Abandoned by All I Took It All Back novel Chapter 182

Natalie nodded. "After that incident, I had no contact with Zachary. I didn't even know he was May's boyfriend until he showed up to pick her up from work one day..."

She sighed, looking weary.

Zachary, it turned out, was a total masochist. After witnessing her violent side, he had become infatuated with her.

He had searched for Natalie for a long time without any luck.

Two weeks later, he went to the jewelry store to pick up May, planning to break up with her in person. It was there that he saw the woman he'd been dreaming of.

At first, Natalie simply rejected Zachary's advances. When he wouldn't listen, she resorted to violence.

Despite his large frame, Zachary was surprisingly weak and couldn't take a punch.

Every time he approached her, Natalie would beat him up.

To her astonishment, Zachary was truly a masochist. He never fought back and seemed to enjoy the abuse.

Realizing the extent of his depravity, Natalie finally understood he had some kind of psychological issue.

She started actively avoiding him.

If she couldn't fight him off, she could at least hide.

But Zachary was like a homing missile. No matter where she went, he found her. He even tracked her down to their family home in the countryside once.

It got so bad that Natalie had to call the police several times.

The police would come, give Zachary a lecture, but it had no effect on him.

At the time, the Holt family was in crisis, and her brothers were swamped with work, so she never mentioned it to them.

Eventually, Natalie came up with a new plan. She bought pepper spray. She sprayed him every single time she saw him until he finally couldn't take it anymore and gave up.

As a final warning, she told him that if he ever harassed her again, she would take a knife to him.

Whether it was her threat or the pepper spray, Zachary finally stopped bothering her.

But when he broke up with May, May blamed it all on Natalie, accusing her of seducing her fiancé.

The restaurant was spacious, with two floors. The ground floor was the main dining hall, and the second floor had private rooms.

...

In the month since its opening, The Tasting Room had become a massive success. West was so busy he barely had time to breathe.

Customers had to book a table online a day in advance.

Janina felt a sense of relief. Her third brother was finally getting back on his feet, and their eldest brother's farming project was underway. Everything was moving in the right direction.

These past few days had been busy for Janina as well.

She had entered The DL Design Competition early in her pregnancy, and the final round was this month. Determined to win, she had been focusing on her design sketches at home.

Although the prize money wasn't as much as what Nova Group paid, this competition held a special significance for her.

She had to win, and she was confident she would take first place.