Slowly, the black Maybach pulled over at the gate of the villa. When Sebastian unfastened his seatbelt, he noticed that Natalie wasn’t getting off the car. She was staring at an old couple beside the pedestrian crossing. The old woman was holding the old man’s arm as they crossed the road together. It somehow reminded her of something she always read in fairy tales, “And they lived happily ever after.”
‘That’s beautiful,” Natalie exclaimed, her face lighting up along with the setting sun Sebastian’s heart tightened and his voice became hoarse, “Someday, when our hair greys out and our bones go brittle, we’ll be like them”
Natalie shook her head, chuckling under her breath.
“I don’t think so.”
Sebastian clenched the steering wheel, immediately feeling tense.
Thereafter, Natalie looked at him intently and smiled.
“You’re much taller than that old man, so I won’t be able to support you like that.”
Just as Sebastian felt relieved and was about to say something, she cut him off and added in a trembling voice, “Sebastian, I want a divorce.”
For the first time ever, Sebastian’s mind went blank. Despair and disbelief clouded his thoughts and his heart.
“Who talked to you and what did they say?” he asked.
Sebastian had thought that Natalie was merely upset.
He had led himself to believe that after a period of time, she would stop getting angry, and by then, he’d apologize to her again.
Then, everything would be okay again. Not once did he think that they’d get a divorce. Still shaking her head, Natalie looked down while twirling the lace on the hemline of her dress.
“I just want a divorce, Sebastian. I’m exhausted…”
‘Natalie, why do you suddenly want to get a divorce? Everything was fine before!” The way Sebastian narrowed his ajar was daunting
After casting him a glance, Natalie looked down once more Hie intimidating appearance frightened her “’’m not okay with the fact that you’ve been lying ta me, Sebastian! I can no longer trust you and in a marriage trust is the most important thing.”
Sebastian knew that he did lie and Natalie was indeed mad, but there was definitely more to the story so he was patient with her.
“Are you hiding something from me?”
Natalie shook her head again.
No matter what he said, she didn’t want to say another word
Sebastian rubbed his temples and closed his eyes as he sat in the driver’s seat in silence for a long time. When he opened his eyes again, he said, “I will never agree to a divorce, Natalie.”
The setting sun finally slid down the horizon, and everything around them turned dimmer. Sebastian couldn’t see her face clearly anymore.
‘lll pretend that I didn’t hear what you said today. Never mention it again,” he said in a soft voice.
The car was filled with a thick silence.
Instead of making a scene, Natalie chose to be calm and asked, “Will you please unlock the door? I want to go back.”
She turned away and stared at the scenery through the window. It was a very long winter this year, in Seacisco.
Sebastian unlocked the door with shaky fingers.
The tremor in his fingers had not stopped yet.
Natalie shut the car door carefully and went back to the villa.
She had to get Sebastian to agree to the divorce because she didn’t think she would be able to live with him as a couple like they had done in the past.
She knew if he didn’t agree then the divorce would not happen.
Natalie was completely worn out as she entered the villa. She knew she could not be compared to someone as perfect as Charis, which was why it baffled her that Sebastian was so into her.
These questions without answers left her feeling confused and pained.
No, she would not think about this anymore.
It only proved to be a waste of her time since she could not find the answers to them anyway.
She went to her room in silence and buried her face in the pillow, covering herself with the bed sheet.She had thought that everything was done with.She would leave Sebastian even if he refused to grant her a divorce She did not belong here with him, not after the hell he had put her through.
Tears fell from Natalie’s eyes and she bit her lips hard to try and stop them from falling.
She missed home and wanted to return there, to the house where she and Hannah had live before.
A huge wall separated them.
Sebastian found it difficult to get the words he so desperately wanted to say out of his mouth.He remained in front of Natalie’s door, lost in thoughts.
Ever since Natalie had found out about his secret identity as Brandon Larson, she moved out of their bedroom Sebastian was quite busy lately, by taking care of work from his company.
He had to go to work early in the morning and come back late at night.
To make it worse, Natalie was avoiding him on purpose.
He hadn’t seen Natalie for a while now and he knew the situation would continue if he hadn’t gotten off work early today to wait for her outside the Larson Group.
Sebastian massaged his head.
He had a terrible headache that made his head throb.He figured that someone must have said something to Natalie.He decided to call Garrett “I did not say anything to her so don’t add me to your list of suspects.”
Garrett had been sitting in a booth at the bar and complaining about the way young people prefer to dance in the bar, when he got the call from Sebastian.
He sighed loudly after gathering his thoughts.
