CHAPTER 134

“What’s up?” Gavin exchanged a few words with Natalie but she remained silent, prompting him to

glance at her again with concern. “Are you okay?”

Natalie turned to look at him, taking a few seconds before responding in a hushed tone. “It’s nothing,

just feeling a bit under the weather.”

Gavin decided not to pry further since Natalie wasn’t forthcoming.

The silence lingered between them all the way back to the Prestige Penthouses. Natalie remained

quiet throughout the drive.

As soon as Gavin’s car came to a stop, she grabbed her purse and hurriedly opened the door to get

out.

“Want me to walk you up?” Gavin, noticing her unsteady steps, quickly got out of the car and offered.

“There’s no need, you better get going. It’s getting late.” Natalie replied in a rush.

Gavin was baffled by her urgency, everything had been fine earlier at the James family dinner. He

wondered if something had happened, or perhaps King had assigned her an urgent task.

Scratching his head, Gavin watched as Natalie disappeared around the corner of the flower bed before holds © this.

returning to his car.

While walking, Natalie fished out her access card from her purse. Just as she grasped it, a pair of

tailored suit pants came into view.

She paused and looked up to see Brian standing not far ahead, Brian was always impeccably dressed,

with not a hair out of place. But now, his suit was unbuttoned, his tie missing, and the top two buttons of

his white shirt undone, with strands of hair hanging over his forehead.

Their eyes met and Brian curled his lips into a mocking smile.

“I heard that Michael’s future wife caused quite a scene at the Global Mall today. Quite the spectacle.”

Natalie felt her heart skip and quickly tried to explain, “It wasn’t like that, this afternoon…”

Before she could finish, Brian walked up to her, his gaze fixed on her. As he drew closer, Natalie caught

the strong scent of whiskey on his breath. He had been drinking.

“Why did you turn off your phone?” he asked in a low voice, his index finger gently lifting her

chin.

With her hand tightening at her side, Natalie responded in a flat tone, “My phone ran out of battery.”

After a long stare, Brian reached out his hand.

Natalie pursed her lips and took out her smartphone from her purse, handing it over to Brian.

He pressed the power button for a few seconds and then released it, but the screen remained black. It

was indeed dead.

Natalie had deliberately not charged her phone before leaving for the James family dinner, an

engagement she couldn’t miss, having arranged it with Gavin long before.

After a few seconds of silence, she asked quietly. “Did you do something to my phone?”

Brian, however, simply placed the phone back in her purse with a light chuckle, responding with a

question, “Didn’t you say you’d rather marry a vegetable? Why did you get your sights set on the

James family now?”

Just twenty–four hours ago, he was reflecting on his regrets about the years of cruelty and neglect he

had shown her.

Yet Natalie seemed to navigate effortlessly among these men, seemingly indifferent to his sympathy.

Perhaps his overtures were no more than a joke to her.

Natalie knew she was misunderstood again.

If it were merely about a dinner outing, it might have been easier to explain.

She had no idea how the afternoon’s events had reached his ears, especially since Gavin had ordered

the company to keep the matter confidential.

“I didn’t,” she said after a pause, looking him straight in the eye with a firm voice.

She was clear of conscience, unafraid of rumors.

“As for the billion you transferred to my account a few days ago, ninety million of that was from the

James family. You take their money, how can you deny it?” Brian was filled with even more

scorn.

“I… Natalie was taken aback before realizing the implication.

Brian must have checked the transactions of her domestic account!