“I know. That’s why I agreed,” Natalie replied.
“When are you meeting them?” Shane asked.
“Tomorrow.”
Shane frowned. “The kids and I are heading back tomorrow.”
“Yeah, I know. Monday is the day after tomorrow.” Natalie buried her head into his chest.
He stroked her hair gently. “I’ll ask Silas to book the afternoon flight so I can follow you in the morning.”
He wanted to spend his last few moments in the country with her.
After tomorrow, they wouldn’t be seeing each other for a long time.
Natalie hummed softly in agreement.
The next day, they left the kids at the villa as they headed off to the magazine company with Sally.
After their discussion, Natalie signed a contract with the company.
Since Natalie was still in the competition, the magazine company understandingly gave her two weeks’ time to finalize her design.
After she handed the design over, the company would take the design to the tailor so they didn’t have to bother Natalie with the physical manufacturing of her design.
Natalie couldn’t turn down an offer like that. After all, she was pressed for time.
The three of them left the magazine company after signing the contract.
Shane got a call from Silas the moment he got into the car. “Mr. Shane, Ms. Graham is in the hospital.”
Shane wasn’t the slightest bit surprised by Silas’ words.
Jacqueline was already weak, to begin with, and the fact that she was also going on a hunger strike meant that her getting hospitalized was simply a matter of time.
“Got it,” Shane said mildly in response.
Silas cleared his throat. “Dr. Baker seems very angry.”
Shane hummed. “I know. He already called me.”
After hanging up on Silas, he called Jackson.
Almost immediately, Jackson asked, “Shane, did you know that Jacqueline got hospitalized for starvation?”
“Yeah,” Shane answered with one hand on the steering wheel.
Natalie glanced at his phone from the passenger’s seat without a word.
Naturally, Sally stayed quiet as well.
Jackson continued, “You said you wouldn’t kill her and only wanted to keep her locked up. What happened to that promise? Not only did she pass out from hunger, but there’s also an enormous gash on her wrist!”
“So?” Shane asked, completely deadpan.
Jackson’s eyes were about to pop out from his skull as his temper spiked. “What do you mean, ‘so?’ How dare you act like that when Jacqueline-”
“She did that to herself,” Shane cut him off. “I only sent her to be locked up. Apart from that, I didn’t do anything to her. The gash on her wrist is from her own failed suicide attempt. She passed out because she was going on a hunger strike.”
“What?” Jackson said in shock. “You’re saying she did this to herself?”
“Do you think I would have ordered someone to cut her wrists and starve her on purpose?” Shane’s eyes glinted mockingly. “I’m not as tasteless as you think. How could I use such an imbecilic way to get my revenge? If I wanted to truly get my revenge on her, I would have pushed her so far off the deep end that she would never see the light of day again. Got that?”
Jackson gulped, completely lost for words.
A few seconds later, he croaked, “Why did she try to kill herself?”
“Just desperate for attention, I guess.” Shane scoffed coldly.
Jackson instantly understood Shane’s meaning from those six words.
Jacqueline must have tried to kill herself to force Shane to forgive her or to make Shane divorce Natalie and marry her instead.
But based on Shane’s attitude, I’m guessing she tried to go for the latter choice.
It seems like Jacqueline is still stuck in her ways.
“Is there anything else you want from me?” Shane asked mildly after Jackson’s constant silence.
Jackson’s throat was dry. “N-No, I’m done. I’m sorry for thinking you did that to Jacqueline.”
Shane scoffed coldly again. “Since the two of you broke up, you don’t need to concern yourself with her anymore.”
