SWNOVELS Wife by Day Boss by Night by Thalia Quillspeax Chapter 2
Chapter 2
When Natalie stepped out the door in the shirt, she noticed the wide–eyed stares of half the Howard family, their expressions ranging from shock to disdain as they watched her bare feet carry her out from within.
The weight of their gazes felt like knives piercing through her, the pain so acute she thought her heart might split in two.
Sadie was quick to react. She grabbed a blanket and wrapped it around Natalie, ushering her back into the safety of her room.
Natalie’s mind was a whirlwind of confusion as she sat in her bedroom, the muffled voices from next door barely registering. “Everyone has seen it, and you’ve got to be responsible for her, right?”
“Responsible?” Brian snorted with derision. “Fine, I’ll give her what she wants!”
By the afternoon, the Wright family had sent people over. And Natalie’s belongings were tossed out like trash at the Howard mansion’s gate.
Sending Natalie back to her biological father was the Howard family’s final statement on the matter.
It was pouring rain, but Natalie didn’t bother with an umbrella. She looked at Brian with the cold. and hard expression standing under the portico, staring back at her.
Her lips trembling, nearly blinded by the downpour, she made one last plea to him.
She didn’t blame him, but how could Brian be so heartless as to have pushed her away and made her leave? She didn’t want to return to the Wright family, and he knew that too well!
But Brian was unmoved by her pleas. He turned his back and disappeared behind the door, the ornate iron gate closing with a loud clang in front of Natalie.
The scandal of Natalie and Brian’s affair had spread like wildfire through Streamville in just a few days.
The word on the street was that Natalie’s mother had run off with a fortune from the Howard family and a lover, leaving Natalie behind. Natalie had stooped to unspeakable acts to secure. her position and cling to the Howard name.
A month later, Natalie was sent abroad with little fanfare, and the Howard and Wright families quietly let the matter rest with no response. Given the Howard family’s status in Streamville, the incident faded from conversation.
Three and a half years later, at the Wright family, a servant whispered to Samuel Wright, “The chauffeur has gone to the airport to pick up Miss Natalie.”
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18:45
Chapter 2
Samuel glanced at the Audi parked downstairs but said nothing.
Natalie shouldn’t have returned then. She had yet to finish her studies. But with her grandfather Matthew suddenly falling ill and insisting on seeing Natalie one last time, Samuel had no choice but to bring her back.
It was yet another rainy day. Natalle stepped out of the Audi, holding a black umbrella.
When she looked up, her gaze met Samuel’s for a second before she Indifferently diverted her
eyes.
It had rained the day when she left the Howard family and when she was sent away. And it was raining on her return. How ironic.
“Welcome back, Natalie,” greeted Gracia Wright, Samuel’s second daughter, with a sly smile at the door.
“Mm.” Natalie responded curtly. Then, she strode past with her luggage without a glance as she entered the Wright mansion. On the way back, she had learned from the Wright family’s butler that Gracia had been accepted into a prestigious film academy. Barely in her second year, Gracia could snag roles effortlessly, having just finished filming a period drama that was already generating buzz before its release.
Gracia’s opportunities had been secured with the Howard family’s direct involvement, as she was their chosen daughter–in–law.
Thoughts of the Howard family left Natalie feeling nothing but calm detachment.
What was the relationship between the Howard family and the Wright family? Would Gracial marry Brian, the man who commanded power in Streamville? Whatever had transpired, Natalie didn’t care.
After visiting her grandfather in a small detached house at the back of the property, Natalie returned to the living room where Samuel waited, seemingly with something to say.
“Now that you’re back, you might as well stay,” Samuel said to Natalie.
Settling onto the couch with a leg crossed over the other, Natalie looked at Samuel and couldn’t help but smirk. “What’s the matter? Need a favor from me?”
Samuel hadn’t seen Natalie in nearly four years and found her much changed. He frowned and replied, “You’re set up for a blind date at Mr. Foster’s dinner party tomorrow. Get some rest. tonight.”
Natalie smiled, “Mr. Wright, who do you think would dare to date me? After everything that happened, aren’t you afraid I’ll tarnish the Wright family’s name?”
Chapter 3