The Year She Stopped Being Crazy for Him novel Chapter 50

He was always breathtakingly handsome, even when completely wasted.

Natalie fully admitted she had been blind when it came to his character, but she hadn't been wrong about his face. Hassan had been blessed with a dangerously deceptive look—one that naturally drew people in, making them obsess over him, making them fall in love with him.

She dragged her eyes away and texted the housekeeper, knowing she couldn't carry him inside by herself.

She patted his shoulder, trying to rouse him a bit. The man's Adam's apple bobbed. His eyelashes fluttered lightly, and he furrowed his brows.

Her hand gripped his shoulder. "Wake up."

He slowly peeled his eyes open, raised his hand to cover hers, and turned his head to look at her.

His alcohol-laced gaze was slightly unfocused, swimming with a heavy intoxication that made the air feel instantly thicker. As he leaned closer and closer, Natalie finally reacted and turned her face away, letting his kiss land against her temple instead.

The next second, he took her earlobe between his lips.

Natalie's entire body shuddered. For a split second, she wondered if he was just faking it and wasn't actually drunk at all.

He knew perfectly well that her ears were her most sensitive spot; he used to love doing exactly this to her in bed.

But the thought only lasted for a second. If he were truly sober, there was no way he would have initiated contact with her like this.

She shoved him away.

Right on cue, the housekeeper came down to the garage, her brow furrowed in visible displeasure.

Natalie got out, pulled open the passenger door, and helped the housekeeper pull Hassan out of the car.

She heard the housekeeper grumbling under her breath, "How did his clothes get completely soaked? He's definitely going to catch a cold tomorrow."

She cast a sideways glance at the woman, her eyes dark with realization. Before now, she had never paid much attention to the staff in the house.

But suddenly, she remembered that night she was locked out and forced to sleep outside. When the housekeeper found her the next morning, her first instinct was to mention that Hassan had ordered her to be left out there—without offering a single word of genuine concern.

There was another maid in the house, strictly responsible for cleaning, whose presence was usually nonexistent. Right now, she had been tasked by the housekeeper to watch over the hangover soup brewing in the kitchen.

Having managed to drag the man inside, Natalie was entirely done with the situation and headed straight for her bedroom.

But a little while later, the housekeeper knocked on her door. "Ma'am, Mr. Carlson refuses to drink his soup. We've tried everything. You need to go feed it to him."

Once the suspicion was planted, Natalie started noticing more and more glaring details—like the housekeeper's tone right now, ordering her around as if Natalie were just another servant.

"If he doesn't want to drink it, then leave it."

"We can't do that. What if he catches a cold? He has to go to work tomorrow."

"You certainly seem to care about him a lot," Natalie remarked dryly.

The housekeeper stiffened, lowering her voice. "Well, Cecily is staying here. If we don't take perfect care of him, we're the ones who will get reprimanded."