neighborhood.
The fans held up placards as though they were in a rally.
“Natalie, you bitch!”
“Come out and apologize!”
Natalie and Laney hid in a convenience store near the neighborhood.
Natalie popped her head out to sneak a look at what was going on outside.
The gate was completely blocked.
Not even a fly would be able to sneak past without getting caught.
“I think I underestimated the Internet.I had no idea those brainless fans would find your address so soon.” Laney frowned.
She wished they could force their way in.She was skilled at combat, and she knew she could defeat all of them in minutes.
Natalie bit her lower lip in frustration.
Just as she was about to say something, however, her phone buzzed in her bag.
The worry on her face melted away when she saw the caller ID.
“Sebastian,” she said, with relief in her voice.
“I noticed you downstairs. Take the path behind the store.I’ve told the security guards to open another door for you.”
From where he was upstairs, Sebastian parted the curtain and watched what was going on downstairs.
Natalie did as he suggested and headed towards the back of the store.
Thankfully there was no one there.
Dragging Laney behind her, she rushed through the back gate quickly.
“You shouldn’t take the elevator since you might bump into someone. The stairs are safer,” Sebastian reminded her over the phone.
With an obedient nod, Natalie started climbing the stairs.She dropped Laney off on her floor and continued on her way up.
By the time she reached the 22nd floor, she was out of breath.
She headed to her apartment and the door opened from the inside before she could knock.
Sebastian glanced around behind her to make sure she wasn’t followed before dragging her in.
“What on earth happened to you?”
A frown scrunched up Sebastian’s face as he looked at the messy state her clothes were in.
“I accidentally bumped into someone and their eggs went all over me.Why didn’t you go to work today?”
Natalie gave a tired smile.
“Today is Sunday.Did you forget?” Sebastian said, looking down at her.
Natalie did forget.
Her mind was still disorganized after dealing with those brainless fans outside.
“Right.Anyway, I need to take a shower.”
She was stinking.
“I saw the video and the posts on Twitter.”
Sebastian walked over to help her take off her coat, then headed to the bathroom to prepare the hot water for her.
“You should take a shower first.Let’s talk when you’re done.”
He was being so calm and gentle.It was strange.
Natalie gave a meek nod.
She was exhausted and needed a relaxing shower.
She came out of the bathroom to the smell of delicious food in the living room.
Sebastian who was wearing an apron looked so domesticated and sweet as he set dishes on the table.
“Come, let’s eat,” he said.
“I don’t really feel like eating right now…” Natalie said softly as she wiped her hair, looking depressed.
“I already know about how you were abused by Emani’s fans.Refusing to eat won’t get you anything except for a stomach ache.”
Sebastian said, putting the plate in front of her.
“Sit and eat.”
After a few seconds of initial hesitation, Natalie pulled out a chair and sat down.She only managed to get a few mouthfuls of food down before tears welled up in her eyes.
She said in a weepy voice, “I didn’t do it.”
It was only in front of Sebastian that she stopped pretending to be tough.
She had been really scared.
When Emani’s fans attacked her, she really wanted to cry but tried her best to hold her tears back.
“If this goes on, I wouldn’t be able to live a normal life.Gerda called me today, and I’m sure everyone in the company knows about it already.I think I’m going to take a day off tomorrow.”
Natalie was at war with a very large group of unreasonable people.She tried explaining to Emani’s fans today, but no one listened to her.
They had been instigated and didn’t care what she had to say.
They only believed what they wanted to believe.
Sebastian’s eyes darkened as he thought of the situation.
“Take two days off for now. You should stay at home since it’s safer here.” Natalie asked for a leave, and Tiffany approved it quickly.
Sebastian didn’t go to work either.
He stayed at home with Natalie and kept her off the Internet.
He didn’t want her to see the negative comments since they would only make her more depressed.
