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“Go on, go on! I’ll take good care of him.” Joyce waved her away.
Natalie smiled and thanked her. After nagging at Connor for a few more minutes, she finally picked up her bag and
left.
When she got to an oriental wares street, she stood at the entrance of the alleyway. It stretched on so far that she
couldn’t see the end of it—that was how long it was. Besides, the street was bustling with people. It was every bit as
crowded as the street that sold vintage items.
Natalie took out her phone and, using the built-in GPS, finally found herself at the most famous collectible items
store on this street.
The moment she stepped into the store, an employee came hurrying up to her with a smile on his face. “Welcome
to our store! May I know what sort of teacup you’re looking for? We stock both dish and bowl.”
“Oh, definitely the bowl!” Natalie said as she glanced around the store, awestruck.
Mr. Moore wasn’t interested in the dish-style teacups. He much preferred the bowl-style ones.
“Here you go!” The employee pointed at a shelf to her right. “All of these are bowl-style teacups.”
Follow on NovᴇlEnglish.nᴇtNatalie thanked him and walked over to take a look.
Back in the lounge, a man attired very lavishly sat on the sofa with his eyes fixed on the security footage monitor in
front of him. He brought the glass of wine to his lips and took a sip.
An old man sat next to him, examining a teacup very closely. Noticing that the air had suddenly gone quiet, he put
down the magnifying glass in his hands and turned to look at the younger man. “Shane, what are you looking at?”
Shane swiveled the wine around in the glass and didn’t say anything.
The old man followed his gaze. When he saw Natalie in the security footage, he pushed his glasses up and yelped in
surprise. “Dear me! Isn’t that the girl from the Smith family? I believe her name is Natalie.”
Shane turned to look at him. “Mr. Blackwood, do you know her?”
The old man shook his head. “I wouldn’t say that. However, I do know that she was the girl your grandfather
selected as your fiancée before he passed. Back when he picked her out of so many others, I was right next to
him.”
I see. That’s interesting.
Shane bowed his head quietly, his thumb grazing over the stem of the wine glass. “So you knew all along that
Jasmine was lying.”
Mr. Blackwood nodded. “That’s right.”
Shane’s eyes narrowed dangerously. “Well, then, why have you kept the truth from me these past five years?”
If he had known that Jasmine wasn’t the true heiress of the Smith family, he would never have agreed to get
engaged with her, even if she had saved his life five years ago.
Mr. Blackwood removed the cotton gloves on his hands and laughed bleakly. “Clearly, I misunderstood your
intentions. When you got engaged with Jasmine five years ago, I thought you were truly enamored with her, so I
decided not to tell you.”
Shane pressed his lips into a thin line. “I’ve never liked Jasmine for even a second.”
“I know that. Just now, when I asked you why you broke off the engagement, I could tell that the person you really
love is Natalie. I’ve seen the way your eyes look when you gaze at her!” Mr. Blackwood twirled his mustache and
laughed brightly.
Since Shane didn’t deny it, Mr. Blackwood took his silence as acknowledgment.
Mr. Blackwood put the teacup into a small box carefully and kept it away. “There’s something I still don’t
Follow on Novᴇl-Onlinᴇ.cᴏmunderstand, however. If you’ve been in love with Natalie all along, why did you choose to get engaged with Jasmine
five years ago? Also, after leaving the Smith family, Natalie never came to look for you.”
He didn’t know that Shane had only fallen for Natalie recently—he thought they had been in love since a long time
ago.
Shane didn’t see a point in correcting him. Pinching the wine glass by its stem, he said in a low voice, “She didn’t
come and look for me because she had a boyfriend.”
From the information he had received, Natalie had eloped with another man shortly before Yulia got divorced.
Harrison Smith had been beside himself with rage because of this and divorced Yulia in a fit of anger.
“A boyfriend?” Mr. Blackwood shook his head. “That’s impossible. If your grandfather knew that she already had a
boyfriend, he would never have selected her as your fiancée. Besides, I’m absolutely certain that your grandfather
did a background check on that girl before he chose her. With his connections and power, he would definitely have
known if she had a boyfriend!”
Hearing this, Shane’s eyes narrowed, his face clouding over again.
That was very true. His grandfather would never have chosen a fiancée for him without conducting the necessary
background checks.
Hence, had Natalie truly eloped with a boyfriend, or was it all hogwash? If she never had a boyfriend back then,
where did her two children come from?
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