Chapter 235 - Stalker
Leaving Preston and Fort Group, Natalie had a nagging feeling that she was being followed. At first she chalked it up to her paranoia but when she saw a shadow creep up behind her when she left her car to get some snacks, she made a sharp turn. As she would expect, the shadow disappeared when she turned and that only confirmed her guess. She was indeed being followed. There was no other way to explain why the person behind her hid away.
She called her mother's number while in the store and reported her suspicion. She had thought that at the very least, Ava would send bodyguards to take her home. She thought wrong.
"This is all because of your stubbornness. Doesn't your father always ask you to take bodyguards wherever you go?" She reprimanded her.
Natalie rolled her eyes. She had never followed Owen's instructions because the said bodyguards were meant to spy on her and report to them. How could she allow her privacy to be disregarded? of course, none of that mattered anymore when she felt her safety was in jeopardy.
"Why don't you just send someone over and discuss this later?" She asked, to which Ava scoffed.
"None of this would be happening if you had listened to us and gotten married to Desmond. But no, you just had to be stubborn. Are you happy now that he has a kid with some random hussy and is dating another?"
"Mother!" She lost her temper. "I don't care how you treat me but Zaria is my friend and for all I know, she is a respectable woman. If you call her that one more time…"
"She's a hussy and Desmond chose her over you. What about it?" Ava continued in her snarky tone. "What does she have that you don't? Magic in her panties?"
Natalie hung up in embarrassment. She didn't have to be a mother to know that the normal reaction should have been to ask if her daughter was doing okay and then sending over someone who could protect her.
"That's a perk of having parents who value money more than their child, I guess." She sighed. Sometimes she couldn't help but ask herself whether her parents were truly in love. What if they had been forced to be together and she was a result of that, and in turn they hated her for being the straw that made them unable to call it quits? She wouldn't be surprised, but she didn't think it was an excuse to be an asshole to one's kids.
So she dialled the number of the only other man she thought of as family. Unfortunately. Desmond's phone didn't go through.
She thought of Zaria but was it really okay to worry her?
She considered getting into her car quickly and rushing to her apartment but that might just serve to let the stalker know where she lived. She couldn't lead the stalker to the police station either, They could simply wait for her to leave the police station and resume following her. She knew better than to trust the police in Olphire with her safety.
With no choice left, she gave Zaria a call.
"Hi, I hope I'm not interfering with your work."
"I just took a break." Zaria lied. "Is everything okay? You sound worried."
"I think I'm being followed." She revealed, since Zaria already knew that something was wrong. "Maybe I'm just being paranoid but to be certain, could you deliver the message to Desmond?"
"Desmond is in a meeting. I don't think it will be okay to interrupt him. How about I send someone to take you home? I'll let Desmond know later." She suggested.
"Okay. That will be great." Her words sounded bitter, majorly because her new friend was more caring than her own family. "Thank you."
"Don't mention it. Share your location with me and stay there if it's busy. If there isn't anyone else, move to a place with more traffic." She instructed, and soon after she sent her current location, she received a message from Zaria stating that she had sent over a strong man who could fight off whoever tried to harm her.
She was calmer now, walking around the store to choose snacks as though nothing was wrong. It turned out, she shouldn't have rejoiced too early. Because Zaria sent Zeus.
She wanted to slap her forehead when the young man showed up.
"I'll be your knight in shining armor today." Came the cheesy pickup line which she ignored.
That got a reaction out of him. "How could you be so ungrateful? I'm here to save the day but you won't even give me a second glance?"
"Then I'll have to thank you for saving the day."
"Yes. You can easily do that by going out for dinner with me tonight." Zeus grabbed the chance to ask her out.
Natalie scoffed. "If that's the attitude you use to lure women, you will never get a girlfriend."
"The only woman I want as my girlfriend is you." He responded flirtatiously. It was not for no reason that he had insisted on rushing over when Zaria mentioned that she wanted to send someone on an errand involving Natalie.
"Well, I don't want to be your girlfriend. Get that in your head, blockhead." She turned to pay for the snacks she had chosen.
"That's so heartless of you. I really like you." He insisted.
She sighed and looked at him as though she was looking at her wayward younger brother. "It's normal to have a crush. You don't have to be with every woman you crush on. It will fade away when you give it time."
He remained silent for the rest of the way. Despite buying her more snacks and groceries, carrying everything to her car and accompanying her all the way to her apartment, he didn't say a word to her. She guessed that it was probably about the conversation they had earlier so she didn't probe.
When they got into the elevator, he couldn't keep his calm anymore. "Natalie, I may be younger than you but that doesn't make me immature."
"I didn't say that."
"You implied that." He interrupted. "By treating my feelings as a passing fling that's somehow related to my age, what did you mean by that?"
The hurt in his eyes was too real for her to ignore. She hadn't thought that it would be that serious.
"Zeus, I know better than anyone that one can be seriously in love at a young age. I wasn't even eighteen when I fell in love and…" She sighed. She had not wanted to talk about her relationship. "I stayed in love for an entire decade. I'm not looking down on your feelings. I just don't want to lead you on when I know that I will never feel the same way for you."
"Is it because of that actor?" He asked.
She was yet to answer him when she saw the said actor in front of her apartment.
"Is cupid trying to mess with me right now?" She facepalmed.
"Speak of the devil." Zeus' lips twitched.
Natalie felt Devonte's gaze on her as she walked over in step with Zeus.
"Natalie, can we have a word?" He asked, shooting a glare at Zeus.
"I have nothing to talk about with you." She ignored him and walked past him to open the door.
He grabbed her hand. "Just one minute. It's important."
"Zeus, I'll see you later, okay?" She dismissed the young man while using the chance to make him give up on her, then turned to Devonte who was once again locked in a glaring contest with Zeus.
"It better be something worth my time." She crossed her arms at her chest.
"It is." He glanced at the bags of grocery that Zeus had placed at the door and wondered whether she would help him take them in.
"Speak." She prompted impatiently.
"I'm going to the US in a couple of weeks." He started, and she didn't look interested.
"Good riddance." She shrugged in disinterest.
He knew that she wanted nothing to do with him but he didn't expect it to be that awful.
"I came to say goodbye and report something."
He had surpassed the limit of her patience so she turned to leave.
"I overheard something important about you." He called after her.
"I don't want to hear it." She dismissed.
He grabbed her hand and pinned her against? the wall faster than she could fight back.
"If you don't listen to this, a life will be lost. Probably your own!" He insisted.
She looked up at him, taking note of their posture. He was holding her hands above her head the exact way he used to do while teasing her. She had just started moving on. Why was he poking at the wounds he inflicted?
"I can't say it out here. Someone might hear." He lowered his voice.
She pried her hands out of his and stepped away. "You can come in. Buzz off as soon as you say what you need to."
He accepted the condition and carried her grocery in.
"Nathaniel Su has people following you." He revealed.
So she was indeed being followed earlier.
"I overheard them plan out their move. They know that you spend a lot of time with Zaria. They are going to make you get into a fatal accident that they will pin as Zaria's fault." He explained.
Her eyes widened, Who would do that? "Where did you get that?"
"We had a business deal that was in the negotiation stage.. I was heading to his office when I heard this."
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