CHAPTER 122

But if she were Azure, she couldn’t have made it back so fast. The route to Prestige Penthouses This is property © .

passed by the stadium, and traffic was a mess tonight because of the concert going on. The crowd

wouldn’t clear out until past eleven and he got stuck in a ten–minute jam.

Then again, the thought was almost laughable. If Natalie had the chops, why would she settle for

playing second fiddle, accepting slaps to the face without fighting back?

He was overthinking it.

Silently, he moved to the side of the bed where she lay, a faint perfume lingering in the air, tantalizing

his senses.

It made sense, though. She had been alone abroad for years. How could she have survived in Bluestar

without external help?

Kellan swooping in wasn’t her fault. It was his mistake. He admitted it and regretted it.

He lay down beside Natalie, clothed, and reached across the sheets to encircle her waist.

Natalie stiffened slightly, sensing his touch.

“Don’t move,” he whispered, eyes closed, right beside her ear.

Was he unaware of her ruse? Why else would he be so calm, even holding her as they slept?

She had borrowed Dave’s motorcycle in a rush to get back. She had barely shed her clothes and lay

down when she heard Brian’s arrival.

If he hadn’t paused at the door, giving her a moment to catch her breath, she would have been

exposed!

Brian knew she was still awake.

After a while, he suddenly asked softly, “How much money has Kellan given you over the years?”

Natalie hadn’t expected him to bring up King at a moment like this.

Shocked, she heard him continue from behind her, “If you can’t figure it out now, we’ll talk in the

morning. I’ll pay him back tenfold.”

Natalie thought perhaps Brian was trying to compensate for the pain of losing a son.

She steadied herself and after a moment, spoke softly, “Some things can’t be undone with money.”

“If ten times isn’t enough, then a hundred,” he cut in abruptly before she could finish.

Natalie frowned, “You…”

The hand around her waist tightened, his breath hot in her ear, “Sleep.”

Natalie clutched the bedsheets beneath her, daring not to move again.

Against anyone else, she wouldn’t back down, but this was Brian. She knew how Brian was raised by

his grandfather in the military district.

His fighting skills were unquestionable. Even the champion of his troops, Reid, could only manage a

draw with Brian. That was with Brian holding back.

If not for the fact that Brian was the sole heir to the Howard family and the Morales family had given

their tacit consent, he wouldn’t have chosen business. Even his two years abroad were spent at a

military academy, not studying finance.

When they were children, he used to call her dumb, a mute, but Natalie never retorted. Brian was

exceptional, a child prodigy who skipped grades and became the top scorer in their country during his

college entrance exams.

Brian was an omnipotent god, getting whatever he desired. No one could stop him from succeeding.

So when this golden boy was cast from grace due to Audrey, Natalie’s mother, plummeting from the

heavens to the earth, how could he not harbor resentment towards them?

He wanted to drag her down to hell and sever any chance she had to climb back up. She understood

that.