Romance

Natalie held her ground. "No."

Jeffrey snapped, "Hand it over now!"

She retorted, "Kevin already went over everything line by line, Jeffrey. I don't want the ten million dollars or the car. You signed the papers. What more do you need to see?"

She even deliberately pushed his buttons and asked, "Are you having second thoughts about the divorce?"

Jeffrey wanted the divorce, but his gut was telling him something was off. That was why he wanted to go through the divorce papers one more time to be sure, but Natalie refused to give them back.

His voice dropped into a warning tone. "This is your last chance. Give me the agreement now."

But she sure as hell wasn't going to give that to him. Because of that, they were stuck in a tense standoff until Abigail stepped in.

She walked over to Jeffrey and gently slipped her arm through his before saying, "The agreement is fine as it is, Jeff. Y

Stephen grabbed Natalie's shoulders, shaking her in disbelief. "What did you just say? You're getting nothing?"

She repeated, "I left the marriage with nothing."

He was boiling with rage. "What is wrong with you, Natalie? It's five years of marriage. I understand if you didn't stash anything away, but why didn't you take a dime in the divorce? That money is yours. You earned it. Do you think turning it down makes you better than anyone?

"Did you seriously let Jeffrey sleep with you for five years for free? Even hooking up with women at the club takes money. Worse yet, you didn't only do it for free, but you paid him back on top of it.

"Is money nothing to you? You treat cash like dirt, but you're all hung up on that flimsy thing called love."

Stephen shook Natalie hard, making her feel dizzy. With her eyes closed, she waited it out until the nausea faded.

She remarked, "Jeffrey nev

Jeffrey's expression was unchanged. It was impossible to tell what he was thinking.

The world had long calculated Jeffrey's worth, and he was worth over a billion dollars. His shares in Foster Group made up half of that fortune. The other half was tied up in his personal investments and real estate properties across the globe. He had estates in several cities across Ostrea.

As Jeffrey's legal wife, Natalie should have been entitled to at least half of that fortune. Even if she didn't get half, she could easily walk away with lots of money.

But she was only asking for a mere ten million dollars.

"I want cash flow. Just transfer ten million dollars directly into my account. As for the car, you bought me the BMW Mini that I'm driving now, so I'd like to keep it."

After five years of marriage, the only gift Jeffrey had ever given her was that car.

Actually, it wasn't really a gift. In fact, it wasn't even something he gave to her willingly.

The BMW dealership was just across the road when they were leaving a Rolls-Royce dealership. 

Caroline had been there, casually saying, "All those cars you buy are too business-like for Natalie. I hear that young women love the Mini. It's cute and easy to drive. Why don't you buy one for her?"

Jeffrey, always obedient to Caroline's wishes, had Ryan swipe his card to buy the Mini, just as his grandmother had suggested.

Natalie had been thrilled for a long time after that. She had treasured that car. Even now, after everything, it was the one thing she wanted to take from Foster Garden.

It was her only demand, which wasn't excessive. If anything, it was beneath her.

Meanwhile, Jeffrey was wondering if Kevin had made a mistake with the number of zeros. But Natalie had confirmed that she only wanted ten million dollars.

"Are there any issues? If not, we can sign the papers," she said as Jeffrey remained silent. 

She walked over to Kevin, took the divorce agreement, and, in one swift motion, swapped it out with another copy that contained the surgery consent form.

Natalie thought for sure Jeffrey would just sign it immediately. She handed it over to him.

However, Jeffrey didn't take it, so she pushed it closer. Yet, Jeffrey still didn't move, his hands remaining at his side.

Abigail, watching the scene, felt a bead of sweat form on her palm.

Of course, she wanted more than anyone for Jeffrey and Natalie to be completely cut off from each other. That way, she could finally have her chance at becoming his wife.

After enduring so much, Abigail was finally ready to take her position. She had been waiting all this time for Natalie to let go.

Now, Natalie had finally given up, but why was Jeffrey hesitating?

"I have an issue with this." Jeffrey's deep voice broke the silence in the office. "I won't give you ten million dollars, Natalie."

Natalie almost blurted out, "Why not?"

The money she asked for wasn't unreasonable. It was meant to kickstart her own plans. Stephen had nothing, only debts, so she needed the money. Once she got things going, she would pay Jeffrey back.

That was always her plan.

But she never imagined Jeffrey would be so stingy as to refuse to give her the money. After all, they had been married for five years, and she had dedicated 17 years of her youth to him. How could he be so cold-hearted?

Jeffrey retorted, "Why do you think? Since we got married, everything you've had has come from me. You never earned a penny and just sat at home, always asking me for money. Now that we're divorcing, what reason or right do you have to claim my assets?"

