The Year She Stopped Being Crazy for Him novel Chapter 47

Halfway through the night, Hassan stepped out to take a phone call. Not long after, Gardenia also left the room.

Natalie stood up, and just as she was about to follow them out, Jacob Holt blocked her path. "Where do you think you're going? You just can't stand not wedging yourself between them, can you?"

The sheer audacity of his comment made her laugh out loud. "Jacob, you seem to have a brain, yet you clearly don't use it. Me, wedging myself between them? I'm the one who shares a marriage license with Hassan. It says 'Natalie' on that paper, not 'Gardenia'. If anyone is the home-wrecker here, it's her."

Jacob scoffed. "The woman he's always loved is Gardenia. You're the one who took advantage of him when he was vulnerable."

"I didn't hold a gun to Hassan's head and force him to marry me. No matter who you tell this story to, the bottom line is that Hassan is the one cheating on me with Gardenia."

Ignoring him completely, she turned and walked out.

The hallway was long. As she approached the corner, she heard Gardenia's voice. "Hassan, thank you for taking care of me when I still wasn't fully recovered, and for helping me buy this robot."

She froze instantly in her tracks, even her breathing growing shallow.

That robot... Hassan was the one who bought it.

He was actually helping Gardenia cheat.

It felt as if a massive chunk of Natalie's heart had suddenly been carved out. She realized she had never truly understood Hassan Carlson at all.

For Gardenia, he was willing to throw away all his principles.

She had thought he was in the dark about this. It turned out he was the mastermind.

Hassan's voice was deep, yet significantly softer than usual. "I know your capabilities. I believe in you, so don't worry about it. Just use it to take first place."

She couldn't bear to listen to another word and turned to leave.

Seeing her pale face, Jacob sneered. "You insisted on going out there, and now look at you. Got what you deserved?"

She looked up, her eyes locking onto his. "You're not secretly in love with Gardenia, are you? If you like her so much, why don't you just go after her? Watching the woman you love get all cozy with your best friend every single day—doesn't that tear you apart?"

Jacob froze right where he stood.

Just then, Hassan and Gardenia returned and caught the tail end of Natalie's words.

Every single person in this private room knew perfectly well that the woman he loved was Gardenia.

Halfway through dealing the cards, the private room door was pushed open.

Jude Sheridan strolled in, one hand casually tucked into his pocket, a cigarette dangling from his lips. His gaze swept over the room, gleaming with amusement. "Well, isn't this lively."

Jacob was instantly taken aback. "What are you doing here?"

Jude took the cigarette from his mouth with two fingers and walked straight toward him. "Coming to see you, of course. Jacob, we've known each other for years, why didn't you invite me?"

Jacob's eyes darkened. "I didn't invite you, and you still showed up anyway."

Jude raised his gaze, his eyes landing on Gardenia. "True."

Gardenia was sitting on Hassan's right. The way Jude was staring at her made her instinctively press closer to Hassan.

Natalie felt like she could smell Gardenia's perfume all the way from where she was sitting. It was suffocating.