Alfred noticed Natalie behaved oddly. He took a deep breath and stared sharply at her. “Tell me. What do you mean
by that?”
“Grandpa...” Isabelle tugged at his sleeve without uttering a word.
Her anxiety caused him to narrow his eyes. “Shush!”
Isabelle shuddered and quickly buttoned her lips.
Natalie observed her reaction and swept a gaze over her. “Ms. Moore deliberately knocked into me,” she explained.
“She tripped and broke the glass. Then, she asked me to clean them on my knees. Mr. Shane was just trying to
stand up for me.”
Disbelief crossed his face as he listened to her. After a while, he lowered his head to look at her granddaughter.
“Belle, is that so?”
In that instant, Isabelle’s face turned pale as a sheet. “Nonsense! That’s not true. Grandpa, don’t listen to her. I’m
Follow on NovᴇlEnglish.nᴇtyour granddaughter, trust me.” She refused to admit it.
“Very well, then. Let’s check the security footage, shall we? Mr. Moore, are you fine with that?” asked Shane while
he fixed his eyes on Alfred.
Natalie nodded an agreement.
Alfred twitched his lips but made no response. Suddenly, Isabelle let out a shriek like a cat on a hot tin roof. “No,
you can’t!”
In fact, that is the drawback to her absolute spontaneity ploy. She didn’t have the time to tamper with the footage.
That was why she was anxious that it might disclose her action to humiliate Natalie.
However, it was obvious to everyone in the room that she was trying to hide the truth.
It is clear now. There’s no point getting agitated if she is innocent. Alfred was as much disappointed as angry at his
granddaughter.
He pushed her hand away, walked over to them, and bowed in apology.
“Grandpa!” Isabelle genuinely surprised by his reaction.
Natalie too. She immediately reached out to stop him. “Mr. Moore, what are you doing?”
He continued to keep his head bowed. His action left her with no choice but to turn to Shane. She shook her head
slightly.
Her sincere gaze made it extremely hard for him to reject. He rubbed his temples in frustration and grabbed
Alfred’s arm. They helped him up together.
“My bad. I shouldn’t spoil her rotten. Leave this to me. I will discipline her.” Alfred felt ashamed.
He let his gaze fall sternly on Isabelle’s face and said, “Come! Apologize to them!”
“Never!” she refused while biting her lower lip.
Alfred’s face grew darker. He then thwacked her back with a cane. The sound of the cane whooshing through the
air left Isabelle stupefied for several seconds.
On the other hand, Natalie and Shane stood rooted to the spot. They were astounded to see that Alfred, who
Follow on Novᴇl-Onlinᴇ.cᴏmalways adored his granddaughter, would punish her severely.
Isabelle stared at his grandfather as the tears continued to roll down her cheeks. “Grandpa, how could you?”
Alfred certainly felt bad after hitting her. Despite that, she refused to apologize, even when she was clearly in the
wrong. He had no choice but to raise his hand to her. “You should be grateful that I’m not using any strength, you
spoiled brat! How dare you lie and deny your wrongdoing! And worst, you even planned a scheme on someone!
From now on, I will cut your allowance and I want you to write a self-reflection! Until you complete it, you’re
grounded!”
With that, he sighed heavily, “Shane, Nat, what do you think of this punishment?”
“You decide. It’s up to you,” Shane said to Natalie, with his gaze fixed on her.
His words flattered her, and her blush rose immediately. Her eyes flickered to him before drifting to Alfred. “That’s
fine.”
“Great. Thanks for being reasonable.” Alfred expressed his gratitude with a smile on his face. Yet, deep down, he
was disappointed and mentally drained.
Natalie could sense his disappointment at his unfilial granddaughter.