Chapter 83

Easton watched as Natalie left with James. Over the past few days, she had been surrounded by attractive men, each one more charming than the last.

Easton thought, ‘How could Natalie attract so much attention?’

Things were better before when she was a quiet housewife at home. It wasn’t as complicated then.

He thought if Natalie left, she wouldn’t return, which was fine. She wasn’t interested in dealing with the mess of the Garcia family either.

But after Natalie left, her life seemed to take off dramatically.

In just a few days, she completely changed the way he saw her.

She knew medicine and fashion design and even spoke several foreign languages.

She wasn’t the country girl people talked about.

There must be many things he didn’t know about.

Moreover, since leaving him, Natalie’s fashion sense had only improved, making her more and more pleasant to look at.

She was even more elegant than the daughters of wealthy families.

He must have missed out on some things all these years.

“Follow them and find out who that man is,” Easton said.

Xavier was surprised and thought, ‘Follow them?’

Previously, when Natalie asked him to come home for dinner, he always found her annoying for trying to control even his meals.

Now that Natalie had left, he was the one chasing after her every day.

Xavier didn’t dare to say anything, walked to the car to open the door for Easton, and quickly got into the driver’s seat to drive off to catch up with James’ car.

When Jason returned home, Jennifer personally stood at the door to welcome him. Seeing his reddened and swollen handsome face, she wondered, ‘Has he gotten beaten up?’

She asked in surprise, “Big brother, what happened to your face?”

Seeing his sister, Jason gave a doting smile. “It’s nothing. I went to find Natalie and we had a bit of a disagreement. Don’t worry, Jennifer. I’ll definitely bring Natalie back to apologize to you.”

Jennifer bowed her head sadly. “Big brother, there’s no need for an apology. I just hope she stops bothering Easton and doesn’t put him in a tough spot.”

Jason replied, “Don’t worry, Jennifer. Easton is yours. I’ll make sure he marries you. Only Easton is good enough for our sweet and kind Jennifer.”

Natalie was only suited to be a girl from an impoverished town, and it would be best if she never showed up in front of them again.

Jennifer smiled happily, linking arms with her big brother, and feeling overjoyed. “Big brother, thank you for always being so good to me.”

Just as they walked in, Wendy, who was entering the house, overheard her eldest son’s words and smirked coldly.

The cheapest thing was fake sincerity.

Yet, they never seemed to notice it.

Because she had watched Jennifer grow up, the side she always showed them was the sweet and gentle one.

Indeed, one had to go through heartfelt sacrifices in life to get heart-crushing results.

“Mom, you’re back,” Jennifer said in surprise when she saw her mom return as she was about to close the door.

Jennifer thought, ‘Why didn’t Mom let us know she was coming home this time?’

“Yeah! Everything went well at work, so I came back early,” Wendy said as she dragged her suitcase inside, with her gaze calm.

“Mom, you’re back just in time! Natalie’s been bothering Jennifer again. She just can’t go a day without causing trouble!” Jason said.

The most frustrating part was that she was even calling someone else her big brother now.

Wendy looked at Jennifer, who appeared wronged, and asked, “Oh! Did Natalie set you up again?”

Jennifer sensed her mom seemed different–her eyes no longer showed the same affection for her as before.

“Mom, what’s wrong?” Jennifer knew her mom suspected there was something between her and her dad that wasn’t right, so she was speeding up her plans.

Wendy shook her head and said, “It’s nothing. I just flew for several hours and I’m getting older. Plus, your brothers aren’t very dependable, so isn’t it just exhausting?”

As Wendy walked further in, she asked, “Did you say Natalie bullied you?”

Feeling wronged, Jennifer exaggerated what happened last night.

She also recounted Natalie spending time with different guys.

Jason added from the side, “Mom, everything Jennifer said is true. Tonight, when I went over to teach her a lesson, there was a guy with Natalie. She sweetly called him big brother, more fondly than she has ever called me.”

“When she talked to those other guys, her voice was so soft that it could melt butter,” he said.

The whole way back, his chest felt uncomfortably tight. As long as she didn’t compete with Jennifer for Easton’s attention, he could leave Natalie alone, letting her live peacefully in the impoverished town.

But she was always competing with Jennifer for favor. Even when Jennifer returned, she wouldn’t let go of the title of Mrs. Garcia.

She had never thought whether she fitted for it or not.

“Mom, you wouldn’t believe it. Natalie is so sharp-tongued now,” he added.

Wendy sneered. She had always tried humbly to win over Easton and their family, but they always ignored her.

Now Natalie was starting to fight back, and Wendy ended up completely losing her daughter.

She didn’t say anything because he wouldn’t believe her anyway with Jason’s misunderstanding of Natalie. Let him hit a wall on his own.

None of her sons was worth anything. She had indeed taught them well, but none of them turned out to be successful.

With a helpless expression, she said, “I’m tired. So please behave. Don’t cause trouble for now. The company is facing more and more pressure, and if the stock keeps dropping, the Tompson family will be ruined.”

Wendy coldly warned them both before going upstairs to rest.

After calming Jason down, Jennifer quickly sent a message to her dad.

Jennifer: [Dad, you need to come back quickly. Wendy has returned.]

Nick: [She’s back already?]

Jennifer: [Yeah! Stop being all lovey-dovey with my mom and come back quickly. Don’t make her suspicious, and make sure she takes her tonic tonight.]

Nick: [Okay, okay. I’ll be back right away.]

Jennifer sighed with relief. She was quite happy that Natalie was taken care of tonight.

She happily went to the kitchen for a snack.

Irene Restaurant was a foreign dining place. The interior was beautifully designed with an ethnic touch.

Natalie and James sat across from each other. In front of Natalie was a cheesy shrimp pizza, her absolute favorite.

She said, “Wow! It’s been so long since I had it last time. It’s delicious.”

Natalie picked up a slice of pizza and took a bite. The sweet and savory taste brought back memories.

James had ordered steak, shrimp, and a tasty seafood risotto.

Watching Natalie eat happily, he looked at her with affection. “Natalie, it’s been three years since I brought you here, and I haven’t returned either. The flavor is still just as good.”

Natalie replied, “Yeah! I’ll come with you regularly from now on!”

Natalie’s life was quite free now.

If Easton weren’t always interrupting, she would be even more at ease.

Living a second life taught her that no matter what you were experiencing, or whether you were happy or not, the world wouldn’t stop because of your exhaustion or sadness.

Only by pushing forward could you find greater happiness.

James said, “Yeah! Let’s come here often. This steak is really good. Try a bite.”

James used his fork to pick up a piece of steak and fed it to Natalie.

After eating the piece of steak, Natalie also put on disposable gloves and fed James a piece of pizza.

James wasn’t fond of pizzas. He shook his head persistently and said, “It’s tasty, but I prefer steak.”

Natalie’s smile was brilliant, even more alluring than the sunset outside.

She was about to speak when someone suddenly appeared next to her.