Chapter 83 - There's No Such Thing As Too Much Caution

As Natalie made her way to the garden with Zaria, a young woman in a bob haircut rushed towards them to stop Natalie. "Excuse me, you dropped your handkerchief."

Natalie looked down to see that she was holding a white cotton folded handkerchief in her hand, but she did not reach for it. "Thank you. Please help me throw it in the nearest trash bin."

She then turned to resume walking, and Zaria noticed the bob-haircut woman clench her fists and narrow her eyes as though in disbelief. She even thought she had heard the woman curse and mutter under her breath about the arrogance of women from wealthy families.

"She definitely took it the wrong way." She chuckled, though she didn't actually have anything against Natalie's reaction. It was only natural that she no longer needed something she had dropped and it had nothing to do with her finding the woman who had picked it up dirty.

Natalie smiled in return. "If I spent too much time caring about how everyone feels about what I do or say, I would be long dead. That, and the fact that it isn't even my handkerchief to begin with."

"It isn't?" Zaria was baffled. From Natalie's tone, it didn't sound like the woman had followed the wrong person. Not to mention, they were the only ones on this path at the moment.

"It couldn't be. She is betting on the fact that I must have too many of them to tell whether or not it is mine. She thinks I would accept it anyway, and she is probably only trying to strike a conversation." Natalie was tired of such antics and decided to ignore it before it began.

Although she did not say what could happen in the worst case scenario, Zaria could make a guess. She suddenly remembered a case from many decades ago, involving a president who died mysteriously and after months of investigation, it turned out that he had received a piece of poisoned jewelry from his friend.

She could be thinking too much by imagining the same scenario with Natalie, but anything was possible especially with one of the most admired women in the republic.

"There isn't such a thing as too much caution." Natalie advised out of the blue. "You are Desmond's right hand, which means many of his enemies will set their eyes on you. You have to be extremely careful."

Zaria laughed when she thought of how Natalie sounded so much like Ximena right now.

"What's so funny?" Natalie did not understand.

"I used to think that you were cold and unfriendly." She confessed.

Natalie's expression didn't flinch. "I get that a lot."

"I'm sorry."

"You don't have to be." Natalie smiled. "It's much better this way, than having to try and please every Tom, Dick, and Harry. And what a coincidence, I thought you were snobbish and arrogant."

"Good Lord, why would you even think that?" Zaria was perplexed that there was someone whose first impression of her would be so horrible.

"Because you're a beautiful genius—something everyone would love to be—and you have everything every woman wants." Natalie confessed then realized from Zaria's horrified gaze that she was not making much sense. She laughed. "That's what I thought before I met you."

"I wouldn't imagine such words leaving your mouth even if you beat me up." Zaria laughed, and then her gaze narrowed in a direction.

"What is it?" Natalie tried to follow her gaze.

"I thought I saw someone who looked familiar over there." She stared pointedly at the farthest part of the garden. "It looked like an actor but he walked away."

"Oh." Natalie kept looking with interest.

"It's him! Jupiter." Zaria tried to hold herself back from going over to ask for an autograph, wondering whether she would be making a fool out of herself by doing that.

"Do you like him?" Natalie asked with a slight laugh while looking at the blonde-haired man in a black suit, who was speaking to a small group of men. He was standing out as the most handsome among them all, and with the way he was dressed, he should have a red carpet rolled out for him.

"I'm his loyal fan." Zaria averted her gaze from him, giving up the idea of an autograph to ask Natalie, "Are you his fan too?"

"His girlfriend." Natalie answered as her eyes turned gentle and a rare doting smile graced her lips.

"Oh my world. You didn't strike me as the type to be so madly in love with artists." Zaria was shocked, but not too shocked since there were innumerable women who always screamed about being Jupiter's wives and wanting to have babies with him. It was only when she was done teasing that she looked up in time to catch the man winking at Natalie. "Wait. You're serious."

Natalie nodded, looking as smitten as any girlfriend would be in the presence of her boyfriend.

"It's not much long before we can announce our relationship to the world." She let slip.

Zaria wondered what they were waiting for, but she did not ask, since it was up to Natalie whether or not she wanted to tell her about it.

The latter tore her gaze away before anyone could notice their exchange. "My parents wouldn't approve of him."

"Why not? He is a great guy, hardworking and there has never been any scandals about him and other women." Zaria tilted her head in confusion.

"That, he is." Natalie sounded disappointed. A bartender passed by with a tray of drinks and she called him over to pick a drink. "Want some?" She asked for Zaria's opinion then picked another glass of wine when the latter nodded. "Let's sit over there."

They went to sit on a bench in the garden, then Natalie took a sip elegantly though her eyes looked lost. "My parents are greedy. No matter how well the hotel chains are doing, that's not the end of the world for them. If all they wanted was for me to marry a wealthy man, they would have married me off to Mayor Fort's son when he hinted at it to them. Even if I said no to that, I would be certain that they would agree to my union with my boyfriend since he is not lacking in wealth."

His net worth was almost in the billions, so Zaria couldn't understand what was so bad about him either.

"What they want is a man with tremendous potential—one they can exploit if need be. Which is why Desmond was the best choice." Natalie explained.

Zaria did not know what to say. Such parents existed? She now understood why they were putting Desmond under pressure to get married with Natalie despite all the rumors circulating him. They were merely afraid of losing a businessman with tremendous potential.

"Don't look so gloomy." Natalie poked her. "Luckily, Jupiter is hardworking too. As soon as he wins the Bolars, he will have proven to be useful and they will not have anything against him."

"So that's what you are waiting for." Zaria finally understood why she and Desmond were buying time. Jupiter had been nominated for the Bolar Awards for Best Actor, and if he won, his popularity would rise by leaps and bounds.

Natalie nodded. "But that doesn't mean I'm going to let them use my man. I'm only buying time to cut away from their business."

"Maybe you can talk to them?" Zaria suggested, since she would never prefer for anyone to leave their family unless they really had to.

"If talking works." The latter chuckled mysteriously then stood up when she realized that the men who were with Jupiter earlier had left and he was walking towards them. "Do you want me to introduce you?"

"Sure." Zaria was looking forward to meeting her idol who she had never seen from this close.

"Miss Sparks, it's been long. Did you get tired of waiting for me?" The man asked Natalie directly, with a playful smirk that one would never imagine on his face.

"I wasn't waiting for you." Natalie called him out for thinking too much since she didn't even know that he would be here until she saw him earlier.

"How can you say such heartless words? Who is your friend?" He looked at Zaria.

"Desmond's girlfriend and my friend. She's your greatest fan. You don't need to put on an act around her." She introduced. When she heard Zaria gasp in shock when she heard the word 'girlfriend', she lowered her voice to add. "Just in case he keeps letting his mind run wild and thinks that I'm starting to have feelings for Desmond."

"Zaria Williams, right?" The man guessed from what Natalie had told him before, and stretched out a hand to shake Zaria's while ignoring what his girlfriend had just said about him. "It's a pleasure to meet you. My real name is Devonte Lemaigre. You can call me Devonte or Dev."