The Year She Stopped Being Crazy for Him novel Chapter 68

The rest of the guys finally caught on. Jude hadn't brought Natalie here just for fun; he had brought her here specifically to piss Hassan off.

They all knew Jude was in love with Gardenia.

In fact, Jude had gone to great lengths for her. When Gardenia had gotten into that car accident and went to Mothria Country for treatment, Jude was the one who accompanied her. At the time, his wife had been pregnant, but he simply ignored her and rarely came home while he was abroad.

It was only when Gardenia returned that he finally came back as well.

Once outside, Natalie took a deep breath of the fresh night air, forcing herself to calm down.

She grabbed a bite to eat by herself, and then headed to the Sheridan estate to fulfill her promise of taking Mia to the amusement park.

Cora handed her a small tote bag. "Her water bottle is in here, along with wet wipes, tissues, a small cloth, and a change of clothes."

"What's the cloth for?" Natalie asked, a little confused.

Cora smiled gently and smoothed Mia's hair. "Mia is still little, and she loves to run around. She gets sweaty easily. When she does, just tuck the cloth into the back of her collar to catch the sweat so her clothes don't get soaked. That way, she won't catch a cold if the wind blows."

Natalie nodded in understanding, took the bag to the car, and headed out with Mia.

Once at the amusement park, Natalie held Mia's hand as they walked through the gates.

They went on the bumper cars, the Ferris wheel, the carousel, and the pirate ship. Finally, Mia announced she wanted to go into the haunted house.

Natalie kept her expression neutral, but internally, she was panicking. She loved thrill rides, but she hated pitch-black spaces—especially haunted houses where bloody hands could reach out from anywhere.

"Are you sure you're not scared?" Natalie asked.

"It's all fake! What's there to be scared of?" Mia tugged on her arm, whining as she dragged Natalie toward the entrance. "Come with me, please, Natalie!"

Noticing a lucky-egg game nearby, Natalie had an idea. "Let's go smash an egg first. We each get one try. If we win a prize, we go to the haunted house. If both are empty, we don't go. Deal?"

Mia thought the game looked fun and eagerly nodded.

Mia and Adrian seemed to have made up since their last spat. They were already chattering away, and Mia was proudly showing off her new toy dinosaur.

Natalie frowned.

Gardenia, maintaining her signature poised elegance, turned to her with a smile. "You're here too? What a coincidence."

She made a point to say it first, subtly implying that Natalie was the one following them.

Natalie completely ignored her.

Mia swung Natalie's hand. "Mr. Carlson is here too! Why is Mr. Carlson always hanging out with Adrian? Does he just really like kids? When are you going to have a baby, Natalie?"

Natalie forced a smile and stayed quiet. Mia tugged her toward the entrance, declaring, "Don't be scared, Natalie. I'll protect you!"

The moment they stepped inside, the lighting vanished, replaced by an eerie chill and the low, unsettling groans of the soundtrack. Natalie's steps faltered for a second, but she took a deep breath and kept walking.