Chapter 47: She Looks Familiar

Downstairs from the billiard room, the music in the bar was deafeningly loud.

Natalie sat right next to the younger brother, very close, but she couldn't hear a word of what they were discussing.

She had been sitting there for so long, yet apart from when he first introduced her to his friends, he had been freezing her out the entire time.

Hadn't they agreed that he was taking her out to have fun?

Since they were already at a bar, shouldn't they be clinking glasses or something?

Natalie picked up the juice from the table, toasted the incredibly handsome air force officer from across the space, and raised an eyebrow.

The officer felt a bit self-conscious. He raised his glass and took a shallow sip, quickly turning his gaze away as he feigned a casual tone. "Where did you find such a beautiful girlfriend?"

The younger brother replied, "Stole her from someone else's house."

The officer froze.

The younger brother turned his head to look at the little girl who was currently pretending to be innocent. Her eyes were wide, and she even blinked at him.

His gaze turned fierce. "What are you doing?"

Natalie said meekly, "Drinking juice."

"Is it good?" He leaned in close, wanting her to feed him.

Natalie went along with it and brought the juice to his lips.

He wasn't satisfied. His Adam's apple bobbed as he said in a low voice, "Feed me with your mouth."

Natalie: "No way!"

She turned around, took a massive gulp of juice through the straw, and immediately felt a warm chest press against her back.

The voice right against her ear carried a hint of roguishness: "It's not like I haven't eaten your things before, miser."

Natalie's spine stiffened instantly.

What on earth is he saying now!

Before that warm kiss could land on her cheek, she quickly set down her glass, stood up, and skipped off toward the dance floor.

His friend rarely felt inclined to tease, but he joked, "What did you say to make her so embarrassed?"

The younger brother's tone was flat. "Nothing."

"Alright then."

Natalie hadn't actually wanted to dance. She wove through the crowd to the bar counter and casually sent the photo she had just taken of the officer to the boy.

[Check this person's background.]

To find out exactly who the younger brother had been working for back then, the best method was to first investigate the people he had been in contact with.

The boy replied: [Received.]

Before long, he sent over the information regarding the officer.

Natalie scanned it briefly: the eldest son of a powerful family, and a university classmate of the younger brother.

Sensing someone approaching, she deftly turned off her phone screen.

The next second, a pale, slender hand accepted a glass from the bartender.

Her gaze shifted to him. Seeing it was the elder brother, she raised her eyebrows in surprise. "You're here too? When did you notice me?"

"The moment you two walked in, someone came to notify me."

Natalie was stunned.

He meant he knew she had come together with the younger brother.

Last night, the younger brother had treated her like that, yet today they were reconciled?

Furthermore, did her former husband know she was being this reckless?

??

After locking eyes for a moment, Natalie tilted her head. "Buy me a drink?"

The elder brother asked, "What do you want to drink?"

"Whatever is in your hand."

He cast a sidelong glance at her and placed his glass in front of her. "It's strong. Drink slowly."

"I've had this before." Natalie picked it up and took a small sip. "Not bad."

He looked at her, the searching look in his eyes deepening as he waited for her to take the initiative to explain things to him.

But Natalie had no such intention.

She couldn't figure out either why the younger brother had openly brought her here.

The elder brother took another glass from the bartender before asking, "He treats you like that—what are you after?"

Natalie drank her alcohol, still offering no answer.

He narrowed his eyes. "Did he come to seek peace with you, or did you seek him out?"

He believed it was the latter, since the younger brother could never tolerate someone who had stabbed him in the back.

His own fiancée was a prime example.

Natalie played mysterious. "Of course it was him. You definitely wouldn't have guessed, right? He sent me to the police station, yet turned around and asked me out for dinner. In your opinion, what exactly is he thinking?"

The elder brother scoffed.

What else could he be thinking? The younger brother was currently infatuated with her, but given her capabilities, she couldn't possibly plot against him anyway. Keeping her around to play with was nothing serious—purely treating her as a source of amusement.

Knowing the younger brother's temperament, if he were serious about someone, he would most likely hide her away. He wouldn't make it public until the moment they married, let alone bring her around to flaunt her in front of him.

The elder brother asked, "What about you? Do you plan to keep fooling around with him? Do you really not want my cousin anymore?"

Natalie took another sip of wine.

He pressed his tongue against his cheek and gave a mocking laugh. "I know you and my cousin haven't remarried. Doing this won't cause any real harm."

Natalie took the initiative to bring up: "So what you asked me last night..."

"Asked you what?" He looked over with great interest, a shimmering smile appearing in his narrow eyes, making him look somewhat rakish. "Well, are you willing?"

The lights in the bar were disorienting. The more Natalie looked at his silhouette and his features, the more she saw a slight shadow of the younger brother in him. Overall, however, he wasn't as intense; he had a bit more elegance, amiability, and relaxation.

He gave off the feeling that the younger brother would never possess his kind of easy serenity.

After all, the elder brother didn't need to put in any effort to naturally inherit all of this.

Natalie naturally refused: "I'm not willing."

