The Year She Stopped Being Crazy for Him novel Chapter 17

"Ha, who do you think is going to believe that?"

Nancy shoved her phone screen directly in his face, showing him the chat logs. "See for yourself!"

The men leaned in to read the messages, frowning. "Natalie's acting wild again. Does Hassan know?"

Jacob sneered. "I bet you anything that all it takes is one call from him, and she'll turn right back around."

Nancy's friends instantly looked a bit unsure. That actually sounded exactly like something Natalie would do.

But Nancy trusted her best friend. "Hmph. Call him if you've got the guts. She's coming!"

Seeing her unwavering confidence, Jacob smugly pulled out his phone and dialed Hassan. "Hassan, aren't you going to rein in your wife? She's allegedly coming out here to race. At least, that's what her friends are saying."

"Oh, by the way, we brought Gardenia with us. Come hang out if you're free."

A low, indifferent voice came through the speaker. "Got it."

Jacob hung up and tapped his watch. "Alright, let's start the clock. Let's see how long it takes for Natalie to call you guys and cancel."

"I'll give it a minute, max," one of the guys chuckled.

Another guy started doing an exaggerated impression of their dynamic. "Hassan goes, 'Don't go.' And Natalie says, 'Okay, okay, honey! I won't go!' That's it. Thirty seconds, tops."

Nancy watched them maliciously mock her friend and felt thoroughly nauseated.

"Nancy, care to make a bet?" Jacob challenged, raising a brow. "If Natalie actually shows up today, I'll get down on my knees right here, and you can make me do whatever you want. But if she doesn't..."

He smirked. "You're spending the night with all thirteen of us."

The absolute very next second after those words left Jacob's mouth, the screech of brakes echoed from the track entrance.

All heads snapped toward the sound. A fiercely vibrant red Ferrari counter-steered into a heavy braking drift, executing a sharp, flawlessly beautiful slide to a halt.

Nancy was an orphan. The moment Gardenia brought up her parents, she snapped. She swung a hard slap across Gardenia's face. "Who the hell do you think you are?! Keep your nose out of my business!"

"How dare you hit her!"

Caught completely off guard, chaos erupted, and several people lunged into a violent scuffle.

Terrified that Nancy would get hurt, Natalie darted forward to pull Gardenia away. But without warning, Gardenia went entirely limp, allowing herself to be violently shoved backward.

Natalie still had a grip on Gardenia's wrist, and their bodies tumbled backward together. With a sickening *thud*, they crashed into a massive steel support beam. The pillar was unforgivingly solid, offering zero cushion.

In an instant, dark crimson blood began to pool from the back of Gardenia's head as she slumped to the ground.

The sight was utterly horrifying, sending the crowd into a total frenzy.

"Gardenia!"