Natasha thought for a moment before replying, "It's unlikely I'll be out of touch with Malcolm."Although she told Malcolm to contact Ryan on WhatsApp, she was nominally still in charge of the project.It wasn't entirely possible to cut off contact with Malcolm since Audrey would still have to contact her. They would just be in contact less often."Oh…" Ryan's voice sounded over the phone.Natasha sensed disappointment in Ryan's tone. His puppy dog eyes seemed to flash across her mind.Suddenly, she felt sorry for him and said, "I can't avoid contacting Malcolm, but we won't be in touch often. Just occasionally during the project's mid or late stages.""Really?""Absolutely. I've never even texted Malcolm on WhatsApp. I guess you can believe me now, right?" Natasha had no idea why she was explaining things to him.Ryan's disappointment vanished, and a smile spread across his face. "Of course, I do, professor!"At first, he had been worried that Malcolm would bother Natasha. Bu
Ryan was confident he could complete the project successfully.He wanted to prove to Natasha that he had learned much from following her, and also prove his worth. This was the only way he could remain at Natasha's side.Fearing that Natasha might be worried, Ryan added, "You can trust me on this. I can handle this. I'll rest if my body can't handle it."Feeling relieved to hear Ryan's sincere reassurance, Natasha said, "I'll leave it to you, then. Go and get some rest."After hanging up, Natasha slowly finished her nettle tea. The tea was bitter, but Natasha seemed numb to the bitterness as she drank it all.She wouldn't have touched such bitter tea in the past. Even if she had, it would have been Jacob's cajoling that did the trick.However, Jacob's death marked the beginning of her anguish, and since then, she could swallow anything bitter.She had become intimate with the taste of bitterness as she had always used it to ease the pain within her.…With mixed feelings, Nata
All eyes were on Natalie as she pushed down on the door handle. The door swung open.Natalie knew the consequences of barging in. She was going to face some terrible consequences if Joshua was truly pissed off, but she didn't have time to worry about that.If she embarrassed herself in front of the Grayson Corporation's employees, it would put her authority in jeopardy once she was Joshua's wife.She couldn't let that happen. Such a risk could solidify her position in the eyes of everyone at Grayson Corporation and Joshua's.Natalie mentally reassured herself that she was the one who was Joshua's comfort whenever he was so distraught. This could prove how much she loved him.When she opened the door, she found that the office was not the chaotic scene that she had imagined it to be. Instead, the place looked and felt normal.The leather couch gleamed silver in the light. The entire office was filled with Joshua's distinctive scent—rich, woody notes of sandalwood with a subtle, sm
"Don't you understand what I'm telling you? Get out," Joshua ordered. He loosened his tie with one hand in an irritated gesture as he stood by the wall window.The Toussaints refused to cooperate, and Radiance Biomed refused to give him Professor Nancy's authorization.Grayson Corporation couldn't afford to wait any longer. Joshua was unsure where Grayson Corporation needed to go next.Natalie didn't dare to budge. "Jo—"Before she could complete her sentence, Joshua's bodyguard, Flynn, was standing behind her.Flynn warned politely, "Ms. Lovelace, Mr. Grayson does not wish to see you. Please don't force your way in."Natalie turned around and stuttered, "I-I…""Please leave," Flynn said coldly.Natalie knew that insisting on moving forward would be going against Joshua's wishes. She didn't have the guts for it. She softened her tone and said, "Okay, I'll go now."Still worried about Joshua, she turned her eyes back in Joshua's direction."Josh, I'm leaving. You shouldn't get
"I didn't think he seemed upset, so I didn't try to calm him down," Natalie said nonchalantly.She couldn't admit to having been scolded by Joshua. She was Joshua's fiancée, and her authority shouldn't be compromised just because she wasn't his wife yet."Could all of you have misunderstood? Josh has been so gentle with me. There's no way he's angry." Natalie scowled at Terry.Terry was dumbfounded. He couldn't believe that Joshua had been gentle with her, especially after the tempestuous look on Joshua's face that morning."Was Josh angry because you guys didn't write your proposals well?" Natalie narrowed her eyes and continued, "Josh is strict about work. It must have been your poorly written proposal that angered him."Josh is being hard on all of you because he wants Grayson Corp to be successful, isn't he?" Natalie was staring straight at Terry.Terry was still somewhat dazed. He forced a smile that was even more pathetic than a cry after noticing Natalie's gaze. "Yeah, yea
Three years was all it took for someone Natalie used to know very well to turn into a stranger to her. Joshua surprised her by taking out his anger on her over something she had no part in.Natalie stood on the sidewalk outside Grayson Corporation with a sardonic smile. She felt silly for confidently letting Gina return without her just now.Frowning, she considered taking a taxi to her apartment.It had been a while since she had taken a taxi since her return from abroad. She despised the seats taken by strangers and the unpleasant smell inside. There was no way she would take a taxi.Natalie quickly pulled out her phone and called her driver, Andrew. "Come pick me up at the Grayson Corp entrance."Andrew sounded somewhat puzzled. "Aren't you coming back in Mr. Grayson's car? Why the sudden—""Why do you even care? Just do as you're told. Don't you want this job anymore?" Natalie snapped. She hadn't expected a mere driver to question her."I'll be right there," Andrew replied q
"Professor, where shall we eat?" Ryan asked as he looked at Natasha, who was still busy.After lifting the test tube, Natasha narrowed her eyes as she carefully added a few drops of reagent.A mesmerizing swirl was formed as the bright red and deep blue chemicals mingled. The resulting mixture looked as beautiful as fireworks at first glance.Pausing in her actions, Natasha said, "Hmm… didn't you mention a fantastic restaurant last time? Let's head over there.""Oh, yeah. I nearly forgot," Ryan replied. He was surprised that Natasha remembered better than he did."Well, let's go there. I know the owner very well, and the food is delicious. It can easily compete with the dishes of renowned restaurants," Ryan asserted.He knew that Natasha had probably tried out a lot of Michelin-starred restaurants, but he was confident that this place would surpass them all."Really? I'm looking forward to that." Natasha nodded. "We can go there as soon as I finish this experiment.""Don't worr
Natasha didn't want Ryan to overthink things or be fainthearted. She said gently, "You don't have to apologize. Just have your mind on the experiment and have no worries about anything else."You don't have to feel intimidated just because I entered the field of pharmaceuticals a few years earlier than you did. I'm just a regular person."You can just call me Natasha if you feel uncomfortable. Will that make things less formal?" Natasha cocked her head sideways and looked at Ryan earnestly."Huh?" Ryan was stunned. Calling Natasha by her name made him feel a little uncomfortable for some reason.His mind was in such a state of disarray that he had no idea which reagent tube to pick up. His nervous hand reached for a test tube containing a pale yellow reagent."This one has already been extracted. You won't be needing it anymore," Natasha reminded softly."Sorry, I didn't realize." Ryan quickly put the reagent tube back where he had found it.He scanned around and picked up a lar