“Really?” Shane’s expression was indifferent. He was clearly not very interested in what she was saying.
At that moment, a cat suddenly darted out of the flowerbed a few meters ahead of them. It came to a
stop in the middle of the road.
Natalie’s face fell when she saw it. She shouted in warning, “Mr. Shane!”
Shane had a grim look on his face. He knew it was too late to pull the brakes now. Left with no other
choice, he hastily jerked the steering wheel to the side. The car swerved to the left, heading right for the
flowerbed. At the same time, he swiftly undid his seatbelt and lunged toward Natalie. Wrapping her in a
protective embrace, he pinned her to the passenger seat.
BANG!
The car shuddered violently before the car alarms went off.
Natalie screamed in shock and terror, causing Shane to tighten his hold on her.
After a moment, the car stopped moving while the alarms stopped blaring. Everything seemed to return
to normal.
It was only then Shane released Natalie and slowly moved away from her.
Natalie straightened up before glancing at the windshield. To her horror, the entire windshield was
spiderwebbed with cracks. Her hair stood on end as a shiver raced down her spine.
“Mr. Shane, are you hurt?” she asked in a quavering voice. Her face was incredibly pale.
“No,” Shane dusted himself off, “You?”
She shook her head. “I’m not injured either.”
How can I be? He protected me with his body. This is the second time he’s moved to protect me without
a moment’s hesitation.
She was incredibly touched and surprised at that thought.
Knock knock! Someone was rapping on the car window.
Natalie calmed her pounding heart before looking over. There was a traffic policeman standing outside
the car.
When Shane rolled down the window, the policeman leaned down to ask, “You guys okay?”
“Yes, we’re fine,” Shane answered placidly.
The policeman nodded and said, “Then could you please exit the vehicle? I’ll need your statements.”
Shane did not protest as he opened the door and got out of the car.
Natalie did not remain in the car either. Swiftly taking off her seatbelt, she slipped out to join him.
Once she was out of the car, she could see that the entire front end had run over the flowerbed and
rammed into the divider. The headlights had also shattered with the force of the impact.
She gasped softly at the terrible sight.
It really was a miracle that she and Shane were completely unharmed when the car was in such a mess!
By this point, Shane had finished giving his statement. He walked over to her side and declared, “I’m
done. Let’s go.”
“What about the car?” She pointed at the Maybach in question.
He glanced at it, noting the sad state it was in. “It can’t be driven anymore. I’ll send someone here to
drag it away to the junkyard.”
“The junkyard?” Blinking her eyes in astonishment, she exclaimed, “Mr. Shane, do you mean you don’t
want that car anymore?”
“Yes.”
“What a pity! It’s such an expensive car too,” she lamented while putting her hand down by her side.
Shane could not help the amused smile that crossed his face when he saw how pained she was at his
decision.
Natalie’s keen eyes caught the motion and nearly popped out of her head. It was like she had seen
something miraculous happen. “Mr. Shane, you’re smiling!”
The aforementioned smile instantly vanished from his face, his expression returning to its default cold
and distant look. “I’m not. You must be mistaken.”
“No, I’m sure of what I saw. You were clearly smiling just now!” she insisted.
Shane did not deign that with an answer as he turned to hail a taxi for them.
Not wanting to be left behind, Natalie rushed after him.
Half an hour later, they arrived back at her apartment.
Natalie pressed the doorbell. They did not have to wait long before the door swung open.
Joyce immediately scooped Natalie into a tight hug. “Nat, you’re finally back!”
“Alright, alright. Let me go!” Natalie patted Joyce’s arm before pointing out, “We have a guest.”
“A guest?” Joyce released her before glancing behind her at Shane. She froze in surprise when she got
a closer look at his face. “Oh my god, did Connor become an adult when I wasn’t looking?”
Natalie smacked her forehead in exasperated annoyance.
I just knew Joyce would react like that!
“Hey, hey, stop speaking nonsense!” Natalie hastened to introduce the two. “This is my boss, Mr. Shane.”
Then, she pointed at Joyce and continued, “Mr. Shane, this is Joyce Rivers, my best friend and also
godmother to the children.”
“Hello.” Shane dipped his head at Joyce in greeting.
Joyce’s reply was a little distracted, “Hi, hello. You’re the CEO of Thompson Group?”
“Yes.” Then, Shane focused his gaze on Natalie. “I’ll be taking my leave.”
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