Chapter 519
Mason and Gavin stood with the air of authority that only comes with age, silently sizing up Nathalie, as if trying to read her every move.
Nathalie wasn’t about to play the part of the dutiful youngster or act like some starstruck fan fawning over a billionaire. With a calm face that gave nothing away, she spoke with a surprising firmness, “Nathan’s been working himself to the bone recently. He’s exhausted and sleeping more than usual. He wakes up grumpy, and none of us dare to bother him. If Mason has something crucial to discuss, he can pass it through me, and I’ll make sure Nathan gets the message.” Her voice was soft, yet it carried an unexpected weight that made Mason pause.
Benjamin, catching sight of Nathalie after some time apart, couldn’t help but notice how she seemed even more captivating, the sharpness she once had replaced by a softer allure that drew him in even more. He swallowed nervously, trying to break the ice, “Hey, Nathalie, it’s been too long.”
Nathalie shot back, “Mr. Nathan’s from a high–standing family, always carrying himself like he’s a notch above everyone else. I’m careful not to get too close to you, Benjamin, in case I end up caught in one of your games.”
Feeling awkward, Benjamin stammered, “I made bad choices before, letting Cameron’s lies get to me. I treated you unfairly, Nathalie, and I’m sorry. It won’t happen again.”
Nathalie replied, “I’m a married woman now, Benjamin. It’s not very polite to call me by my first name like that.”
Benjamin’s confidence deflated instantly.
Mason scoffed, “So you remember you’re married, huh? But you don’t greet your elders? Is this how you welcome guests?”
“What would you have me call you?” Nathalie asked, her tone steady and unyielding.
“Nathan is my grandson. You should know what to call me,” Mason retorted, his anger flaring.
Nathalie knitted her brows, puzzled, “But my husband told me his mom passed away when he was young, his dad ran off with a nightclub hostess and ignored him completely. Oh, and his stepmom was downright evil, working with traffickers to sell him into a gang, where life was hell.”
Nathalie’s gentle gaze turned razor–sharp as she looked at Myla, “Are you the stepmother he was talking about?”
Caught off guard, Myla turned as white as a sheet, quickly shaking her head, “Not me, not me.”
Nathalie shifted her gaze to Gavin next, “Did you cheat with a hostess and drive your wife to her death?”
Gavin’s face turned a dark shade, as years of hidden guilt felt exposed under Nathalie’s scrutiny.
“Nathalie-” Mason burst out, seething with anger, “Since when do youngsters speak to their elders like this?”
Nathalie collected herself, recalling Nathan’s clenched fists and tense veins just moments before. He had always been gentle, which made his quest for revenge all the more deliberate and controlled.
He was too refined for his own good.
But Nathalie, with her street–smart ways, knew how to hit where it hurts. She looked Mason in the eye and smiled, “So, Mason, is it normal for elders to treat their own family like that?”
Mason was caught off guard, Nathalie’s boldness hitting him with the realization that the Rowland family’s mistreatment of Nathan was like a boomerang. Thrown by them, it had finally returned to hit them squarely.
Nathalie knew how to twist the knife just right: “Mason, Nathan just wants what’s fair. When will you give it to him? Only then might he wake up from the nightmare of what you call family. Don’t you think?”
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