Deceiving Her Ears: Ignoring Your Call-Chapter 105: She Was Photographed Entering a Hotel with a Man
Isaac had a dream.
He dreamed of the day a few months ago, when he rescued Natalie from her mother, Cynthia Kendall, in the hospital. She was clutching the doll Kiki had given her in her arms.
The recording inside the doll’s stomach kept repeating:
"Isaac, what exactly do you want to do?"
"...Her worth goes far beyond this."
He woke up with a start.
Isaac instinctively reached out to the side, but only felt a handful of cold sheets.
"Little Ear!"
He sat up abruptly, sweat on his forehead, panic in his eyes.
Without bothering to put on shoes, he got out of bed barefoot, searching for her all around, finally finding her on the balcony.
The night wind was chilly.
Natalie was wearing only a thin nightgown, the wind tossing her long hair, strands swirling in the air.
She looked as if she was isolated from the world.
As if at any moment, she might leap off right here.
Isaac didn’t know why he had such a terrifying feeling.
The cold swept through his whole body; sweat dripped from his forehead, stinging his eyes painfully.
He steadied himself, pulled open the balcony door, and walked in.
"Why aren’t you sleeping?"
He wrapped her up from behind, pressing his cheek to her cold face.
Natalie whispered, "Had a dream and couldn’t sleep, came out for some air. What about you?"
She turned around, looking up at him, "Why are you awake too?"
"I had a dream as well."
"What kind of dream?"
Isaac’s eyes flickered, "Not a good one. Let’s not talk about it. It’s late, let’s go back to bed."
"Okay."
Natalie obediently went back to bed with him.
They fell asleep in each other’s arms, face to face.
Once Isaac’s breathing turned deep and even, he must have fallen asleep.
She opened her eyes, watched him for a while, then turned over, her back to him, closed her eyes to sleep.
No one knows how much time passed; behind her, Isaac opened his eyes.
In the silence, his dark eyes were bottomless.
——
The Beckett Group and The Grant Group had a joint business venture.
Natalie pressed the intercom, calling her assistant in.
She sent The Grant Group’s contract back.
"Tell them, for this section, we’re ending cooperation with The Grant Group from now on."
The assistant held the contract, looking surprised.
But she quickly regained composure, agreed, then turned and left.
Within a day, Jason Grant stormed over in a fury.
He wanted to see Natalie, waited in the lounge for over an hour before Natalie finally showed up.
"What the hell do you mean by this?! Burning bridges after crossing them? The Beckett and The Grant Group have worked together on this for three years, and just like that you say stop? Just like that you say no more? What gives you the right?!"
Natalie gazed impassively at Jason Grant raging at her, voice flat: "I’m the chairman of Beckett. You ask what gives me the right?"
Jason Grant was at a loss for words.
For a long moment, he gritted out: "Give me one good reason! What gives you the right to end this unilaterally?"
"Rather than calling it cooperation, it’s more like charity."
Natalie was blunt: "So-called cooperation, from Beckett’s perspective, brings us no benefit. All the perks go to The Grant Group."
Jason Grant opened his mouth, but couldn’t retort.
Because what Natalie said was the truth.
"Beckett won’t be working with The Grant Group anymore."
She finished speaking, turned and left without mercy.
"Stop! Natalie! I said stop!"
Jason tried to chase her, but he hadn’t fully recovered yet, still in a wheelchair, and couldn’t catch up at all.
Such a big piece of pie was just lost, just like that.
He was furious, but powerless.
——
When Isaac came to find Natalie, she was reading documents.
Now, she still wasn’t completely familiar with all this, and since she’d changed assistants—without Tristan Jordan to help—she took much longer reviewing files.
Isaac walked over, bent down, one hand on the back of her chair, one hand on the table, half surrounding her, and asked:
"Is anything unclear?"
Natalie closed the files, looked at him, "No. Why are you here?"
Isaac’s gaze flickered, he smiled: "Just missed you."
Natalie heard this and replied, very seriously: "We have to keep things professional during work hours."
"Then what should I do if I miss you?"
"You can think about me after work."
Isaac chuckled.
Natalie cocked her head at him, "Actually, you’re here because Jason Grant came to see me today, right?"
She’d already heard he knew about her ending the partnership with The Grant Group.
But that wasn’t really why he came.
"Do you think I’m being cold-blooded? After all, Jason is your uncle."
Isaac: "No."
"Really?"
"Yeah."
Natalie seemed relieved, hugged his waist, pressed her face to his stomach, "That’s good then."
Isaac laughed, pinched her nose, "Didn’t you say we needed to be professional at work? Hmm?"
"I’m allowed to."
"So only the governor gets to set fires, but ordinary folk can’t light lamps?"
"Exactly."
Isaac was charmed by her, bowed his head to kiss her.
But before the kiss landed, his phone rang.
It was his mom calling.
After the call, Isaac looked hesitant.
Natalie looked up at him, asked, "What’s wrong?"
"Tomorrow night, my family wants to have dinner with you."
"Your family?" Natalie was surprised, "All of them?"
"More or less." Isaac gazed at her, "If you don’t want to go, then don’t. I’ll handle it, it’s fine."
Natalie thought for a few seconds, said, "I’ll go."
"Are you sure?" 𝒇𝓻𝓮𝓮𝙬𝙚𝒃𝒏𝓸𝙫𝒆𝙡.𝓬𝓸𝒎
Isaac cupped her face in his hands, not missing the slightest change in her expression.
If she showed even a hint of reluctance, he’d stop immediately and refuse for her.
But she blinked her honest, innocent eyes, nodded, "I’m sure."
——
Dinner was scheduled for 7pm.
In the spacious private room: Philip Vaughn, Ansel Vaughn, Vanessa Grant, Sylvia Vaughn, Ethan Vaughn—all had arrived.
They’d already been waiting for a full hour.
Natalie still hadn’t arrived.
She was already an hour late.
"Baby, maybe you should call Nat, see if she’s been held up somehow?"
Isaac didn’t look too happy, but pulled out his phone when asked.
Nearby, Ethan said calmly: "Sister-in-law is the Beckett chairwoman, isn’t she supposed to be busy? If she’s late, so be it. But Grandpa, you usually finish dinner much earlier—are you sure you’ll be okay?"
The elderly tend to be punctual with their meals.
Philip was already hungry, but could only say he was fine.
Ansel’s face was dark, thinking Natalie really didn’t know proper manners.
"So? Did you get through?" Sylvia asked Isaac.
Isaac’s handsome face was somber, long fingers gripping his phone, voice low and cold: "No."
"What is going on?" Sylvia frowned, "What if Nat really ran into trouble?"
Isaac’s heart sank, he suddenly stood up.
"I’m going out for a minute."
As he reached the private room door, just about to leave, Ethan’s voice sounded behind him:
"Wait. Isaac, if you’re going to look for her, don’t bother."
Isaac turned back, face cold, glaring at him.
Ethan raised his phone, smirking: "An hour ago, she was photographed going into a hotel with a man. It’s all over the trending news."
