The Year She Stopped Being Crazy for Him novel Chapter 9

Among all the competitors, she was the youngest and undeniably the most gifted.

After the competition, Professor Adler from Stanford had personally offered her a spot, telling her she could join a university research program immediately.

She had turned it down. At the time, even though she wanted to get away from her family, she wanted to be closer to Hassan even more.

When she won, she wanted to tell Hassan immediately, and only him.

But a horrific tragedy ensured she could never speak of her triumph.

That same year, Hassan's mother, leading a research and development team for a smart-driving AI project, personally test-drove the vehicle. The automated system, which had passed countless safety checks, suddenly malfunctioned. The car accelerated wildly, resulting in a fatal crash.

After that, she never dared to mention anything related to robotics or AI in front of him again.

The moment she walked through the door, Nancy pulled her into a massive hug. "Congratulations on finally escaping the graveyard of marriage!"

Natalie was dying to know about something else. "Did you talk to the professor for me?"

Nancy nodded. "He's actually in the country right now, working on a massive government project with his team, so it's strictly classified. But the second he heard it was you, he was absolutely thrilled. He gave me his contact info."

Natalie’s heart leaped. "I'll send him my portfolio right now."

Nancy pinched her cheek. "He wants to take you out for dinner. Talk in person."

Natalie's face flushed red, her eyes pricking with tears. "He's not worried I've turned into completely useless baggage?"

"Useless? Please," Nancy scoffed, gesturing around her apartment, which was crammed with various AI models. "More than half of this stuff is yours. And I've done the market research—there is no one in this country who can beat you."

Looking at the tech around her, a renewed sense of confidence bloomed in Natalie's chest.

Thank god she had never truly abandoned her passion. Over the years, using "messing around with Nancy" as a cover, she had quietly kept sharpening her skills.

"Speaking of which, are you still going to keep doing that contemporary dance stuff?" Nancy shook her head. "Just quit. You never should have forced yourself to learn something you're not good at just for a man."

"I'll officially quit right after this final performance."

Nancy stared at her and suddenly smiled. "Natalie, you've really let him go, haven't you?"

The choreographer hesitated. "Didn't Gardenia get into a car crash back then... Something happened to her leg, right? How is she supposed to dance?"

The director let out a dry laugh. "That's for her to decide, not us! Mr. Carlson is the primary investor for the dance company. Whoever he wants to push to the top, gets to the top."

Walking back into the main rehearsal hall, Natalie tuned out the noisy chatter and the shifting bodies, walking numbly into a corner to stretch her legs.

Gardenia was a dancer, too.

When Hassan originally told her she was suited for dance, it was because Gardenia was a dancer.

She had always thought he invested in the dance company for her sake. She had been so over the moon, as he rarely ever did anything so openly indulgent.

For years, she had pushed herself to the brink in this studio from morning to night, sweating through clothes and crying through agonizing stretches, never once thinking about quitting—all because he said she was suited for it.

And now, it turned out even that was a lie.

Natalie repeated the word divorce to herself a few times, letting her mind drift to joining the professor's team.