An Affair With The Ceo (Natasha and Jared) novel Chapter 171

Chapter 171 Joelle Committed Suicide

Chapter 171 Joelle Committed Suicide

Natasha turned her head out of reflex. When she saw Jared appear, her heart dropped with a heavy thud.

Jared stepped out of the bathroom and looked at her. “Awake?”

Natasha was taken aback. “Why are you here?”

Jared thought it was hilarious. “You’re in my office!” he said.

Natasha’s expression froze. “Then what were you doing just now?”

Jared glanced back at her. “I just went to the bathroom. Why?”

Natasha opened her mouth, but was speechless for a while. Her mind was all over the place. ‘Wasn’t Jared supposed to be in a meeting?’ she wondered. ‘When did he come back? I didn’t even notice!’

If she’d known he was here, she never would’ve played Dorothy’s voice messages out loud. ‘Crap!’ Natasha cursed inwardly. ‘Did Jared catch any of that? He’s not going to think I’m actually trying to go after Derek, right?’ she fretted.

“N-nothing…” Natasha stammered, shaking her head. Her explanation came out all jumbled. “I just… didn’t expect you to be back already…”

She thought his meeting would run late. But she’d forgotten her nap had dragged on.

Jared stared at her. “Did you mistake my office for a hotel?”

Natasha quickly waved her hands. “No…”

Jared’s gaze cooled. “Go back.”

Natasha blinked, totally surprised. “What?”

Jared switched to his usual businesslike tone. “Get back to work. I’ll call you if I need anything.”

Natasha hesitated, unsure how to respond. ‘Is he… done with me?’ Natasha thought, feeling a pang of uncertainty.

He’d been all over her in the office earlier, so Natasha figured he’d want to get right back to it after his meeting. ‘Turns out I was just imagining things, Natasha thought.

She nodded and walked out of his office. Honestly, she couldn’t be happier that Jared was letting her go.

Natasha had just gotten back to her office when her phone started ringing. Natasha tapped the answer button and said, ” Hello…”

She glanced at the caller ID and saw it was her mother, Sandra. After hesitating for a moment, she picked up.

“Nat, it’s me!” Sandra said. Her voice was thick with grief.

Natasha immediately sensed something was off in Sandra’s voice. “Mom, what happened?” Natasha asked.

“It’s your sister…” Sandra couldn’t hold back her sobs any longer. “Joelle… she committed suicide!”

Natasha was completely stunned. “What… what did you just say?” she blurted out, her voice shaking.

‘Joelle… committed suicide?’ Natasha thought, totally stunned. This was way beyond anything she could’ve imagined.

Sandra was devastated. “I never thought your sister would just give up like this!”

Natasha was completely speechless. She never thought Joelle would ever do something like this. ‘Is this because of her divorce from Nicolas?’ Natasha wondered.

After a long pause, Natasha finally found her voice. “Joelle… is she alright?” Since it was a suicide attempt, she had to know if Joelle was still alive.

“No, she’s not okay. She’s in the hospital right now!” Sandra replied. She gave Natasha the hospital address and urged her to go see Joelle immediately.

Natasha looked conflicted, her emotions all over her face. She stayed silent for a while.

She and Joelle had never gotten along, not even as kids. Joelle always flaunted being the real Whittier heiress and their parents’ favorite, making Natasha’s life miserable. She even went after Natasha’s husband.

When she heard Joelle had tried to kill herself, Natasha’s first thought was, ‘Serves her right. But besides that, Natasha couldn’t help but feel a little disgusted with Joelle. She despised Joelle for being so weak.

Nothing mattered more than staying alive. Joelle always strutted around like she was some big shot, but when life threw her a curveball, her first instinct was to give up and check out for good.

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Chapter 171 Joelle Committed Suicide

“Why did she try to kill herself?” Natasha asked.

Sandra was heartbroken. “What else could it be? Nicolas just had to divorce her… If I’d known he was so cold, I never would’ve let Joelle marry into that family…”

On the phone, Sandra went off on Nicolas, blaming him for everything. But she conveniently forgot that Joelle was the one marrying up; the Whittiers were the ones who chased after the Milfords for this marriage,

The Milfords gave the Whittiers a generous engagement gift, and aside from Nicolas never loving Joelle, she was never mistreated. And as for the divorce, there was nothing to complain about.

The money and assets were all squared away long ago. Joelle definitely didn’t walk away empty-handed.

If anything, Joelle and the Whittier family actually came out ahead from this short-lived marriage. And even after her own wedding, Joelle got way too close to Natasha’s husband, Percy.

Honestly, Joelle didn’t really get the short end of the stick. If anything, she came out ahead. Natasha couldn’t figure out what would drive Joelle to do something like that.

Meanwhile, ever since she married Percy, Natasha had been treated disrespectfully. Her in-laws never treated her well, and forget about getting any money or compensation from them. Percy was just an illegitimate son in the Grosso family. Natasha married an illegitimate son, so there was no way her in-laws would ever treat her with any real respect. Every single time she went back to the Grosso family’s mansion with Percy, she got nothing but dirty looks and cold shoulders And as for her own family, the Whittiers, they couldn’t care less about what she went through after she got married. But even with all that, Natasha managed to tough it out; she never once thought about ending her own life. But Joelle was the one who cracked first.

Natasha just sat there, quietly listening as Sandra cried her heart out. She felt nothing at all, not even a flicker of emotion. If this had happened before, Natasha would’ve been devastated that her mom cared so much about Joelle, but never bothered to ask about her.

She would’ve been both hurt and angry. But now, it didn’t even faze her anymore. Instead, she just told Sandra, calm as ever, that she’d swing by the hospital after work to see Joelle.

It wasn’t because she cared about what her mom said, or felt any sympathy or concern for Joelle. She just wanted to see how pathetic Joelle looked now.

*****

The sun was setting, and dark clouds covered the sky. It was about to rain. Natasha quickly packed up her things, ready to rush to the hospital as soon as she got off work.

Just then, a new WhatsApp notification popped up on her phone. Natasha unlocked her phone and checked the message. It was from Jared: [Come home with me tonight.]

Natasha paused, caught off guard. She wasn’t naive; they were both grown-ups, and she knew exactly what Jared was hinting at.

‘So he wants to pick me up after work and take me to his place?’ Natasha thought. Jared’s intentions tonight were pretty clear.

Joelle had just tried to kill herself, and Natasha had already told Sandra she’d go to the hospital. Plus, she wanted to see firsthand just how miserable Joelle was now.

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