“In my opinion the only thing you did wrong was to hide your identity from Natalie, and it is not so unforgivable.And despite the fact that the senior executives in our company like to gossip, I believe that they aren’t stupid and they can at least behave themselves in certain situations.I believe she must have been prompted by something Natalie was devastated and probably believed that her world might collapse at any time when she found out about the truth.! do not think she can handle any more stress right now. You will need to figure out what it is that happened to her before you try to find a solution to the problem.”
“What exactly has Charis been up to lately?”
Sebastian ground out.
Garrett had not been expecting that line of question from Sebastian so suddenly.He frowned at Sebastian’s words.
“She traveled abroad to deal with some financial issues we had a few days ago.She just got back actually.I think she will mind her words.She is smart enough to know that.”
“I tasked my assistant with investigating what happened to Natalie today. There appeared to be nothing unusual during the day, but the surveillance video cannot account for what happened when she went downstairs by the time she was off duty.”
Garrett could not help but think that Sebastian was making accusations he could not support with facts.
“There was a general meeting of the top executives a few days ago and the decision was made at the meeting to upgrade our security system.So it wasn’t really an accident that the CCTV cameras were shut down after work. The two things happening at the same time is purely coincidental and I think you are overthinking it.”
Natalie walked downstairs from the floor of the design department, but then she chose to take the elevator from the second floor.
Why? What exactly on the first floor made her so afraid that she went back to take the elevator** Sebastian could feel in his gut that something dubious had happened.
Natalie woke up the next day with a sharp throbbing in her eyes.She padded into the bathroom and looked at herself in the mirror.Her hair was a mess, and her eyes were al bloodshot and puffy.She looked terrible “Just skin and bones,” she muttered, pinching her arm and forcing a smile.
Realization suddenly struck her she had nothing to worry about at all.
She was only in her twenties, she still had much of her youth to squander, not to mention a whole life waiting ahead of her Natalie delved into her thoughts.
She had never had much ever since she was a little girl.
When she was in primary school, she had a favorite pencil box with a pretty Barbie pattern.
Cassie ended up throwing it away out of spite. And while Natalie was torn over the loss, she eventually forgot about the knickknack altogether.
Perhaps Sebastian would be just like that pencil box. Besides, he had made a point of keeping his true identity from the start.
Natalie didn’t want to think that it was due to some misgivings on his part, but she couldn’t really blame him if that was the case.
With renewed resolve, she opened her computer and proceeded to send out her resumes to design companies all over the country Shortly after, she received a notice for interview from Flying Kite, a famous establishment in Barnes.
The thing, however, was that she hadn’t sent them her resume.
Curious, Natalie opened the e-mail to confirm its contents.
Sure enough, the HR Manager of Flying Kite expressed their appreciation for her designs, and even mentioned that they were aware that her former superior at the Larson Group had nothing but praise for her.
It occurred to her then that she had previously spoken to Tiffany about changing jobs.
Was it Tiffany who had recommended her to Flying Kite? Gratitude bloomed in Natalie’s heart.
She hadn’t expected that someone else in Larson Group genuinely cared about her besides Gerda.
Flying Kite Design Company came second to the Larson Group.
Because it engaged mainly in the overseas market, and it wasn’t particularly known in the local landscape.
But Natalie had seen their designs, and they were quite on par with those of the Larson Group And here she was now, staring at their invitation and the impressive pay they stipulated.
Natalie pondered it for a second before deciding to accept their invite.She had been planning to leave, anyway, and they did offer a very attractive salary.
Given her skills and experience, she was almost certain that she was going to get this job.
More importantly, Barnes was located farther up in the North, while Seacisco was in the South She could finally escape Sebastian, and stay away from him for good..
After she settled down in Barnes, Hannah could also come over and stay with her.
Natalie didn’t pack much.She only brought some necessities, which didn’t even require a suitcase.
Sebastian had already gone to the company early that morning.
Without telling anyone, she booked a plane ticket online and took a taxi to the airport.
On her way, she called Tiffany.
“Thank you, Miss Fisher.I received an offer from Flying Kite, and I’m on my way to the airport as we speak.Can you send me the forms needed to file for resignatian? I’m afraid I don’t have time to drop by the company.”
“I see, of course. Well, I wish you a smooth journey and a bright future ahead.”
Their conversation was brief.
After hanging up, Tiffany paused and wondered.
She wasn’t sure why Natalie thanked her in the first place.
Was it for formality’s sake? She was actually neutral on whether Natalie should leave or stay, and she was just surprised to learn that Natalie had already made such a bold decision so soon Laney hid behind a large pillar as she watched Natalie walk through the airport entrance.
She immediately sent Sebastian a message, and then followed Natalie inside Sebastian had instructed her to keep an eye on Natalie and report her every move.
Laney had initially thought that Natalie was merely going out for a walk, since the latter didn’t bring any luggage with her.
But Laney’s cool soon crumbled when she realized that they were heading to the airport.
