Married To My Billionaire Stepbrother novel Chapter 282

Chapter 282: Insufferable Brothers

"Shh!" Justin held her shoulders gently and spoke in a calm, composed tone. "I didn’t want you to overthink and be anxious until you met her. Just go to her and do what comes naturally in the moment. Not planning will let your true thoughts and feelings shine through, instead of you trying to overthink every word and action. This isn’t a business meeting where you have to plan and act strategically. Besides, you’ve known for over a month that you’d be meeting her, so you must have already thought about it plenty. Has that truly helped?"

Natalie looked at him silently for a moment, processing his words. Realizing he was right, she shook her head to answer him.

He caressed her cheek gently and said, "Just be yourself, alright?"

Natalie nodded again, and together they headed inside, Justin holding her hand to comfort her nerves. With each step forward, Natalie could feel her heartbeat quickening, and she tightened her grip on Justin’s hand.

Behind the closed window glass of a room on the first floor, a woman stood, watching the couple as they walked inside. Her calm gaze, still as water, revealed nothing of her thoughts or emotions.

Inside the drawing room, Eric welcomed them. He looked at Natalie and introduced himself.

"Let me take you to Ms. Shaw," Eric offered.

Natalie glanced at Justin, who gave her an assuring look. She followed Eric upstairs to the first floor.

Justin turned to Leo, who gave a light nod, as if understanding Justin’s unspoken message. Leo then led him toward one of the rooms where Aiden was staying.

Justin entered the room and found a man sitting comfortably on the bed, engrossed in reading a file. Aiden looked up at Justin and frowned, clearly not pleased to see him.

Justin, unbothered by the reaction, sat down in a chair and asked casually, "How are you doing, elder brother? Enjoying yourself while nursing your crippled leg?"

In response, Aiden turned to Leo and said, "Do I need to put it in writing that who I don’t want to see?"

Leo remained silent, unfazed by the brothers’ exchange. He was used to their banter. Whenever Justin visited Aiden, the two brothers would trade jabs, neither willing to act like mature adults. Mocking each other seemed to be their default mode of communication.

"Anger isn’t good for your health, brother," Justin said calmly. "It might slow down your recovery."

Aiden countered sharply, "If you care so much about my peaceful recovery, why don’t you just get lost?"

"As your brother, it’s my duty to look after you," Justin replied with a smirk. "That being said, you still haven’t answered my first question."

Aiden calmed down and replied with a smirk, "I’m having just as much fun as you must be while trying to recover those lost memories from the past."

Leo, unable to tolerate the banter any longer, turned to leave, unwilling to waste his time on these two insufferable brothers.

"Where are you going?" Aiden asked before Leo could escape.

How Leo wished he could tell them how annoying both his boss and his boss’s brother were. Instead, he sighed inwardly and said, "I’ll be with Eric since Ms. Natalie has gone to see her mother," before quietly exiting the room.

"One day, she’ll have to know," Justin said calmly. "But if you’re ready to tell her right now, I can bring her here. Both mother and daughter will know what happened. I’m sure Caryn Ford would be delighted to hear the truth."

The moment Natalie stepped inside, she saw a woman sitting in a chair by the window, gazing outside. Natalie still couldn’t believe her eyes—she was finally seeing her mother.

Caryn turned her head and looked at her daughter quietly, as if studying her. It was the first time in many years that they were seeing each other in person, and both took their time to take in the sight of one another.

"Have a seat," Caryn finally broke the silence, gesturing toward a chair placed at a distance from her own.

Natalie sat in the chair and realised, Justin was right. Despite thinking so many times what she would do when she would meet Caryn, none of them could come handy now. She truly didn’t know what to do, as if there was truly nothing to say or ask.

Has she just gotten used to not having her mother around and was just fine on her own? Was there no affection left between them like in the past?

"Are you alright now?" Caryn asked, "recovery after donating bone marrow takes time."

"I am fine now," Natalie replied calm and composed.

Both mother and daughter didn’t show a tinge of emotions in their eyes, as if they were sitting for some professional talk.

This is not how Natalie expected it to be.

’Maybe, emotions inside me are dead as well,’ Natalie thought.