"Who was it? Who spiked our food with something so vile?" Joanna hissed.

She turned her head to look at Maxwell. He lay entirely motionless, his deadened eyes locked onto the ceiling.

He was a proud man, and tonight had utterly destroyed his dignity. It had dragged his pride through the mud.

Ever since the doctors and nurses left, he had remained paralyzed in bed, refusing to speak a single word. She was genuinely worried about him.

"Max, are you okay?" she asked softly.

Maxwell's voice cut through the air like shards of ice. "Shut up. Don't talk to me. I don't want to hear anyone's voice right now."

He just wanted to be left alone in silence. Today had been an absolute descent into hell. His reputation, his self-respect—ruined forever.

Seeing his profound misery, Joanna bit her tongue, but her mind raced. She desperately needed to know who had orchestrated this attack.

She slammed her fist against the mattress, but she was so weak the blow barely made a sound.

"It was Natalie!" she screamed in frustration. "She must have realized we were behind the car crash tonight!"

"So she hired someone to drug us! She knows medicine-it has to be her!"

A murderous aura radiated from Maxwell. He let out a dark, mocking laugh. "So what if it was her? The damage is done. Can you kill her? What good is screaming about it? She walked away without a scratch, and look at us. She humiliated us completely, left absolutely no evidence, and she did it by stealing your playbook."

"You usually try to ruin her with these petty, underhanded tricks, so she hit back with the exact same method. Even if she gets caught, she wouldn't care. A slap on the wrist, a couple of days in holding, and she'd be back out."

"With her current status and power, she could easily bury the story anyway."

This was exactly why he was fighting tooth and nail to steal Sebastian's empire.

And all of his grand ambitions were constantly being derailed by that bitch, Natalie.

Everything he had worked for was crumbling because of her.

Maxwell squeezed his eyes shut, his entire body trembling with agonizing rage.

...

A few days later, on the eighth.

Natalie woke up early, eagerly waiting for a call from Mrs. Griffith.

But by nine o'clock, she received a disappointing text message instead.

[Natalie, something came up and I can't get away. I won't be able to meet you today.]

Natalie stared at the screen, her heart sinking.

What happened? Weren't they supposed to meet and finally talk?

She desperately wanted to know the truth.

Natalie: [Mom, if you're in trouble and need help, please don't hesitate to ask.]

Her mother-in-law: [I'll reach out in a couple of days, sweetheart.]

Natalie sighed. What else could she do?

Natalie: [Alright, Mom.]

She asked Luna to get ready; they were heading to the office today.

Luna had everything prepared. Hearing that Natalie wanted to go to the company, she brought out the wheelchair, gently helped Natalie into it, and wheeled her outside.

Tyler had already brought the car around. Once Natalie was safely inside, Tyler

drove toward the corporate headquarters.

The snow had melted, but the air was still bitterly cold.

That was just how winters in the city

worked. The snow stop the

holidays, but the freezing

temperatures lingered for month

Natalie gazed out the window. The

were mostly empty the

street They

traffic light.

of the New Year still hung in the air.

Her birthday was only two months away. Colin would definitely come back for it,

wouldn't he?