Addiction to Temptation: His Mischievous Sweetheart Captivates Him-Chapter 185: This Incident Isn’t So Simple

Natalie Vaughn only took a two-hour leave and didn’t chat much with Vera Underwood. As she got up to leave, someone bumped into her.

She didn’t pay much attention, her body swayed from the impact, and she had to steady herself by holding onto something nearby.

The person who bumped into her said nothing and walked straight into the café, making Natalie frown and give them a glance.

Feeling somewhat displeased, she decided not to dwell on it since she was in a hurry and it was broad daylight.

When she returned to the set, she noticed that everyone’s expressions were off. She casually stopped someone to inquire about the situation.

That’s when she learned that there had been an accident during the shoot. The prop department’s explosive packages, which were supposed to detonate on cue, exploded unexpectedly, injuring several extras seriously, and Julian Sutton had sustained minor injuries.

Director Gable was inside, yelling. Natalie didn’t approach him. The incident had already been posted online and quickly became a trending topic.

Genevieve Joyce found Natalie.

"Miss Vaughn, your family heard the news, and President Vaughn asked you to give them a call."

Natalie agreed, took out her phone, and called home.

Lately, Natalie had been busy with filming and hadn’t called home often, so this conversation lasted half an hour.

After hanging up, Natalie realized that Zane Thorne had called her, probably having heard the news too. She called him back.

Zane immediately asked her to take a full-body photo. Natalie was amused and exasperated.

"I was out when it happened; I wasn’t on set."

"Really?"

Natalie raised an eyebrow.

"Why would I lie to you?"

Seeing that she was indeed fine, Zane finally relaxed. Now he understood why Natalie had reacted the way she did after having nightmares about him.

Without personally confirming she was safe, he couldn’t be completely at ease.

"Where did you go?"

"The café."

"Hmm?"

"It’s been a long time since I had coffee at the shop."

That was just like Natalie’s personality.

Knowing Natalie still had to film, Zane didn’t chat for long, but he did give an extra reminder, making Natalie smile wryly.

"It was just a small accident, you all are being a bit too cautious."

Zane raised an eyebrow, saying nothing.

After hanging up, Natalie went to find Julian Sutton. The exaggerated reports on Weibo nearly made his fans cry a river, yet in the lounge, he was leisurely eating spicy strips with his legs crossed.

Natalie quickly glanced over and noticed Julian had an injury on his arm. Although it was wrapped in bandages, his movements seemed unaffected.

"Your fans are almost in tears, and you’re here eating spicy strips?"

Hearing this, Julian put down the bag and slowly wiped his fingers with a wet wipe.

"This shows my fans love me very much."

"You don’t seem very concerned about your fans."

"Why wouldn’t I be concerned?"

Natalie raised an eyebrow, eyeing the spicy strips he had tossed aside.

Julian suddenly threw his phone to Natalie.

"Take a picture of me."

Natalie: ????

Before she could respond, Julian had already picked up the spicy strips again and posed.

Natalie: ...

"Don’t dawdle, take a picture for me."

Natalie twitched her lips slightly, took a few casual shots of Julian, leaving it up to him to choose.

Julian swiftly selected one and uploaded it to the fan forum.

"These spicy strips are gifts from my fans."

Natalie didn’t intend to look, but Julian seemed to be showing her on purpose.

"It’s just a small scratch, eating spicy strips makes it better."

Natalie: ...

So that’s how he shows his love for his fans; she felt Julian was simply craving the snack.

"If you’re okay, I’ll get going."

Julian set down his phone.

"Where are you going back to?"

"To sleep."

"Sleeping in broad daylight? Come on, let’s discuss the script."

Natalie: ...

"No, I’m afraid of getting caught in a scandal with you."

"I’m not afraid, why should you be? Besides, it’s daytime, what are you guilty about?"

Guilty?

Natalie didn’t understand how Julian could be so thick-skinned with her, when he was always so considerate and gentle with others.

Natalie suddenly squinted her eyes.

"What if I posted how you are now online, how do you think your fans would react?"

"They’d just think you’re riding on my fame."

Indeed, that would be the case.

These past few days, Natalie hadn’t slept well because of that nightmare; seeing that there wouldn’t be any filming soon, she thought it best to go back to the hotel and rest.

As she reached the door, Julian suddenly spoke more seriously than before.

"You haven’t offended anyone recently, have you?"

Natalie turned around, raising an eyebrow at Julian.

"What do you mean?"

Julian put down his crossed legs, frowning as he recalled the events.

"Your leave was sudden, right?"

Natalie walked back into the room and sat opposite Julian.

"Yes."

"The scene today was complicated to set up; in the hour or two you were gone, Director Gable decided to set up first without rushing us into filming, but during the rehearsals we had to confirm our positions."

Upon hearing this, Natalie seemed to understand.

"You’re saying one of the injured extras was serving as my stand-in?"

Julian looked at her, his eyes full of undisguised admiration.

"Smart, the most injured one was standing in for you."

Natalie’s eyebrows subtly moved, her fingers resting thoughtfully on her chin.

"Putting it that way, it does have a certain conspiratorial ring to it."

If she hadn’t taken a leave today, she could have been standing in that position, lying in the hospital now.

"Director Gable’s crew is well-managed, and I’ve worked with him for so long without such rookie mistakes occurring."

To boot, the use of explosive props is always meticulously logged, with dedicated personnel managing it.

But as luck would have it, the person on duty today was a temporary hire and vanished by the time accountability was sought.

No matter how one thought about it, it was peculiar.

Natalie pondered for a long time but couldn’t figure out whom she might have offended recently. She spent every day filming and got along well with the crew, so who could she have upset?

Seeing Natalie at a loss, Julian frowned too.

"In any case, be careful for now; this matter isn’t simple."

Natalie joked.

"Maybe the next thing will be the harness breaking."

The moment she said this, Julian’s face tensed slightly.

Natalie’s roles mainly involved action scenes, requiring harness work daily. If someone really were targeting her, tampering with the harness would be the easiest.

Seeing Julian’s reaction, Natalie’s smile faded slightly.

"Has something like this happened before?"

Julian shook his head.

"I’ve only heard of it, but since you’ve mentioned it, everything should be carefully checked from now on."

Natalie pressed her fingers against her chin, pondering for a moment.

"Why not conduct a little experiment?"

Julian raised his eyebrows. 𝗳𝚛𝚎𝚎𝘄𝕖𝕓𝕟𝕠𝚟𝚎𝕝.𝗰𝕠𝐦

"What do you mean?"

"If someone’s really after me..."

Natalie suddenly smirked.

"Then let’s set a trap."