Natalie forced a smile, albeit bitter.
The expectant look in her eyes clouded over..
Even after Tiffany left, Natalie continued to wait for Brandon.
While she waited, many new employees passed by and looked at her strangely, wondering who she could be and what her business here was.
Natalie smiled bitterly.
In the past, she never showed off the prestige that came with the title of “Mrs.Larson”.
But now that she was practically erased from Brandon’s life and nobody seemed to know that they used to be a loving couple,
Natalie felt suffocated.
Still, she refused to leave.
The night went on and her eyelids began to droop, so she leaned against the wall and almost fell asleep.
Just as she was drifting off to sleep, she heard the sound of a door opening.
When Natalie opened her eyes, she found a large group of people walking out of the meeting room with
Brandon.
Brandon saw Natalie standing at the door of the meeting room, so after exchanging a few words with several executives, he walked towards her.
“Why are you still here?” Brandon thought he had already made himself clear earlier.
Because he had no memories of Natalie, he saw her advances as pestering and grew a little impatient.
“Do you have time to talk now?” Natalie asked, firmly standing in Brandon’s way.
The man glanced at his watch and frowned.
“I have a full schedule tomorrow.! have to go to bed early tonight, but I suppose I can give you half an hour.”
Hearing the coldness in his words, Natalie wished she could slap him on the spot.
Fortunately, she managed to suppress her anger and followed Brandon to the office quietly.
It was already midnight, so his office was quiet and empty.He sank into his chair wearily and loosened his tie with his eyes closed.
“What do you want to say? Just say it,” he said with a trace of impatience.
Without beating around the bush, Natalie went straight to the point.
are only us here now.I’II ask you one more time, Brandon.What the hell happened to you? No matter what happened, we can solve it together!”
Brandon opened his eyes, which were full of annoyance.
“I already told you that nothing happened. There’s nothing I can do if you don’t believe me.”
Natalie took a deep, shuddery breath.She couldn’t help but raise her voice as she spoke.
“We were a loving couple just last week! But look at how your attitude is towards me now! How the hell can you expect me to believe that nothing happened?”
It never occurred to Natalie that she and Brandon would end up like this.
Brandon remained unfazed, his face expressionless.He had no idea how he and Natalie used to act around each other.He only.
knew that Natalie was head over heels in love with him, according to Charis.
Maybe their so-called loving past was nothing but Natalie’s fantasy.He doubted he was ever loving towards her.
“Miss White, I hope you’ll stop overthinking things.We’re still a couple and I’ll fulfill my duty as your husband.”
Brandon chose his words with great care and spoke slowly and emotionlessly.
Staring at him quietly, tears started to roll down Natalie’s cheeks.She couldn’t see any emotion in the man’s lifeless eyes.
Brandon had become such a stranger that she couldn’t help but feel scared.She cried, “Brandon, are we just a couple on paper now?”
Brandon frowned.
The woman’s tears only served to make him more impatient.
He stood up, gathered the documents on his desk, and said, “I’ve said what I needed to say.If there’s nothing else, I will leave first.I’m busy lately, so I won’t go home.I’II move to a place near the company.”
From outside the window, clouds gathered and the strong winds howled wildly.
Lightning lit up the skies.
Arainstorm was brewing.Suddenly, thunder roared, and the lightning lit up Natalie’s shocked expression.But Brandon didn’t give a damn.He didn’t say anything to comfort her.
Instead, he walked out of the office without another word.
Natalie watched him leave with tearful eyes.She didn’t even try to stop him.
And even if she did, she wouldn’t know what to say to this cold and aloof Brandon.
Brandon was like a completely different person now.He would never be so impatient with her before.
When she looked into his malicious eyes just now, she found herself unable to even breathe.How could she face her husband, who was now a complete stranger to her? Natalie felt like her whole world was crumbling down.
The Whites took shelter in a five-star hotel during their stay in Seacisco.
They texted Natalie, telling her not to worry too much.
Beal also mentioned that he had asked someone to investigate what had happened to Brandon the past few days.
As Natalie’s parents, they couldn’t just go back to Barnes without finding out what happened to her husband.
Soon after they checked into the hotel, they received a call from Draco.Draco said that he was calling because he was worried about Natalie.
Johanna knew that they wouldn’t be able to solve Natalie’s problem any time soon, so she asked Draco if Natalie could file for a long-term leave from the company, to which the latter agreed.
As the thunder roared outside the window, it rained cats and dogs.
With every passing minute, Johanna grew more and more worried about her daughter.
Before long, she heard a knock on the door.She opened the door and found Natalie staring blankly into space, drenched to the core.
Johanna was taken aback.She hurriedly pulled Natalie inside the room and asked, “It’s raining so hard outside.Didn’t Brandon drive you home?”
Judging from the expression on Natalie’s face, it seemed that the conversation between her and Brandon didn’t go so well.
‘It’s okay. You can stay here with us.”
Johanna comforted Natalie softly. Then she looked at Beal and ordered, “Go ask the front desk to get Natalie a presidential suite.”
Seeing his daughter in this state, Beal also felt terrible.He sighed in his heart.
Before leaving, he reminded his wife, “Stay with her.She needs you.If things go on like this, we’ll go back to Barnes— without
Brandon.”
Johanna winked at him.Then she went to the bathroom to fetch Natalie a towel.
As she was drying Natalie’s hair, she asked with concern, “Can you tell me what happened?”
Natalie hadn’t spoken a word ever since she got here.Her eyes seemed to be covered with a thin layer of mist, losing their original vitality.She shook her head bitterly, took the bath towel from Johanna, and started drying herself.
“He still didn’t tell me anything.”
“Your father asked someone to investigate the matter a few hours ago.” Johanna could only try her best to comfort her daughter.
“Mom, just tell me everything you know.Don’t worry.I can take it.”
“We don’t know anything useful yet.Our priority now is to find out what happened to Brandon when Charis took him to the hospital. The Turner family is powerful here, and they own that hospital.We can’t just send someone there to investigate.”.
Johanna was also puzzled.
Brandon had turned into a completely different person overnight, but there were no clues as to how or why.
After drying her hair, Natalie went to the bathroom to change out of her wet clothes.
In desperation, it suddenly occurred to her that there might be someone who had answers.
“Garrett, are you in Barnes now? Have you noticed if there’s anything wrong with Brandon lately?”
It was past midnight now, and Garrett was asleep when Natalie called.
When he answered the phone, he was still foggy and halfasleep. Natalie’s questions only stunned him further.
“Hmm…Brandon? Well, yeah.He has been a little strange recently.” Garrett yawned sleepily.
“What happened to him?”
“That’s what I wanted to ask you.! got into an accident some time ago and I wasn’t in Seacisco the past few days.” Garrett was Brandon’s best friend.
Natalie figured that he might know something.
Garrett gradually came up..
“I did sense that there’s something off about Brandon lately.His attitude toward me has been very strange.It’s almost as though.
he’s been on guard against me.But he refuses to tell me why.The most strange thing about him is that he seems to only trust
Charis now.”
Natalie’s expression instantly darkened.She said firmly, “Charis must have done something to Brandon.”
But what on earth Charis had done to make Brandon become like this? Natalie had no idea…