The Year She Stopped Being Crazy for Him novel Chapter 25

She shook her head. "I appreciate the offer, but I don't plan on dancing anymore."

"Why not? You've trained all these years, and you're just throwing it away?"

For people in their profession, dance was something ingrained since childhood. Anyone capable of standing in the spotlight had bled for over a decade behind the scenes. Very few were willing to just abandon the skills they had spent their entire lives perfecting.

Quinn tried to persuade her. "Natalie, I can guess what happened. You danced for someone else. But you stuck with it for ten years and sacrificed so much. Can you really just drop it? Maybe your original motivation was for someone else, but the talent is all yours. Our company is just starting out, it wouldn't even take up that much of your time."

Natalie stood there in a slight daze as she listened to him. It suddenly hit her—over the past ten years, she had sweat buckets in countless rehearsal rooms, dancing until her clothes were completely soaked through. Dance had long since become a part of her soul. Why should she give up her own passion just because of him?

Quinn was entirely right.

Natalie smiled at him. "I'll invest. I can't commit to group performances—if it's a team piece, it wouldn't be fair if I couldn't make rehearsals. But I can do solo pieces. I'll practice on my own."

Quinn's eyes lit up. "Yes! That's perfect! I was only hoping to recruit one more dancer, but I ended up getting an investor too."

He smiled, his eyes sparkling with pure excitement. Natalie paused as she looked at him. That gaze... she knew it far too well. It was exactly how she used to look at Hassan.

Her expression cooled slightly.

Quinn spoke up, "Want me to take you to see my office and the new rehearsal studio?"

She thought about it. Checking out the studio before heading to the old house sounded fine, so she nodded.

On the third floor of the hospital, at the end of the corridor, Hassan lowered his gaze, watching intensely as Natalie got into a car with another man.

Zeke asked quietly, "Should I run a background check on him?"

"No need." He looked away. He highly doubted Natalie was emotionally involved with another man. Instead, he asked about something else. "Have you found her yet?"

Zeke looked a bit tense. "Not yet. To ensure fairness, all contestants used aliases, and 'H' never accepted any interviews."

Furthermore, that had been twelve years ago. Traces were nearly impossible to find.

"Keep looking," he ordered darkly.

Thirty minutes later, they arrived in the bustling commercial district.

The moment Natalie saw Dr. Weston, her mind instantly went to Yvonne's surgery. Her heart clenched with anxiety, and she took the initiative to greet them. "...Dad. What a coincidence."

Faust gave a stiff nod, his cold, scrutinizing gaze landing squarely on Quinn.

Assuming Faust was meeting with Dr. Weston to discuss the surgery, she didn't want to cause any trouble, so she politely introduced her companion. "This is my business partner, Quinn Harper."

Faust's gaze paused. He looked back at her. "Business partner?"

Natalie gave a slight nod. "I'm no longer with the Arts Center, so I've transitioned to a new role."

She suddenly realized that partnering with Quinn was actually a brilliant move. To the Carlson family, she was still just a lowly dancer, someone not fit for high society.

When it came time to divorce Hassan, it would likely be a breeze.

For starters, Faust would never object. And if Cecily found out her grandson already had a little heir with another woman, she probably wouldn't fight it either.

But if they found out her true line of work—for a family like the Carlsons, where profit reigned supreme—letting her go wouldn't be so easy.