He was targeting the younger brother; whatever belonged to him, he wanted to snatch away.

In his heart, the younger brother didn't deserve to exist.

Looking at it from his perspective, Natalie could understand his feelings.

She explained, "You still have a fiancée."

He was unfazed. "Just a fiancée, not a wife."

Natalie finished her drink and set down the glass. "Alright then, I'll wait for the good news of your breakup."

She turned to leave, melting into the dance floor and cutting through the crowd.

The tattooed friend walked over with his glass, staring at her retreating figure. "That girl looks a bit familiar."

The elder brother's gaze shifted from her small silhouette back to the glass in his hand. "Natalie, the little daughter of that family. Have you seen her abroad?"

The friend shook his head. "Her father has lived in deep seclusion these past years. I haven't dealt with him in a long time, let alone seen their child."

"Since you haven't seen her, why do you say she looks familiar?"

The friend wracked his brain but couldn't think of anything, finally concluding: "All beautiful women look like that. Is she your new prey?"

The elder brother glanced at him and smiled nonchalantly. "Who wouldn't like a woman who is pleasing to the eye? Especially the process of capturing the prey—it makes one particularly excited."

Before Natalie could make it back to their booth, she saw that the two men now had a beautiful woman sitting next to each other.

They looked like hostesses.

She quietly walked back and sat in the corner.

The younger brother said something, and the two women left one after the other.

After they left, Natalie continued to sit there.

But they didn't stay long before the younger brother took her away.

Another sedan slowed to a stop at the club entrance.

The elder brother happened to come out to wait for his driver. Lighting a cigarette, he saw his cousin get out of the car. He was surprised. "Here to play?"

His cousin was introverted by nature, strictly disciplined and driven since childhood; he would never normally appear in a place like this.

Clearly, he was here to look for someone.

The former husband went straight to the point: "Where is Natalie?"

The elder brother smiled. "She just left."

The husband's expression was flat, looking utterly indifferent under the neon lights. As he prepared to turn and leave, he added, "Stay away from my wife in the future."

The casual warning inexplicably irritated the elder brother. "Aren't you divorced?"

"We aren't." He denied it immediately. "She will always be my wife. Don't ask such questions again in the future, otherwise I'll assume you're trying to drive a wedge between us."

Interesting.

The elder brother somewhat admired that woman.

How did she manage to make both of these men so obsessed with her?

Chapter 48: Be Good, Don't Always Make Me Angry

Natalie sat in the car, half-asleep. The man in the driver's seat didn't speak to her, and they returned to the apartment building in silence.

Once inside, the younger brother carried the spoils of their shopping trip, following her in.

The front door slammed shut with a

bang

.

Just as Natalie took off her shoes, a body hugged her from behind.

The shopping bags were dropped to the floor.

She seemed to catch the scent of another woman's perfume and frowned.

Before she could struggle, he explained, "Before you came back, those two hostesses had just sat down. They were saying they were new and asked for some guidance. Don't misunderstand—I didn't do anything, I didn't want to do anything, and it's even more impossible that I ever would."

Natalie didn't care at all. "Even if you wanted to do something, it has nothing to do with me. You should go explain it to the younger Zhou sister."

"Fine."

He let go of her, turned to sit on the sofa, and casually grabbed her wrist, pulling her onto his lap.

"Ah!" Caught off guard by his sudden move, she crashed straight into his chest.

He held her tightly in his embrace. "Look at how petty you are right now. If I really married you, I'm afraid I wouldn't even have the freedom to breathe in the future."

Natalie felt a bit embarrassed and angered by his words. Forcing herself to calm down, she said placidly, "Fortunately, we won't be getting married. You don't have to worry about that problem at all."

"Who can say for sure?" He hadn't been drinking, yet his deep eyes seemed half-intoxicated. "If you don't marry me, who do you want to marry?"

Risking the danger that he might pounce and choke her at any moment, Natalie snorted. "I won't marry again. No one will ever get that chance!"

"You'd better mean what you say."

His hand wrapped tightly around her waist.

The temperature soared.

The position was highly uncomfortable, giving her a real sensation of being entirely controlled by someone else.

Natalie shifted restlessly. "How about I go open a bottle of red wine for you?"

"Wanting to get me drunk so you can fish for information?"

Ah, seen through just like that.

She had indeed wanted to get him drunk so he would speak the truth under the influence.

Natalie's face tightened with embarrassment.

He found it truly amusing and patted her lower back. "Open it then. I'll go take a shower first."

It was rare for him to go along with her wishes.

Natalie scrambled away without hesitation.

But before she took many steps, she heard him ask from behind, "Does your leg still hurt that much today?"

He was referring to the spot where his name was tattooed.

Natalie knit her brows in embarrassment. "It's just starting to peel. It itches to death!"

Coupled with the poor rest she'd had over the past two days, the recovery wasn't that fast. For some reason, she had felt particularly uncomfortable on the way back.

He gave a cold laugh. "And yet you still courted death by drinking?"

Natalie paused, turning her head only to collide with the man's indifferent eyes. "I... I..."

