Chapter 4

Jeffrey turned his head slightly, his eyes locking on Natalie and Johnson. Half of his face was bathed in light, the other hidden in shadow, giving him a menacing, almost terrifying look. He said nothing, but his gaze was sharp and piercing. As the car moved away, Jeffrey raised the window. "Mr. Foster," Ryan said, breaking the silence. "Your wife is with another man. If the paparazzi catch this and blow it out of proportion, it could damage your image and Foster Group's reputation." "Won't she be the one most negatively affected by this?" "Um…" Jeffrey continued indifferently, "It would be best if she spent the night with Johnson. Her reputation will be ruined, and then when we divorce, she won't get a penny from me." Natalie wanted money, didn't she? The more she wanted, the less he'd give her. He'd rather donate it to charity than give it to her. He wanted to see how she would fare in life without him. Considering the situation in the Bennett family and her hopeless brother, she'd never have an easy life. Natalie thought she had the strength to leave him, but she had clearly forgotten just how much she had relied on his family to live comfortably all these years. Jeffrey had wanted to crush her pride for a long time. … After the divorce, the only place Natalie could go was back to the Bennett residence. When her parents passed away, everything, including the business, shares, and property, was taken over by her uncle, Tyler Bennett. The only thing that Tyler left her and Stephen was this villa. When she married Jeffrey, she had moved out. Now, she was moving back. As she walked into the living room, the stench of alcohol hit her nose. Empty bottles were scattered across the floor, along with cigarette butts, party streamers, and several sets of poker cards. It was like a garbage dump. Stephen was sprawled out on the couch in an unconscious state with his arm around a woman in a tank top. Natalie's anger flared up. She picked up an empty bottle and slammed it down onto the coffee table. The loud sound of glass shattering woke the couple up from their drunken stupor. Stephen shot up, rubbing his eyes. "What happened? Did I just hear an explosion?" Natalie glared at him. "I'm about to explode." "Hey, Nat," Stephen said, relaxing when he saw who it was. "You're back, huh? Come, sit down." He tried to lie back down, but Natalie stormed over, grabbed him by the collar, and yanked him upright. Then, she turned to the woman. "Aren't you leaving?" The woman glared at her. "Who are you? Stephen, you told me I'm the only woman in your life." "Get out. She's my sister." Hearing that, the woman had no choice but to leave. Stephen, still not fully awake, slouched back on the couch, yawning. "Did you come alone? Where's Jeffrey? Didn't he come with you?" "We're divorced." "Pfft. Don't joke around." Stephen waved it off. "You've loved him for years. You're practically obsessed with him. How could you possibly let him go?" "It's true this time." Stephen stared at her, his eyes wide in disbelief. "Are you out of your mind?" "You're the one who's out of your mind!" Natalie snapped. "You've been drinking, partying, and fooling around. Frankly, you've been useless. Is this how you're going to spend your life? Do you want to drag our family into the ground?" When Tyler took over the family business, he claimed it was because they were too young and didn't understand how to manage it. So, he took control. Now that they were adults, Stephen was nothing but a failure. Every business venture he had tried ended in disaster. He lacked any real business sense, only knowing how to squander money on alcohol and partying. Meanwhile, Natalie had married young, and Tyler had told her that once she was married, she had no place in the Bennett family business. Stephen muttered, "I want to succeed, too. But I'm just not cut out for this. What can I do? Besides, Jeffrey hasn't lifted a finger to help me. Why don't you think about that? He's been more interested in helping the Wrights!" His words hit a nerve with Natalie. If Jeffrey had just given a little support, Stephen could have succeeded. But instead, he left Stephen to flounder. Because of that, Stephen had grown bitter, and now, he'd given up entirely. "And then there's Abigail," Stephen added, bitterness in his voice. "So what if she saved him once? You're still his legally married wife. Why didn't you try using your influence on him to help me out? You two grew up together. Doesn't that count for something?" "Abigail's back," Natalie said flatly. "What?" Stephen's eyes widened in shock once again. "Oh, no. It's over now. With your divorce and Abigail taking over your position, we've now lost everything. We're done for." Natalie gritted her teeth. "Stop it, Stephen! The way forward is ours to decide, and we haven't hit rock bottom yet." Stephen asked, "Do you think you can turn things around on your own?" "Yeah. I need you to pull together all your resources, contacts, and project information. Make a detailed report for me. I'll go after the deals you couldn't close." She didn't believe she was any less capable than anyone else. Stephen looked her up and down. "Do you even know what you're saying? You're facing not just Jeffrey's resistance but Tyler's opposition as well." Natalie simply responded, "Just give me the report." If only she were a man, she could've fought for the family business long ago. Instead, she had wasted five years on a one-sided love. But it wasn't too late. Natalie spent the next three days organizing the mess of multiple projects Stephen had neglected. She pursued the ones with potential vigorously while discarding the hopeless ones. By day, she was out in the field, meeting with bank executives, engineers, and other professionals. Despite being turned down repeatedly, she never gave up and kept asking to meet them. By night, she sat at her desk, sorting through files, until her eyes couldn't stay open anymore. Was it exhausting? Yes. But it didn't compare to the exhaustion of loving Jeffrey. That morning, just as Natalie was about to leave, her phone rang. It was the Foster family's butler calling. "Mrs. Foster, Mrs. Foster Senior had a sudden medical emergency last night and was rushed to the hospital. She's awake now, but she's been asking for you. You should come as soon as possible." "I'll be right there," Natalie replied, rushing out the door. Caroline had always cared for Natalie deeply. After all, it had been Caroline who had arranged her marriage to Jeffrey. She genuinely hoped the two would stay in love forever. Natalie hurriedly pushed open the door to Caroline's ward and immediately saw Jeffrey standing by the bed. He was there, too. Jeffrey glanced at her coldly, his lips pressed tight. He still had that familiar air of detached arrogance about him.