SWNOVELS Chapter 14
The crowd fell into silence at his presence.
Fixing his eyes on the helpless Natalie standing alone in the middle of the crowd, Shane pursed his lips while making his way toward her.
However, the crowd mistook that Shane was here for Jasmine since the latter was standing somewhere near Natalie. As the people made way for him, Jasmine held her head high, waiting anticipatingly for him to come up to her.
To everyone's surprise, he stopped in front of Natalie. "Ms. Smith, I never thought we would meet again." Last time, although she was gone by the time Silas returned to the hospital, the latter managed to learn her name from the nurse.
Everyone gasped when they saw Shane talking to Natalie. This lady knows Shane Thompson! And she has the surname 'Smith'!
Natalie, too, was surprised by the fact that Shane actually knew of her surname, but she projected a calm facade and returned his greeting. "Well, nice to meet you again. How is your..." She was going to ask about his injury but eventually swallowed her words when he gave her a meaningful glance, signaling her not to bring it up.
Evidently, he was pleased with her shrewdness. As a matter of fact, he noticed her being surrounded by the crowd on the second floor earlier, and though It was not his place to meddle in her affairs, he decided to help her out since he owed her a favor.
Shane then turned to face Isabelle, shielding Natalie from her anger with his broad shoulders. "Ms. Moore, you said she stole your necklace. Do you have any evidence to back your words?" He exuded an overbearing aura while staring at Isabelle with his penetrating gaze.
Everyone on the spot could be a witness since they saw the necklace being taken out of Natalie's purse. However, none of them dared to step forward to confront Shane.
To them, Shane Thompson was a big name in the city. As the only heir of the Thompson family and the CEO of Thompson Group, he started running the company at the age of eighteen. He was nicknamed "Lucifer" for being an astute businessman who wouldn't back down on the bargaining table. They knew they might find themselves in trouble if they ever trod on his toes.
As they were keeping their heads down, their drastic change in attitude made Natalie realize the man standing in front of her had a higher status than she thought. No wonder he left the hospital without a word He doesn't even care about the petty amount of compensation!
At that moment, Natalie stepped forward and broke the silence. "I have evidence to prove my innocence." She had no chance to defend herself just now because everyone was targeting her. Now that Shane was backing her up, she could finally clear her name.
In an instant, her words caught everyone's attention. If it weren't for Shane's presence, she guessed they would probably mock her for waging a last-ditch struggle when all evidence clearly pointed at her. Jasmine's heart skipped a beat upon hearing Natalie's word. My plan was perfect! I have sent the server away from the winery, so it is impossible that Natalie has evidence to clear her name. She must be lying! Looking at Natalie confidently, Jasmine convinced herself and tried to put her mind at ease.
On the contrary, she was now more worried about the fact that Natalie and Shane knew each other. She felt like she was about to faint any moment whenever she thought about it. However, to avoid arousing suspicion, she could only clench her teeth to get a hold of herself.
Meanwhile, Isabelle's suspicion was slightly dispelled by the confident look on Natalie's face. "How are you going to prove your innocence?" she relented.
With a faint smile, Natalie explained, "It's simple. Ms. Moore, I bet not many people have the chance to touch this valuable diamond necklace. We can check if there are my fingerprints on it." She cast a glance at Jasmine as she spoke. It is most probably a spontaneous idea to set me up. Jasmine must have left her fingerprints since she wouldn't have the time to prepare for gloves.
As expected, Jasmine's face turned pale. In fact, her eyes were full of horror upon hearing Natalie's words.