The Year She Stopped Being Crazy for Him novel Chapter 12

Four years ago, her stepmother had tried to sell her off to an old, wealthy man. Natalie had been locked in a dark basement, her phone confiscated, entirely cut off from her grandparents.

She was only let out when the elders of the Carlson family arrived at the Thornton estate with a marriage proposal, declaring that Hassan intended to marry her.

The moment she was freed, she rushed straight to him. She found him lying on his stomach, his face pale and his back covered in bleeding wounds, drifting in and out of a feverish coma.

She had believed he suffered that brutal punishment simply because he fought his family to marry her. For four years of marriage, no matter how cold he was, she never held it against him. She loved him fiercely, all because of the vow she made while sitting beside his unconscious, battered body—a promise to never leave his side.

But the truth was... he hadn't endured that for her. He did it so he could marry Gardenia.

Her fingertips went numb. It felt as if an invisible hand was squeezing her heart, sending a violently sickening wave of panic through her chest and leaving her wrists completely limp.

The delicate porcelain bowl in her hands tilted. She scrambled to grip it, but her fingers only grazed the smooth, cold surface.

The bowl slipped from her grasp, hitting the floor with a sharp crash. White porcelain shattered into a dozen pieces, sending hot soup splattering across the tiles.

Her hands remained hovering in the air in a hollow grip. Her heart pounded erratically against her ribs, her breath catching in her throat as she trembled.

"Natalie, are you..." Cecily reached out to steady her.

But Natalie bolted from the room without a single word of goodbye.

Behind her, she could hear Cecily shouting at Hassan to go after her.

Hassan, as calm and unbothered as ever, simply replied, "She won't go far."

And he was right—or at least, he used to be. In the past, even when she was furious, she never made it further than the front door. He could always find her effortlessly, and even if he didn't bother looking, she would always obediently crawl back.

Natalie crouched down by the side of the road and recounted exactly what had happened at the dinner table.

Nancy exploded into a string of furious curses. "Is he even human?! Lying to you for four years—he's absolute garbage! And to think you used to defend him, saying he just had a cold exterior. Please! He's ice-cold from the inside out, right down to the marrow of his bones! Thank god you finally woke up and decided to divorce that trash."

As Natalie listened, a notification banner popped up on her screen. It was a message from Professor Adler.

[Professor Adler: H, we've run into a critical issue at the lab. It's extremely urgent. Can you come take a look? I'm so sorry to bother you out of the blue, but if you can solve this, the higher-ups will absolutely fast-track your inclusion into the team.]

Natalie instantly pulled herself together. She replied that she would head over right away, asked for the address, and planned to have Nancy drive her there straight away.

Just then, a sleek black Maybach pulled up right in front of her.

The window rolled down smoothly. The man tilted his head slightly, his sharp profile cutting a striking silhouette in the shadows. When his gaze landed on her, his handsome features exuded an almost predatory magnetism.