Natalie stared at him, feeling a strange sense of unfamiliarity settling in.

The man she had spent five years with, her husband, now spoke to her with such cold, harsh words.

She had believed that she could face Jeffrey calmly now, and that his words wouldn't affect her. She wouldn't take what he said to heart anymore.

But she had underestimated the harm his words could cause.

How could anyone say such hurtful things? Each word felt like a dagger to her heart.

Yes, she didn't have a job. She had been a full-time housewife. But hadn't she worked hard to keep their home in order? Did that not require time, effort, and energy? Wasn't it a skill to keep their home organized?

Yet, to Jeffrey, everything she did was worthless, as if she had been living a life of leisure.

Natalie felt no desire to argue. She gave a cold laugh and simply said, "Yeah, you're right. So, Jeffrey, what do you want? Just say it. Stop beating around the bush."

"I'll give you a million dollars. You can have the car."

His high-handed charity was like pity. He was simply brushing her off.

Natalie closed her eyes for a moment. A few seconds later, she opened them again, and there was only calmness within them. "I don't want the money. I don't want anything. Is that okay? Are you satisfied?"

Kevin, who had been standing by, was stunned. He had handled many divorce cases and had heard rumors about the divorces of wealthy couples. The amounts involved were usually in the billions.

But here, with Natalie and Jeffrey, it felt more like they were middle-class instead. Millions were just pocket change for them.

Natalie picked up the divorce agreement, flipped to the section about asset division, and quickly crossed out the relevant line with a big "X", then wrote the word "Invalid" beside it.

She handed the document back to Jeffrey. "Now you can sign it. I'm walking away with nothing."

Jeffrey finally took the document. He seemed distracted as he muttered, "Natalie, you could have just begged me."

She was stubborn and way too proud. If only she had been a little softer and gentler, it wouldn't have had to end like this.

"Beg you?" Natalie laughed aloud. "Jeffrey, one day, it'll be you begging me!"

When that time came, she wouldn't care about him. She wouldn't give him a second chance.

Jeffrey chuckled. "You're talking nonsense."

As he laughed dismissively, he flipped through the papers and, with swift strokes, signed the documents. He couldn't remember how many times he put down his signature. It was probably three or four times.

Jeffrey was a little confused. Usually, two signatures were enough. He had signed off on so many important documents, including sensitive and confidential business documents, and it was usually just two signatures.

Why did this divorce agreement require more? Was there an additional clause hidden inside?

Natalie watched as Jeffrey signed the final page. When she saw him about to look back at the earlier pages, she quickly snatched the papers out of his hands.

She couldn't let him check it. He had already signed everything, after all. It was done.

Jeffrey glared at her, his expression filled with irritation. "Rude."

"Kevin has already gone through it. What are you worried about? I'm walking away with nothing. What loss could there possibly be for you?"

Jeffrey raised an eyebrow. "What if there is?"

In reality, his doubts were valid.

But how could he possibly guess Natalie's plan? This had been the first time in all these years that she had deceived him.

Natalie carefully put the divorce agreement into her bag and zipped it closed. "There's nothing! That's it, Jeffrey. After one month, we'll meet up at the courthouse to finalize this."

The plan worked. She had managed to get Jeffrey to sign the surgery consent form without him knowing. The surgery was now ready to take place.

Natalie breathed a sigh of relief and turned to leave.

"Stop!"

She ignored him, quickening her pace.

Jeffrey raised his voice. "Natalie! Stop!"

Seeing she wasn't stopping, Jeffrey got up, took long strides toward her, and blocked her way.

"What now? Do you need something?" Natalie asked cautiously, clutching her bag strap to prevent him from grabbing her bag. 

Jeffrey extended his hand. "Hand me the divorce agreement."

Natalie held her ground. "No."

Jeffrey snapped, "Hand it over now!"

She retorted, "Kevin already went over everything line by line, Jeffrey. I don't want the ten million dollars or the car. You signed the papers. What more do you need to see?"

She even deliberately pushed his buttons and asked, "Are you having second thoughts about the divorce?"

Jeffrey wanted the divorce, but his gut was telling him something was off. That was why he wanted to go through the divorce papers one more time to be sure, but Natalie refused to give them back.

His voice dropped into a warning tone. "This is your last chance. Give me the agreement now."

But she sure as hell wasn't going to give that to him. Because of that, they were stuck in a tense standoff until Abigail stepped in.

She walked over to Jeffrey and gently slipped her arm through his before saying, "The agreement is fine as it is, Jeff. You should let Natalie go. She looks like she's in a hurry."

Then, she turned to Natalie. "My guess 

Chapter 11