The only person who can make Zane Thorne take the initiative is Natalie Vaughn. The only person who dares to hang up on Zane Thorne multiple tis is also Natalie Vaughn. And after being hung up on several tis, the only reason Zane Thorne would still call back could only be because of Natalie Vaughn.
This action not only surprised Natalie Vaughn but also astonished Zane Thorne himself. Not to ntion Genevieve Joyce and Carter Chapman, who were staring wide-eyed, mouths agape.
Inwardly, they couldn’t help but give Natalie Vaughn a thumbs-up.
Natalie Vaughn was already worried about Zane Thorne’s health; hanging up just now was purely driven by emotion. She was too angry. Zane Thorne always told her to take care of her health, but he’s the one drinking and smoking while in the hospital.
Without hesitation, upon answering the call, Natalie launched into another scolding.
"Why are you calling again? Looking to be scolded?"
Zane Thorne chuckled softly.
"I haven’t smoked at all; I’ve already thrown them away."
Natalie was stunned, her anger and prepared words suddenly had nowhere to go.
Zane continued.
"My wife won’t let smoke, so I won’t."
Natalie: ...
Was the person speaking carefully and compromising on the phone really Zane Thorne? Did soone swap him out? Could Zane be this obedient?
Zane seed not to be used to being like this either. He was accustod to being proud, but he would concede and compromise only because of Natalie. After speaking softly for a few sentences, he reverted to his usual self.
"You know drinking is bad for your health, and yet you want to get drunk in a bar?"
Here it cos, this tone is more like Zane Thorne.
For so reason, Natalie felt relieved. If Zane Thorne remained so gentle and compromising, she really wouldn’t know how to handle it.
"Why do you care?"
Natalie’s rebellious nature started acting up again.
Zane was already aware of Natalie’s character; the argunt this ti was precisely because Natalie felt he was controlling her.
"It’s not about controlling you; I’m concerned about you."
Concerned about her low alcohol tolerance and feeling bad when drunk, worried that she would be too docile and get bullied after drinking.
With just one light sentence, Natalie’s temper was quickly soothed.
Natalie didn’t even know why she was fussing.
She was very aware that the argunt started because of sothing she said carelessly, and given Zane Thorne’s character, it was not surprising for him to react with such words.
Besides, she recently noticed that those bodyguards kept a distance from her, and she no longer had to go to great lengths to shake them off when going out to practice driving at night.
It was obviously Zane Thorne who gave the orders.
He knew she didn’t want him to know what she was doing, so he instructed the bodyguards to maintain their distance, only following behind to confirm her safety when she returned.
Zane Thorne was showing her through actions that arranging bodyguards wasn’t for surveillance.
Natalie didn’t speak for a long ti, and Zane was rare in exercising patience.
"Hmm? Nina."
Natalie took a deep breath; she couldn’t handle Zane Thorne calling her nickna so affectionately, so she pouted.
"I stopped drinking."
But her voice was so soft, coquettish, and charming that Zane knew even if she wasn’t fully drunk yet, she was almost there.
So the man softened his voice, coaxing gently.
"How many glasses have you had?"
Zane’s voice was inherently sexy, and now, with such gentle tones, Natalie’s tenuous sobriety shattered, and her head began to feel heavy.
Her eyes grew misty, but she rembered what Zane said and started counting the empty glasses on the table.
"1, 2, 3... seems like five glasses. Oh, and today I tried a very interesting drink, a Hanky Panky. Isn’t the na great?"
Natalie’s voice had already turned syrupy sweet.
When Zane heard that Natalie drank a Hanky Panky, his face darkened significantly. Since he dabbles in the bar industry, he knew few bars in the country sold this drink, and those that did sold a high-proof version.
With Natalie’s alcohol tolerance, just one Hanky Panky would be enough to get her drunk, and she actually mixed it with five other drinks.
"You’ll feel bad if you drink more, our Nina shouldn’t drink anymore, alright?"
"Okay."
"Then sit tight, be a good girl, and hand the phone to Genevieve."
Natalie hiccupped and handed the phone to Genevieve, then slowly straightened her back, sitting more properly than a schoolchild.
Genevieve and Carter were a bit at a loss regarding Natalie’s sudden change. She was just a fiery pepper, how did she beco a docile kitten so quickly?
Genevieve was listening to Zane’s instructions, while Carter scrutinized Natalie carefully.
"Sis, are you drunk?"
Natalie replied with another hiccup.
Carter found it increasingly intriguing. How could soone be like this? Just monts ago, she was fuming and lecturing her husband, and in no ti at all, she was soothed by him and then got drunk?
What on earth did Mr. Thorne say?
Carter couldn’t know, and after Genevieve listened to Zane’s instructions, she handed the phone to Carter.
"President Thorne has sothing to tell you."
When Genevieve said this, she couldn’t hide the smile on her lips or the playful amusent in her eyes. Carter suddenly felt that he shouldn’t take this call.
"Go on."
Carter took the call, and unsurprisingly, Zane lectured him about trying to chat up Natalie. All through school, Carter had always been the best and most obedient in the teachers’ eyes, except from this "racing instructor" Zane who never had anything nice to say.
Being clumsy in racing was bad enough, being rejected by Natalie was unavoidable, but Zane still had to have a word. But then again, who told him to hit on Zane’s wife?
Getting scolded was only expected.
Carter kept silent, waiting for Zane to finish, then quietly added a sentence.
"If it weren’t , it would be soone else; sis is very pretty, I’m just cutting off other guys’ hopes."
"Should I thank you then?"
"I didn’t an it that way, Mr. Thorne. I couldn’t even make out sis’s face clearly; I just simply wanted to share a table. Besides, sis didn’t even pay attention to , she refused very decisively and coldly."
Upon hearing this, Zane was finally satisfied.
"That’s normal, soone like you isn’t her type."
Zane was very confident; back then, the young lady agreed to the blind date because she was interested in him. As for soone like Carter, Natalie probably wouldn’t even care to speak a word to him.
Of course, if Zane ever found out that Natalie had teased Carter while tipsy, he’d surely feel a bit embarrassed. But alas, neither Genevieve who was also teased nor Carter would ntion it, and as for Natalie, she probably wouldn’t even rember it.
Zane would never know.
Carter felt a thousand blows to his heart.
"Mr. Thorne, that’s a bit hurtful."
"Make sure to take your sis-in-law ho safely, watch out, don’t let anyone take photos."
Carter didn’t understand, and Zane didn’t offer any explanation.
"Mr. Thorne, are you okay physically?"
"Just a minor ailnt."
"A minor ailnt can turn serious. Just now, sis was clearly worried about you. Sotis using a bit of the self-harm tactic can give surprising results."
"Tacky."
Carter: ...
"It’s cliché but classic; surely there’s a reason it’s been passed down."
Zane: ...
Carter wanted to say more, but found that the phone had already been hung up.
Is the self-harm tactic really that cliché? But he really thought it would be useful?
Reviews
All reviews (0)