The next day.
Brandon had just finished breakfast and was reading the newspaper on the sofa when he received a call from Sean.
“We found Dalores.”
Before Brandon could respond, the woman in his arms instantly discarded her magazine and sat up. “You found her?” Natalie exclaimed. “Where is she?”
Because of the paparazzi, Natalie decided not to go to W Marks today and work from home instead.
Brandon listened for a while what Sean had to say and hung up the phone. He placed it on the table and resumed reading his paper.
“What happened?” Natalie sn*aked her arm around his and looked up at him with wide, expectant eyes.
“Dalores is dead.”
She let out a gasp. “What? How come?”
“It seems that Mrs. Fuller also sent her people to hunt her down. Apparently, Dalores drove on the wrong side of the road to escape the chase, and was eventually hit by a truck.” Brandon’s tone was cold and methodical. He put down his newspaper to lean over and peck her l*ps. “This is actually a good thing for her.” n
But Natalie was unsettled. She didn’t expect Dalores to die from an accident, and so suddenly, too. 3
As if on cue, the news about the very same accident flashed on the TV screen. The crash was so bad that it had caused a small explosion on the highway, which, in turn, caused a major traffic jam. The camera panned over to the burnt car, where the rescuers were in the process of extracting a burnt b*ody. Naturally, the corpse was censored.
“Don’t watch it.” Brandon grabbed the remote and turned the TV off. “Dalores was driving. She got herself into this accident. She was reckless and stupid. It has nothing to do with us.”
“I understand what you’re saying.” Natalie slowly came back to her senses.
With Dalores’ death, this matter was finished. At least for now, anyway. Either way, Natalie still had much work to do.
After putting herself back together, Natalie collected her purse. “Since Dalores is dead, there’s no use in going forward with the lawsuit. I need to go to the studio and tell Tasha to withdraw it.”
“It can wait. Why don’t you take one more day off and we go out and relax? The cherry blossoms are in season. Didn’t you always want to see them?” Brandon moved as he spoke, gathering her in his arms and pulling her back to the sofa until they were tangled together.
Natalie looked reluctant to stay. “Mr. Wesley asked me to manage W Marks in his absence. I have to take responsibility for my word. I can’t back down just because of some tabloid reporters.”
Brandon knew that he couldn’t change her mind.
He released her and said in a serious tone, “You can go to the studio, but don’t be too hard on yourself. You don’t have to shoulder everything.”
He let out a sigh and added, “Draco is a good man, but he is too softhearted. He has to bear some responsibility for what happened as well. If he had dealt with Dalores as soon as possible, if he had refused to employ that scum in the first place, we could have avoided so many tragedies.”
Brandon’s brows were furrowed. He didn’t like it when a man was indecisive, especially when it was costing other people.
“Well, all right. You can stop talking now. Mr. Wesley has a clear mind and heart. He knew everything from the beginning. He’s simply too kind for his own good.” Natalie had to admit that Draco was indeed too softhearted.
The thing with Brandon, though, was that he never mixed his emotions with work. He was firm and resolute with his every move, which was also why the Larson Group had grown into the empire that it was today.
Regardless, to each his own. Everyone went through different experiences, which played a part in shaping their individual personalities. It wasn’t a bad thing entirely that Draco was kind. They couldn’t fault him for that.
Brandon snorted and rolled his eyes. He nuzzled the crook of her neck and playfully nipped at her skin. “Honey, why are you always siding with other people instead of your husband?”
“I’m not!” Natalie denied vehemently, though her face broke into a wide grin.
Something else occurred to her then. She ran her fi**gers through Brandon’s soft, rave hair. “There’s something I want to ask you. That first photo of me and Draco, was Dalores behind that, too?”
Brandon was confused. “Why makes you say that all of a sudden?”
“Dalores was probably still busy cutting up Estella’s dress by the time I sent Draco home. So how could she have known and tipped the paparazzi to take photos of us? Was she just banking on the possibility that I would be helping Draco out of the car?” Natalie had never pegged Dalores to be an insightful woman.
“I’ve checked where the photos were first posted. It’s just an ordinary entertainment magazine.” When Brandon saw that she was still frowning, he asked, “What is it? What’s wrong?”
“Who else could it be besides Dalores?” Natalie muttered under her breath.
But Brandon thought that she was overthinking the matter. “The paparazzi must have been targeting you and Draco for a while now. You did well at the Iridescent Show, so it wouldn’t be surprising if you’ve garnered a bunch of envious rivals.”
“You have a point there. After all, even some of my peers over at Northcliffe made things difficult for me.” Natalie sighed mournfully. “Well, this should be interesting. I haven’t even made a name for myself as a designer yet, and I’m already involved in several scandals.”
Just this morning, she was browsing a certain website when she came across an article detailing her and Draco’s supposed love story. A rich young lady suffering from an unfortunate marriage and a talented designer presumably met and found a new purpose to life in each other.
Natalie couldn’t help but chuckle at the memory.
Brandon narrowed his eyes. He rarely saw this particular smile on her face.
“What are you thinking about?” Before she could answer, however, he pulled her into his arms and p**ssed a k**s on her l*ps. “Don’t tell me you’re thinking about that sickly guy, Draco.”
Natalie giggled and told him all about the article.
“What the hell?” Brandon struggled to contain his anger as he opened the website and saw the article for himself. After reading only a few lines, he immediately called Sean and instructed him to remove all the articles pertaining to Natalie and Draco, and to ban the accounts that were engaging in such tasteless rumors.
New Book: Beginning with a Daring Encounter
Celsie was tired of being labeled as an introvert, workaholic, and dull virgin by her friends. Determined to prove them wrong, she made a bet that she would do something daring on her 25th birthday. Now that the day had arrived, it was time to fulfill her promise. On her daring to-do list, there was one task: a one-night stand with someone.
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