Turning Of the Tide by Diana Sander

Hackett turned to one side and squeezed through the door, smiling. “Mr Wilson is play chess with Mr.

Turner 1 lule scared to be alone, so I came over to chat with all of you”

Natalie scoffed at his lame excuse

By then, Hackett had already entered the house. However, he did not walk around. Instead, he waited

patiently in the living

Inside the room. Sherri was sull drying her hair behind closed doors. As the hairdryer was very loud,

she did not know that Hackett was in the living room. She only realized it was hum when she came out

of the room

She tied up her hair casually and asked in surprise. “Why are you here?”

Hackett vas playing with Ruby when he replied with a daughter.”

1. “I want to see you before I sleep. I also want to see my

Seeing how pitiful he looked. Sherri did not have the heart to chase him away

Natalie decided to leave Ava alone since the latter was busy She closed the door of her room and sat

in the living room. She cast a glance at Hackett and asked, “When are you two going to meet your

parents”

Both Hackett and Sherri had been together for a while and even had a child together Natalie thought it

was time for them to meet each other’s parents.

She was aft and that Richard would be unhappy if this matter dragged on too long

It was obvious that Sherri liked Hackett, and Hai kett would always accommodate Sherri

Hackett was playing with Ruby and Jasper when he heard that He looked up at Sherri and smiled. “I’ll

do whatever Sherri wishes If she’s agreeable, I’ll go over tonight”

Hackett knew he would be able to run away from Edward. He could not care less now since Frank had

already cheated him of a large sum of money.

The ball was now on Sherri’s court Feeling a little nervous, she looked at Ruby before turning to

Hackett After some thought, she finally said, “Let’s wait a little longer. It’s my father’s birthday next

month”

Natalie did not say further. She could only advise them. It was up to both of them what they planned to

do.

However, oftentimes, things would not go according to everyone’s wishes.

Natalie decided not to probe further since Sherri had her plans. She would be happy as long as Sherri

was happy.

Meanwhile, Joseph was playing chess with Trevon in his room

This time. Ethan was not with him Only Joseph and Travon were alone in the room.

One used his left hand to play chess, while the other used his right hand. There was an expensive

bottle of wine on the table.

Joseph poured himself a glass of wine and said indifferently. “Mr. Wilson, you should drink some water

instead”

Trevon smiled and did not pour himself any wine. He wanted to recover as soon as possible too. He

had spent so much effort and time getting so close to Natalie and found his injuries to be a big

nuisance

No one spoke. It was as if they were just having a game of chess. Time passed by the minute. It had

been more than two hours, but no victor emerged.

Trevon did not seem to be in a hurry. He poured himself another cup of hot water and drank it slowly

Joseph said. “Do you smoke? Trevon had been in the room for hours, and Joseph had yet to see him

smoke. He

remembered Pat telling him that Trevon was quite a heavy sinoker.

Trevon curled his lips into a faint smile. I quit smoking”

Joseph was surprised “Is it because of Jasper?”

Trevon explained. “It’s for Natalie’s sake. She stopped smoking, so I should stop too.”

Joseph did not know that Natalie smoked. Hearing this, his hand froze in mid-air, holding a black chess

piece tightly. He stared inquiringly at Trevon, who was sitting opposite him.

When Natalie was pregnant in Sapphire Caty, she did not smoke. She also did not smoke after giving

birth.

Hence, Joseph had no idea at all that Natalie smoked.

Trevon noticed the change in Joseph’s expression. He was aware that Joseph did not know Natalie

smoked. He slowly retracted his gaze and looked down at the chessboard as if he was the winner

He spoke up, sounding helpless “She started smoking when her mother passed away. She used to

smoke before she got pregnant, although she wasn’t addicted to it. She would smoke a few cigarettes

whenever she was in a bad mood”

Joseph was stunned. He retracted his hand that was frozen in the air and put the chess piece back on

the table. He knew what

kind of feeling it was for a woman to take up smoking as a means to numb herself from her loneliness

and despair.

She found solace in smoking, using it as a coping mechanism to case her emotions, for she had no

one else to confide in or seck comfort from.

Joseph was silent for a long whule. He had always been able to hide his feelings well. However, he

now looked guilty and heartbroken

Trevon was comforted to know that Joseph was feeling bad for Natalie. It was good to know that

another person cared for her. She deserved to have both love and kinship. He assured Joseph, I won’t

let her smoke again. I’ll quit smoking with her.”

After a while Joseph finally spoke up. “I hope you’ll keep your word”

If his parents knew that Natalie used to smoke, they would be heartbroken.

Joseph knew that his father would blame himself even more. All of a sudden, Joseph’s throat was dry,

and his chest felt tight.

Trevon made his earlier promise not just to Joseph. It was also to himself. He said, “I will keep my

promise. Beside, aren’t you always keeping watch on me

The corners of Joseph’sclips curled up. He poured Trevon another cup of water from the coffee pot. He

looked at Trevon intently As long as you are good enough for Natalie, I won’t waste any more

resources on you.”

Trevon shook his head, knowing full well what Joseph meant “If you have too much money and don’t

know how to spend them you can transfer them to my bank account. I don’t mind showing off my love

to her in front of you. You seem to enjoy seeing us together”

Joseph ignored ham and went to the toilet. While playing chess, both men had gone to the toilet

countless times.

It was an evenly matched-game. Their skills were on par with each other Joseph looked at the clock. It

was already half past eleven “Til leave Athana in four days time I have a favor to ask of you.”

“Is this my honor, or should 1 sider myself unlucky?”

Ignoring him, Joseph continued. “Think what you like. It’s about Natalie”

Immediately Trevon replied. “Its my honor then“

Joseph stopped what he was doing. The gentleness on his face was soon replaced by a serious

expression “It’s about my aunt, who is also Natalie à mother. I suspect that there is more to her death. I

don’t have as many connections in Athana as you do. I hope you can help look mito this matter”

Two years ago. Trevon ha also investigated the matter. When Natalie went overseas, he had put the

matter on hold. “Okay, Til take up this task

Trevon understood Joseph’s considerations. He also knew how Joseph felt when he entrusted the

matter to Trevon.

Joseph could do whatever he wanted in Sapphire Caty. He had so much power that he could also plant

spies around Trevon. However, it Joseph wanted to investigate something that happened decades ago,

he had to start looking for clues from scratch He would need to spend a lot of time and effort on it

Trevon knew at once that Joseph made the right decision. Immediately. Trevon knew what he had to

do. “Tll get my friends to continue investigating 1 looked into this two years ago but stopped after some

time”

Joseph was surprised to hear that Trevon had investigated the matter earlier. This meant that both of

them had the same thought Who’s the chef of this hotel?”

Trevon smiled and immediately replied. “Til look into this. Leave if you have to. I’ll deal with this.”

Joseph sneered Im sure you can’t wait for me to leave.”

Trevon retorted. “Don’t tell me you want to stay and break up a loving couple”

Joseph was rendered speechless.

He decided to avert the question and warned. “Don’t let Natalie know about this. If you find out any bad

news, don’t tell her too. It’s better that she thinks that my aunt committed suicide. Also, how’s the

investigation of the car accident going?” Trevons expression darkened and he said in a low voice, “I

won’t let her know We’re still investigating the car accident. There’s some progress in this”