She changed her tune: "Didn't you take me to the bar? Who goes to a bar to drink juice instead of alcohol?"

She was perfectly articulate—in short, she was in the right.

The gaze he directed her way was very cold. He said nothing more, turning to enter the bedroom.

While waiting for him to come out, Natalie flipped open her phone to look at the data the boy had sent.

The officer's background was incredibly powerful. Being from the capital, it was highly possible he had a good relationship with her own family's circle.

Yet layout-wise, she didn't understand her own family or her parents well, so naturally she wasn't clear on who they had been close with.

All these years, she had been hidden away abroad by them, living a carefree life, entirely unaware that they were going through hell back home.

As she continued reading down, the doorbell rang.

It should be the boy.

Without thinking much, Natalie went to open the door.

When she saw the person standing there, she froze.

"Why are you here?"

The former husband smiled. "Came to see if you lack anything. Is it convenient to let me in?"

"Uh..."

Not very convenient.

There was a man hidden inside... no, that man was the actual owner of this apartment.

Natalie's face was written entirely with reluctance.

Yet the words of refusal were so difficult to utter.

While she was swaying in indecision, he shifted the topic: "It's fine. By the way, has the specific layout for the city planning project been finalized? Head office doesn't seem to have received any blueprint reports from your end yet."

Natalie held onto the doorframe, her expression turning serious. "Everything is proceeding according to plan. Rest assured, I won't make you look bad in front of the board of directors."

"That's good." He nodded with relief. "If you face any difficulties, or if you want any information regarding this project, you can come find me."

Natalie's eyes lit up slightly. "Do you have any information?"

"For example, what do you need?"

Natalie casually shifted the subject: "I heard that the previous company in charge of this project was a listed group with massive capital, yet right before the project broke ground, they were wiped out by the police. Later, the group collapsed..."

Speaking of this, she thought of her brother, and her eyelashes couldn't stop trembling.

Calculating the time, they were supposed to meet soon, but then he was suddenly gone.

The husband raised an eyebrow. "You want to know about its former owner?"

Natalie gave a sweet smile. "Of course. After all, for such a massive event, the news was completely suppressed. The story inside must be very interesting. Learning a bit more will ensure we won't lose out when the project kicks off."

His lips curled. "It seems you're highly confident in this project, since you're already gossiping about its past."

She flattered him: "Because I have you backing me up."

He said gently, "I know everything about what you're asking. However, it doesn't seem to have any practical use for the project. Besides, I already gave you their previous planning blueprints."

Natalie blinked. "Can't you just satisfy my curiosity?"

He replied without hesitation, "Of course I can."

"Then I'll go to the head office to find you tomorrow?"

"No." He shook his head. "I don't like to gossip during work hours. If you want to hear it, I'll wait for you at home tomorrow night."

Having said his piece, he prepared to leave. Natalie hurriedly said, "Alright, I'll go back tomorrow night."

He wasn't entirely satisfied with this answer. He wanted to take her away right now, yet he didn't want to force her.

He entered the elevator, and Natalie remained standing at the door, waving to him. "Sleep early. Good night."

His face was cold, but his heart was already a turbulent sea. His fingertips trembled slightly as he held the door-open button, nodding: "Good night, Nanna."

Only after Natalie turned back and closed the door did he press the button to close the elevator.

She didn't know exactly when the younger brother had come out.

Just as Natalie stepped past the foyer, she saw a tall, lazy figure leaning against the light gray bar counter. He kept one hand in his pocket while holding a glass in the other.

The dim yellow light made his expression look somewhat flat. "Sneaking around... were you out acting like a thief?"

"No way." Natalie feigned casualness, studying him with a look of high alertness.

In reality, she thought she looked relaxed and unbothered.

However, in his eyes, she was the picture of vigilance.

He couldn't be bothered to guess or analyze her petty calculations.

Draining the alcohol in his glass, he hooked his finger. "Come here, pour the wine."

"Oh."

How could Natalie pass up an opportunity to get him drunk? She flatteringly poured the wine and pushed it over. "There's more if that's not enough."

He accepted the glass. Under the light, the smile rising in his deep eyes carried a fatal allure—effortless and perfectly measured.

Natalie's heart fluttered along with it.

Clearly he was so fierce to her, his personality so temperamental, and he was constantly fickle.

How could she possibly fall for a man like that? She should have lost all illusions about him long ago.

Unwilling to be seduced by his looks any further, Natalie averted her gaze and went about her own business, slicing a few pieces of lemon and tossing them into some pure water.

His gaze remained fixed on her every move. After a silence, he spoke of serious matters: "In a few days, I have to go on a long journey. A month at the shortest. While I'm away, be good."

Natalie raised her brows. "That long? Where are you going?"

"Not telling you." His voice carried a husky tone, as if he were teasing her.

"Oh."

Nothing special anyway.

"Every night, you must answer my calls... Nanna."

The way he said her name was unexpectedly tender.

Natalie held her breath.

He pinched her busy fingers. "Be good, don't always make me angry."