Chapter 117

The familiar scent told Natalie who it was before she even turned to look.
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She glanced over at him. He sat with an air of refined elegance, his posture impeccable. He was looking back at her, his gaze a deep vortex that threatened to pull her in.
“Mr. Griffith, please don’t interrupt our dinner.” Natalie’s tone was sharp, making no effort to hide her desire for him to leave. She was getting seriously tired of running into him every single day.
A flicker of anger crossed Sebastian’s brow, though his expression remained distant. “Natalie, I’ll remind you one more time: you are still my wife.” His low, magnetic voice was laced with a chilling edge.
Natalie felt like she was about to scream. Not long ago, he was throwing divorce papers in her face. When she stubbornly refused to sign, her reward was watching him and Joanna inflict more and more pain on her. Now, he was using their marriage as a weapon to torment her.
“Mr. Griffith, I have no desire to argue about this again,” she said, her voice strained. “I’ve already signed the papers. As far as I’m concerned, we’re divorced. I’m done talking about it.”
“The only papers I recognize are the ones I sign. And let me be clear: I will never return to the Griffith family, and I certainly won’t be going back to the Scotts.”
Why couldn’t he understand? Why did he always accuse her of playing hard to get? Had her actions over the past few months suggested anything of the sort? “Furthermore, Mr. Griffith, I have a private life. I’d appreciate it if you’d stop interfering in it every day.”
Her words hit him like a physical blow. He remembered saying almost the exact same thing to her years ago. Joanna had been feeling unwell and wanted his company, but he was swamped with work. When Natalie kept pestering him to come home, he had snapped at her with those very words. Now, hearing them directed at him ignited a strange and potent anger.
Sebastian stared at her, seeing the genuine resolve in her eyes. A dark fire smoldered in his gaze. “Natalie, my patience has its limits.”
This was the woman who had loved him for years, who had catered to his every need. He’d grown accustomed to her constant, unwavering care. Her sudden withdrawal of that affection left him feeling profoundly unsettled.
“My patience is limited too, Sebastian!” Wayne suddenly roared, unable to stay silent any longer. “The old Natalie saw you as her husband. But you’re divorced now, so you can get the hell away from her. The person you love is Joanna He fixed Sebastian with a cold, defiant glare. This man clearly thought he could bully Natalie because she had no one to protect her.
Sebastian’s jaw tightened. He had seen the easy intimacy between Wayne and Natalie just moments before, a closeness that now felt like a threat. He knew they had a long history, a comfortable rapport that sparked a sense of crisis within him.
“And who are you?” he asked, his voice dripping with ice.
Before Wayne could answer, Natalie cut in. “He’s my family. Mr. Griffith, I’m begging you, just let this go. I won’t fight with you over Joanna anymore. I won’t bother you ever again.”
“I was foolish before,” she continued, her voice flat. “Always picking fights with Joanna. You always said I was annoying, that I was malicious, didn’t you? Well, you were right. I’m just a simple country girl, and I’m not good enough for you.”
“Natalie Sebastian frowned, disturbed by her self-deprecating words. He suddenly recalled that after every one of her outbursts, his own people would use those exact phrases to put her down.
She went on, her tone eerily calm.
“Mr. Griffith, for the past year, you
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and your circle have used the cruelest methods to humiliate me and the most vicious words to curse me Isn’t that enough? Let’s just end it here. I promise I will never bother you again.”
As she spoke, tears began to stream down her face. She thought her heart had become numb to the pain, but revisiting the memories still felt like a fresh wound. Sebastian’s frown deepened. He knew he had been excessively cruel.