Chapter 1102 Keep It A Secret
Natalie hadn’t left the café for long when she received news of Billy’s and fake Natalie’s return. Soon, she, too, arrived home.
Emma’s jaw dropped at the sight of the two identical Natalies. “W-What’s going on?” she stammered. “Why… are there two Ms. Nichols?”
“Can you tell which one of us is the real Natalie?” asked Natalie with a soft smile. Emma’s eyes darted between the two of them and grew even more bewildered. She couldn’t tell apart the two Natalies at all!
As such, Natalie decided not to tease the middle-aged lady any longer and shot a glance at the woman who was disguised as her. Having caught her hint, the woman took off the hyper-realistic mask, revealing her original appearance.
Disbelief was written all over Emma’s face when she saw that. “Oh my… T-This is scarier than magic!”
“Wonders will never cease in this boundless world of ours, Mrs. Bunton. Naturally, anything could happen, but some might be secrets that shouldn’t be revealed,” stated Natalie, her voice firm and resolute.
“I understand, Ms. Nichols. I won’t say anything I’m not supposed to.” Emma nodded fervently.
“Okay.” After Natalie relayed her instructions, the woman and Emma left the study. Natalie sat leisurely in the chair with her legs crossed. She shot Billy a look and queried, “How was your trip? Smooth sailing, I suppose?”
“A lot smoother than I expected. We mobilized a number of men to protect the substitute in secret, but they weren’t deployed at all.” At the mention of that, Billy furrowed his brows. “Logically speaking, although Blaze has kidnapped Yumi to threaten us, they could very well ambush us and steal the jade key. That would be an excellent move, but they didn’t do so.”
She nodded and fell into deep thought upon hearing that. I wasn’t expecting the substitute to come out of the situation completely unscathed.
“Mrs. Bowers, could it be that they might have something planned out?” Billy articulated his theories.
“Perhaps.” Natalie’s composure was a stark contrast to his nervousness. “No matter what tricks they have up their sleeves, we’ll only find out once we cross that bridge. Let’s not overthink and make a decision when we come to it.”
Her expression showed little emotion, and oddly enough, that gave Billy peace of mind. It was similar to the vibe that Samuel gave off, and to remain as cool as a cucumber in the face of a crisis was a truly admirable trait.
At that, Billy couldn’t help but exclaim, “Mr. Bowers was right about you, Mrs. Bowers.”
“Oh.” Natalie was slightly surprised to hear that. When she thought of Samuel, all of the longing she felt for the man came back. “He’s in the mountain with Jorden and Master. I wonder if they’ve cured the poison by now… But the lack of news means he’s fine. I believe he’ll be able to cure himself of the poison and return to my side.”
Billy felt his heart soften at her words. “That’s right. Mr. Bowers will surely return safely. After all, he can barely bring himself to be apart from you.”
“Mm. Thank you for your hard work for the past few days, Billy. Go home and get some rest. I’ll need your help with rescuing Yumi later on,” she said with a faint smile.
“All right, I understand.” After he left, Natalie sat alone in the study. Although she was tired, her mind felt oddly refreshed and sober.
She was waiting for Zophie to take the initiative to contact her. The latter thought of Natalie as her prey, but to Natalie, it was still unclear who would be the prey and predator.
The minutes continued to tick by. While Natalie was resting with her eyes shut, her phone, which was on the table, began to vibrate.
For some reason, she had a feeling about who the caller might be and instantly opened her eyes. After picking up the call, she brought the phone to her ear and answered, “Hello?”
“Natalie! Did you get the jade key?” Zophie’s voice came from the other end of the line, her tone laced with a hint of menace.
