NovelEnglish
Shrugging, Sally giggled, saying, “What's a little pain when I can kick her out of the competition?”
Hannah's body vibrated with anger upon hearing their jokes.
Just then, Jessie walked over. Her gaze cooled at the sight of Natalie and Sally. She then looked disapprovingly at
Hannah. “Are you troubling Ms. Smith and her friend again?”
Natalie merely arched a brow in reply.
Wow, I can't believe she didn't confront me about bullying her precious Hannah first.
“I didn't.” Hannah waved her hands in denial.
Scoffing, Jessie said, “I hope you're telling the truth. If I find out you're lying, you're dead meat.”
Hannah lowered her head wordlessly as Natalie narrowed her eyes at Jessie.
Oh, Jessie's shrewd; I'll give her that. She didn't even confirm the truth in Hannah's words; she glossed over the
whole incident just like that.
“Ms. Smith,” Jessie addressed Natalie and smiled. “Did my model bother you when you were watching the show?”
Follow on NovᴇlEnglish.nᴇt“It was no trouble at all,” Natalie answered as she returned Jessie's smile.
Jessie stiffened at her words.
The words “no trouble” implied that Hannah did indeed bother them.
Jessie pretended that she did not understand Natalie's implication. Instead, she grabbed Hannah's elbow and began
leading her away. “We'll be leaving, then.”
“Hold on.” Natalie stopped them. Frowning, Jessie paused and asked, “Ms. Smith, can I help you with anything
else?”
Natalie bent over and rummaged in her bag for a small notebook. She passed it to Jessie as she asked, “Ms. Syke, I
believe this is yours?”
The impatience in Jessie's face immediately turned into anger when she saw the notebook. Swiping it from Natalie's
hands, she asked rudely, “Why do you have my stuff?”
“Hey, what's with your tetchy attitude? You were the one careless enough to lose your stuff. We were kind enough
to pick it up and keep it for you. You're being ungrateful.” Sally glared at Jessie.
Though Natalie remained silent, her chilly demeanor made her disdain for Jessie's attitude very clear.
Realizing she had overreacted, the woman smiled awkwardly and tried to appease them. “I'm sorry, Ms. Smith. I
didn't mean to behave that way. This notebook is very dear to me, so I overreacted. I-”
“That's fine. Since it's so important to you, I'd advise you to keep it properly. After all, you're not going to get a
personal courier every time you lose it,” Natalie cut in coolly.
Tightening her grip on the notebook, Jessie lowered her eyes. “You're right, Ms. Smith. If I may ask, did you take a
look inside the notebook?”
Natalie nodded, not seeing the point in lying. “I did. I'm sorry, my friend opened it. She meant no ill will; she was
merely curious.”
“That's alright. I actually want to know what you thought about the designs in it...” Jessie said in an indecipherable
tone.
Natalie thought for a second before answering, “Do you want my honest opinion, Ms. Syke?”
“Of course.”
Follow on Novᴇl-Onlinᴇ.cᴏmShe took a deep breath before answering Jessie, “Well, I'm not going to sugarcoat my opinion then. The designs are
pretty outdated.”
Jessie's expression stiffened momentarily. Nodding, she agreed with Natalie's assessment. “You're right. They are
pretty outdated.”
“Ms. Syke, I'm puzzled. Why would you carry these designs with you? They seem pretty important to you as well,”
Natalie questioned.
Placing the notebook in her purse, Jessie said cryptically, “It has something to do with someone who's really
important to me. She's not here anymore, so-”
“I'm so sorry,” Natalie apologized in a hurry. “I didn't know.”
“It's fine.” Waving her arm, Jessie continued, “Wait, did you think she was dead?”
Natalie asked in surprise, “Isn't she?”
Didn't see mean that?
Jessie's eyes twinkled in amusement as she explained, “Of course not. She's still alive and well, though she fell into a
slump after some things that happened in the past. She's getting back on her feet now, so I'm actually expecting
news from her any time now.”
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