Fake Mate Beta Rises to Alpha Heiress (Natalie and Landon) novel Chapter 273

Chapter 273 Fair Approach

Lily’s POV:

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At noon, I knocked on Natalie’s office door three times. There was no answer. Finding it slightly ajar, I pushed it open and saw Natalie sitting behind her desk, her gaze fixed on the distant view outside the

window.

“Natalie,” I said as I walked up to her desk. She snapped out of it.

“Just give them to me,” she said. I had emailed her earlier about a few documents needing her approval.

I handed over the files. Natalie reviewed each one right then and there before signing.

But I noticed something off. As she read, she was using her finger to trace the lines of text-a habit of hers when she was having serious trouble concentrating.

“Natalie, is everything okay?” I asked, taking the signed documents from her.

“Oh, it’s nothing. I was just lost in thought,” she said, her expression normal as she glanced at the time. “Actually, could you do me a favor? Go to the lobby and meet someone for me. Her name is Chloe Kelly. She’s starting today.” She gave me a quick description.

I nodded and left with the files.

Natalie’s POV:

Chloe was starting at the Scott Group today. I asked Lily to help her with the onboarding paperwork, and suggested we all have lunch together afterward.

Lily nodded and got right to it.

Once she was gone, I took a deep breath and patted my cheeks as if to psych myself up. It was less about waking up and more about trying to shake off a nagging thought.

It was time to work. I needed to stop overthinking.

Leonardo had just muttered something in his sleep. I probably misheard.

Even if he did say the name “Victoria”, it didn’t necessarily niean anything.

I kept telling myself that, but Victoria’s old words kept echoing in my mind.

“Do you know why Leonardo chose you?” she had said. “It’s your demeanor and certain mannerisms that are a lot like mine. You’re just a substitute.” I had dismissed it back then. I thought it was just jealousy talking.

But now…

Chloe’s POV:

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19:49 Mon, Jan 19 GT.

Chapter 273 Fair Approach

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I got the call from the Scott Group’s HR department that morning. When they invited me to start work, I thought they had the wrong number.

Then Natalie called right after. She said she wanted me to join their pharmaceutical R&D department.

I majored in that in college, following in my mother’s footsteps. My mother was in pharmaceutical R&D herself, and a highly capable one. She oversaw numerous drug developments in her lifetime and even developed a world-renowned patented technology before she passed away, earning global recognition.

I just didn’t inherit her talent. No matter how hard I studied, I was never at the top of my class.

After graduation, I applied to countless companies in the field. But my skills weren’t rare enough, and my status as the Kelly family’s daughter always got in the way. I never got an offer.

I knew Eleanor’s parents were behind it, intentionally blocking me.

They didn’t want me out of their control, so they cut off all my options. They were afraid I might achieve something as my mother did.

But deep down, I knew they were worried over nothing.

After the incident with Liam and Amelia at the club, even though I wasn’t formally fired, my performance review for work basically got a zero. Dragging things out like this, I’d never pass the review to gain independence from the Kelly family’s oversight.

The Scott Group’s offer was my way out.

If I could work at the Scott Group, outside the Kelly family’s reach, I might actually have a chance to pass that review.

What I didn’t understand was why Natalie was suddenly helping me,

What surprised me even more was that Eleanor’s parents didn’t try to stop me from joining the Scott Group. They probably figured that with my personality, I wouldn’t last long there anyway. They likely saw Natalie’s help as a problem she was bringing on herself-Liam was a prime example. So they chose to wait and see.

Natalie’s POV:

Before calling Chloe, I had already spoken to the Kelly family. They wouldn’t dare cross the Moon- Shadowed Pack. They gave me that much face.

Even though I gave Chloe solid reasons, she still felt uneasy accepting help out of the blue.

So I didn’t mince words. I laid out the conditions. The Scott Group didn’t carry dead weight. If Chloe didn’t pass her three-month probation, she’d be out.

If she stayed, as compensation for the company’s investment in her, I wanted the licensing rights to her mother’s patent.

Hearing that actually seemed to put Chloe more at ease.

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19:49 Mon, Jan 19 GT.

Chapter 273 Fair Approach

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Chloe’s POV:

“I might not be able to get it,” I confessed to Natalie. I hadn’t secured the rights from the Grayclaw Pack yet, and I wasn’t sure I ever would.

My lack of confidence didn’t seem to faze her. “Just try,” she said. “Are you afraid to even try?” That simple sentence sparked a flicker of pride and determination in me.

Of course, I wanted to try it if I had the chance. As long as Natalie stayed detached and didn’t pin her hopes on me. I couldn’t handle anyone’s expectations.

Yeah, I was used to failure, used to being told no, used to being the useless daughter kept under the Kelly family’s thumb.

But Natalie didn’t give me expectations-just conditions. That cold, fair way of doing things actually made me feel a little more secure.

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