“How can I convince Mr. Shane?” Natalie’s palm clasped her forehead, feeling worn out.
Joyce put her hands on her friend’s shoulder and said, “You can definitely do it. I don’t know about others but you definitely stand a good chance in convincing that man because he likes you!”
Natalie was initially stumped, then smiled to dismiss her friend. “Joyce, how can you joke about this…”
“I’m not joking. He really likes you. Nat, believe me. I can feel it. Judging by the way he looks at you, he definitely has a crush on you!” Joyce interrupted her and said.
Natalie’s smile started to falter as she noticed that her friend was being serious. Her red lips twitched in response. “How is that possible?”
Shane likes me?
This is absurd. He likes Jacqueline!
“Nat, I know all these must sound implausible to you but it’s true. Mr. Shane likes you, and only you can convince him to give up on the notion to seek revenge. Please, you have to at least try to convince him. As long as he’s willing to let him go, I promise that Stanley will never come back to this country,” Joyce swore a vow.
“Let me process this.” Natalie sat back down as she steadied herself against the cold, hard wall.
“Alright, take your time to process this. I’ll contact my uncles abroad and ask them to get a psychiatrist ready.”
Joyce then fished out her phone and retreated to a quiet corner to make her call.
Natalie lowered her head as she tried to make sense of Joyce’s words just now.
The cell phone in her bag started to ring all of a sudden, interrupting her train of thought.
She breathed out deeply to calm herself down before she took her phone out.
Her eyes widened at the sight of the caller ID. Natalie’s hands trembled in response as she nearly threw it out.
Luckily, she managed to steady it in time, and effectively preventing her phone from getting smashed.
“Mr. Sh- Mr. Shane.” Natalie put her phone to the side of her ear.
Shane’s low and husky voice rang by her ear. “Jackson told me that you went to visit Stanley?”
“Yep…” Natalie nodded her head. Even though she looked calm, her heart was thumping wildly in her chest, like rumbling thunder as Joyce’s words replayed, over and over, in her head.
“What’s the matter with you?” Shane noticed her odd tone as if she was trying to hide something from him. The man who was waiting in the airport lounge frowned slightly as he thought that the woman was not feeling well.
“I’m fine. Why did you call me, Mr. Shane?”
She threw the ball back at him, taking the pressure off herself.
Shane adjusted his posture slightly. “I just wanted to ask if you had thought about how to deal with Stanley?”
“Yeah.” Natalie cast a glance at his ward. “I’m not going to do anything. I’m thinking to just let it slide.”
“Let it slide?” Shane pursed his lips in disapproval. “He hypnotized you, and tried to rape you, and you’re thinking to let it slide?”
“What else can I do? I mean, I’m not going to sue him and send him to jail, right?” Her lips curled into a bitter smile. “He’s different from Jasmine. She had been my enemy from day one, but Stanley’s my benefactor. If it wasn’t for him, Sharon, Connor, and I wouldn’t have made it five years ago.”
Shane’s heart constricted at her remark, and it managed to calm the fire burning in his chest.
I never knew this, so Stanley is her benefactor.
“Okay, it’s settled then, since you don’t plan to do anything to him,” Shane said as he took over the boarding pass that Silas handed over to him.
Natalie mumbled a response, and clenched her teeth before she mustered the courage to ask, “What about you, Mr. Shane? Are you going to seek revenge from him for hurting you last night? Please let him go. Let me make amends for his mistake.”
Shane was hurt because he tried to save her after all. Hence, Natalie felt the need to be accountable for Stanley’s transgression.
