Chapter 227

Chapter 227“Just go!” Yulia interjected as she brought over a plate of washed fruits.
Natalie frowned. “Mom, how could I leave right now with Connor in this condition...”
“I’ll be around. When your brother found out about Connor’s accident, he specifically requested that I
stay here with you for a while longer. As you’ve been under a lot of stress over Connor lately, it would
be nice for you to take a break alongside Stanley and relax.”
Stanley offered his thanks upon receiving his share of the fruit and seconded the points she made.
“Yulia is right, Nat. Just think of it as a vacation. You’ll be back sooner than you know it.”
Natalie looked at the both of them and smiled in resignation as she shook her head. “Since you already
put it that way, how could I refuse?”
Stanley’s face perked up in delight. “So you have agreed to it then, Nat?”
She replied in the affirmative.
“That’s wonderful. I’ll come to pick you up when the time comes.” He placed down the apple in his hand
and got to his feet.
Natalie nodded. “Alright.”
After he left, Yulia put the apple Stanley left behind back onto the plate. “What a thoughtful lad. He
doesn’t forget to ask you along even to attend a wedding.”
Natalie took a bite of the apple. “Actually, I’m not that keen on attending other people’s wedding. I’d
rather he took Joyce instead.”Her mother twitched the corner of her lips. “I don’t know if you are really oblivious, or pretending to be.
You picked it up right away with Shane, so I wonder how is it that you could be this dense when it came
to Stanley.”
“Huh?” Natalie blinked in bewilderment. “What are you going on about, Mom? I don’t get anything that
you are saying.”
The older woman rolled her eyes. “It’s nothing. It’s fine if you don’t understand, but if you do, I fear that
you may not be able to continue as friends with Stanley.”
With that, she poked at Natalie’s forehead once or twice before she went into the restroom.
Natalie rubbed her forehead, all the while still feeling quite uncertain.
Regardless, she put it all at the back of her mind. She lifted the apple to her lips to finish it up before
she placed the drawing board and started work on her designs.
The next day.
Joyce came to the hospital to pick up Natalie so that they may go to the studio together to put pen to
paper on the contract with Plumlee.
She seemed over the moon when she arrived. “Nat, I have a piece of great news.”
Natalie looked up from her breakfast. “What is it?”
“Of course it has to do with Jasmine. Mr. Shane is simply amazing. Do you remember that he said he
was going to punish her? Today, Jasmine suffered a broken leg. Mr. Shane is my hero. I am super
satisfied with this outcome.” Joyce was so emotionally charged she started throwing punches in the air.
In contrast, Natalie’s expression was grim. “Has Jasmine really broken her leg?”“Yup, yup. I saw it in the news this morning. The report stated that she was found in an alley by a
cleaner.” Joyce nodded.
Natalie put down her fork immediately and pulled out her cellphone to search for the said news report.
It did not take her very long to find it.
She skimmed through it quickly and frowned after she reached the end of the article. “That’s not right!”
“What?” Joyce eyed her with doubt.
Natalie then lowered her phone. “This was not of Mr. Shane’s doing.”
“Huh?” Her friend was genuinely surprised. “It wasn’t him?”
Natalie nodded. “According to my understanding of him, he would never raise a hand against a woman,
even to one such as Jasmine. That is his principle and upbringing.”
Th€ connection to th€ §ource of thïš dat@ r€§t$ in n0v3lebook“That may be true, but he didn’t have to do it himself. He could easily have gotten someone to do it for
him,” Joyce snorted.
As she rubbed her forehead in exasperation, she said. “You don’t understand. What I mean to say is,
he would not lay his hands on a woman, be it directly or indirectly, And haven’t you noticed that there is
a gaping loophole in all of this?”
“Which is?” Joyce shook her head.
Natalie bit her lip. “It’s this alley. If Mr. Shane wanted to break Natalie’s leg, why would he want to do so
in a public space like an alley for it to end up all over the news?”Joyce seemed to understand now that the finer points have been broken down and explained to her.
She then slammed her hands onto the table. “That’s right. With Mr. Shane’s influence, he could kill
Jasmine and disappear her if he wanted to, and no one would be any the wiser. If he wanted to break
Jasmine’s leg, he could have done so in front of your Dad. There’s no reason for him to do it outside.”