Deceiving Her Ears: Ignoring Your Call-Chapter 28: Fear Invades Her Every Limb and Bone
Natalie’s hand under the table clenched instantly.
Scott Quinn had found out about her relationship with Isaac Vaughn, and used it as leverage to threaten her, so she turned around and created something she could use against him, to restrain him.
"That Scott Quinn’s family is pretty well-known in Seaharbor. Do you really think you can blackmail him with just a few photos?"
Natalie’s heart sank.
Julian Beckett looked at her slightly pale face and said, "Remember, in the future, you need to cut out the threats at the root. To people who can threaten you, you have to leave them no chance to fight back."
"That Scott Quinn won’t appear in front of you again."
Natalie jerked her head up to look at her brother.
Did her brother mean that he had helped her take care of Scott Quinn?
Then does that mean he also knows?
About her and Isaac Vaughn.
Natalie was both scared and confused. She wanted to say something, opened her mouth but couldn’t get the words out.
"Alright, I should go."
Julian Beckett glanced at his watch again and stood up.
Natalie still wasn’t fully back to her senses, mechanically got up to follow.
She left the bubble tea shop with her brother, watching as he got in the car and drove away.
It wasn’t until the car disappeared from sight.
That her muddled mind slowly came back together.
If her brother really knew, why didn’t he mention it at all?
——
Back at the hospital.
Vanessa Grant saw that Natalie seemed a little out of it, pulled her over and asked, "What did you talk about with your brother?"
"No, nothing much."
"Last night must have really scared your brother." Vanessa patted her hand, "He rushed over in such a hurry. His baby sister was so frightened, he must be heartbroken."
Heartbroken, for her?
Then why didn’t he ask her anything?
Not a single mention of what happened last night?
Natalie lowered her eyes, mocking herself in her heart.
Maybe her brother came just to talk to the Grant family about the shares she held.
"Nat, I want to ask you for a favor." Vanessa looked very serious, "You and Isaac live across the hall, can you help me keep an eye out to see if any girls come looking for him?"
"What?" Natalie looked up at her.
Vanessa pursed her lips, "You heard him today, right? That brat actually claimed to be married. Help me find out who on earth he married."
Natalie’s mouth moved, not sure what to say.
Vanessa begged her again, and in the end Natalie heard herself hoarsely say, "Okay."
Just as they were about to enter Jason Grant’s hospital room, Natalie’s phone rang—the teacher asked her to come back to school.
Vanessa patted her hand, "Go ahead."
Natalie: "I’ll come over later then."
"Mm, Isaac is coming later too. With us here to look after Jason, you don’t have to worry."
Natalie nodded and walked toward the elevator.
When she got back to school, her advisor first asked how her work was going; she didn’t mention what happened last night.
They talked for a long time about her thesis, and it was already past 6 p.m. when she left the office.
Passing by the classroom, she ran into several girls from her class.
The one surrounded in the middle was Nina Abbott.
The last time she went to the bar with Nina, she’d smashed a bottle on Scott Quinn’s head.
After that, she and Nina hadn’t spoken.
Both sides probably felt awkward—even accidental eye contact would make them quickly look away.
But now, running into each other face to face, she couldn’t just pretend she didn’t see her.
Natalie nodded at Nina, ready to leave, but didn’t expect Nina to call out to her.
"Hey, class rep."
"It’s my birthday today. We’re going to celebrate—do you want to come?"
Natalie looked at her in surprise.
Caught off guard by this sudden invitation.
Nina was actually a very straightforward person, direct and easygoing.
Biting her lip, she said, "We’re all in the same class. And that stuff Scott Quinn was saying about you, none of us believe it. He definitely made it up!"
Right after Nina spoke, the other girls from their class all chimed in.
"Yeah, class rep, we don’t believe it at all."
"We trust you, you’re not that kind of person."
Natalie felt warmed inside, a faint smile appearing on her face. "Thank you, guys."
The girls all became a little shy.
Nina directly hooked her arm through Natalie’s, "Come with us, Nat."
Natalie looked at her and nodded gently.
*
Bar.
Nina and the girls didn’t get a private room, just sat at a booth.
Apart from the girls, they’d also invited a few athletic guys from another college.
The one beside Natalie wore all white sportswear, looked pretty good, clean-cut, with a faint scent of laundry detergent.
He kept trying to make conversation with Natalie. Even when he accidentally noticed the hearing aid on her ear, he only froze for a moment, without showing any look of contempt.
But Natalie’s responses remained cold—either the topics he brought up died on the spot, or she replied with only a word or two.
But the guy didn’t give up, and kept talking on his own.
At another booth, several rich kids were drinking. Suddenly, someone noticed something.
"Hey? Isn’t that Jason’s little fiancée?"
"Let me see. Hey—no way, it really is!"
"Quick, quick! I’m gonna send a photo to Jason! Tell him, his girl’s being stolen!"
"Man, you’re real trouble!"
*
Hospital.
Jason Grant lay on his hospital bed, looking completely dead inside.
Vanessa couldn’t stay still, she’d already run off to the mall to shop.
The only one in the room was Isaac Vaughn, who was sitting on the single sofa playing on his phone.
"Fuck!"
Suddenly, Jason swore loudly.
Isaac looked up and saw his uncle furious at his phone.
"Uncle, what is it?"
"That little bitch Natalie!" Jason shoved his phone at Isaac, "I’m stuck here because of what she did! And look at her, living it up outside! Flirting with pretty boys!"
Isaac got up and walked over, and saw the photo on Jason’s phone.
Natalie and a guy in white were sitting very close. From this angle, it looked like they were kissing.
His eyes suddenly flashed dark and cold.
——
The guy beside Natalie kept rambling for too long. Natalie tolerated it for a long time only because he was Nina’s friend.
Finally, when he worked up the nerve to ask for her contact info and wanted to invite her out to a movie, she told him: "I’m married."
The guy froze.
It was clear from his expression and eyes that he didn’t believe it.
Sure enough, when he regained his composure, he scratched his head awkwardly. "I just wanted to make friends—didn’t mean anything bad. You don’t need to use such a crazy excuse to reject me, right?"
Natalie didn’t respond.
She got up and said she was going to the restroom, and walked away.
Nina, who had been watching closely, leaned over to the guy and asked, "So? Nat’s the famous ice queen of our department, you know."
"Pretty damn cold." The guy gave a bitter laugh. "I asked for her contact, and she just straight up told me she’s married."
Nina: "..."
That excuse was really a bit much.
The restroom was around the corner.
Natalie walked along the wall, and just as she turned the corner, everything suddenly went black in front of her.
Someone covered her eyes with their hand.
Terror swept over her from all directions, flooding her limbs and bones.
She struggled, but the stranger pinned her against the wall, pressing lips to the back of her neck, invasive and violating.
