The Year She Stopped Being Crazy for Him novel Chapter 16

The next morning, Natalie woke up with a splitting headache and an agonizingly stiff body.

She rubbed her temples, leaning heavily against the freezing floor. It took her several long minutes of staring into space to realize where she was.

Her phone alarm was blaring—it was the specific tune she used to wake up and prepare Hassan's breakfast. She silenced it and permanently deleted the alarm from her phone.

The housekeeper happened to step out at that exact moment. Seeing Natalie, she feigned a look of guilt. "Mrs. Carlson, I'm so sorry. I wanted to bring you inside last night, but Mr. Carlson... he forbade it. He told me to leave you out here."

She fully expected Natalie to look devastated and teary-eyed. Instead, Natalie simply stood up. Aside from a slightly raspy voice, her tone was entirely void of emotion. "It's my fault. I was drunk and came to the wrong place. By the way, you don't need to call me Mrs. Carlson anymore."

She turned to leave, but then paused, glancing over her shoulder. "Remind him to get the divorce papers ready."

Checking her phone, Natalie saw a barrage of missed calls from Nancy from the night before.

She immediately dialed her back. "Hey, Nancy."

"Don't you dare tell me you've changed your mind! When you didn't pick up last night, I called Professor Adler, and he told me you went to Sycamore Quays." Nancy sounded fierce. "If you're still not thinking straight, I'm going to come over and smack some sense into you."

Natalie chuckled softly. "You couldn't bear to hit me. Don't worry, I haven't changed my mind. I was just drunk..."

To be honest, she couldn't even remember how she ended up at Sycamore Quays.

"Anyway, I want to buy a car. Not having one is too inconvenient."

It wasn't that she didn't know how to drive—she was actually an incredibly skilled racer. And many of her old friends were from the underground racing scene.

But after marrying Hassan, she had deliberately molded herself into someone who enjoyed quiet, dignified hobbies. She gradually stopped driving, and having a chauffeur meant she never felt inconvenienced.

Now that she was done with him, it was time to get back behind the wheel!

Natalie visited the dealership and swiftly purchased a Ferrari—the exact same model as Nancy's, only hers was a loud, eye-catching red.

Unable to resist the thrill, she immediately texted Nancy.

[Are you free? Feel like hitting the track?]

Almost a second later, she found herself dragged back into the Kingswood City racing group chat—a chat she had voluntarily exited years ago.

The notifications exploded instantly.

Within minutes, a time and location were locked in.

Natalie fired up her new car and headed straight to the track.

...

At Goldport Circuit.

Nancy and her friends were waiting with buzzing excitement.

Just then, another group strolled in—it was Hassan's inner circle. Gardenia was front and center, surrounded by men who treated her like a fragile princess.

"Gardenia, we'll take you on a spin later. You just sit back and enjoy the ride," one of them offered eagerly.

As they approached, they overheard someone mentioning that Natalie was on her way.

Jacob Holt let out a mocking laugh. "Natalie doesn't race anymore. She's probably at home making Hassan breakfast right now."

Nancy rolled her eyes at him. "Our Nat is over him, okay? She literally told us she's coming to race."