Easton stared at the surprised Natalie, his tone colder than the wind and snow outside. “What am I doing here? Who did you expect to be standing here? Maurice?”

Seeing his displeased expression, Natalie nodded, unbothered. “Yeah, I wish it were him. He’s gentle, kind, and thoughtful. Of course, I’d rather it be him here.”

Easton’s eyes instantly turned frosty. “Natalie, you… Now that you’ve found Maurice to back you up, you’ve certainly grown bolder. But Maurice wasn’t exactly in a favorable position either. There was fierce infighting within the Chambers family, and if Natalie continued to get involved with him, the resulting scandals would only worsen his situation.”

Natalie had had enough of his sarcastic words and cut straight to the point. “How did you get in here?” She distinctly remembered locking the door when she returned.

Easton smirked faintly, his gaze lingering on her. He should thank her for letting him see the door code. He had walked in openly. He said, “Natalie, don’t you know how intense the internal conflict in the Chambers family is? If Maurice gets caught up in a scandal, his position will only get worse.”

Natalie froze for a moment. She knew that already, but since Maurice had invited her, she hadn’t overthought it. To her, Maurice was just a friend; there were no romantic feelings involved—only business opportunities to seize. She resolved to be more cautious about this in the future.

Natalie snapped, “There’s nothing inappropriate between us. You are dirty-minded, so you tend to interpret everything that way.” Annoyed, she shot Easton a glare before walking out of the study and locking the door behind her. “You should leave, I’m going to bed.” Then she went to the room next door.

Easton followed her. He recalled the last time he’d stayed over and shared her bed. Much to his surprise, it had been one of the most restful nights of sleep he’d had in years. Having Natalie beside him didn’t disrupt his rest—it enhanced it.

As Natalie reached her room and tried to shut the door, she looked at Easton standing at the doorway and said angrily, “Mr. Garcia, we’re getting a divorce. Please keep your distance.”

With that, she attempted to close the door. Easton suddenly stopped her, his hand firm against the door. His dark eyes bore into hers as he noticed how daring she had become. She used to long for him to come home every day, but now, she couldn’t wait to get rid of him. This drastic change was difficult for Easton to accept.

Furious, Easton walked in, wrapped his arms tightly around Natalie’s waist, and with one swift move, pinned her against the wall. Then he kicked the door shut.

Natalie stared at him, eyes wide with tension. “Easton, what are you doing? Let go of me! I’ve told you, don’t touch me. I can’t stand it!” Thinking about how he had hugged Jennifer, Natalie was disgusted.

Easton gazed at her alarmed expression, her big eyes darting nervously like a startled deer. He suddenly found her utterly endearing.

“Natalie,” he murmured, his tone uncharacteristically gentle as he tilted his head and studied her anxious face.

Natalie tensed further, her voice trembling. “Let me go, Easton. Let me go right now.”

She was no match for Easton physically, and though she struggled with all her might, she couldn’t break free. Easton’s grip was firm, his arms as strong as iron. Leaning down, Easton bit her lower lip lightly. Natalie froze in shock, and tears started streaming uncontrollably from her eyes. She truly, genuinely hated Easton. She had already stepped aside, giving him and Jennifer the chance to be together, but he was still coming to bother her.

Easton frowned as he saw her tears, his deep eyes flickering with intense anger. “Natalie, I’m your husband. Are you really rejecting me like this?” The sight of her tears filled him with an overwhelming, almost crushing rage.

Natalie said in tears, “Easton, you’ve never treated me as your wife. Not for a single moment. If you had, you wouldn’t have joined the Simpson family in humiliating me. There’s no future for us. Whether it’s the three-year agreement or the two years of separation, it’s all coming to an end soon. Once it does, I’ll file for divorce. I won’t get involved with you anymore, nor will I give you another chance to hurt me.”

Natalie thought, ‘In this life, I will thrive and embrace life to its fullest without him. Growth is simple—it only takes meeting enough people with distorted values, again and again.’

Easton knew he had gone too far in the past, but no matter what he said now, she wouldn’t believe him. After a brief pause, his voice softened slightly. “Stop crying. I’m not here to hurt you. I came to discuss a potential collaboration on AI-based treatments.”

Shocked, Natalie looked up at him, realizing he wasn’t joking, and asked, “You’ve seen my proposal?”

Easton replied, “Yeah, I bought the land before to build a hospital and develop AI applications.” Suddenly, a glimmer of admiration flashed across his eyes as his slender fingers brushed gently against her pretty face. “Natalie, I never imagined you had such talent. You’ve even managed to develop an AI-assisted diagnosis and treatment system.”

Hearing this, Natalie smiled faintly. “This isn’t just my achievement. Chris and his entire team worked tirelessly, day and night, on it.” She remembered how, over the past few years, they had pushed through countless days and nights, tackling technical challenges yet never once considered giving up.

“In the beginning, almost no one believed in this project. They thought it was too forward-thinking, too unrealistic. But we were convinced that AI-based diagnosis and treatment could transform the future of healthcare.” Natalie’s voice was steady and clear, brimming with conviction.

“What was the biggest challenge during the development process?” Easton asked curiously. He had often been away from home, and during those times, Natalie had been devoted to this. For the first time, he realized how little he knew about her. He had underestimated her, always assuming she was just a simple girl from an impoverished town.

After a moment of contemplation, Easton continued, “The greatest challenges must have been data accuracy and security. Medical data is incredibly sensitive—one small error could have catastrophic consequences. And for AI to diagnose diseases effectively, it requires an enormous amount of precise data for training.” He understood that her team’s work was still far from complete. Natalie listened to his analysis and could tell he had taken her proposal seriously.

She replied, “Chris was abroad at the time, and I collaborated with several renowned hospitals domestically. We gathered a large volume of real case data and implemented strict data management and encryption protocols. By continuously refining our algorithms, we’ve improved diagnostic accuracy.”

Easton leaned lazily against the wall, watching her as she spoke about her work with a calm, confident glow he had never noticed before. “What’s next on the agenda?”

Natalie walked in and sat on the couch. “We plan to expand the applications of AI diagnostics. Beyond common illnesses, we want to tackle rare and complex conditions, ensuring that more patients can benefit from this technology.”

Looking into her confident eyes, Easton felt certain that she and her team would create groundbreaking achievements in the medical field.

Sitting down beside her, he tilted his head slightly and smiled. “Natalie, just how many more things have you been keeping from me?”