"Hello? Joanna, Sebastian is here with me. You shoulde get him."


    "Hello...?"


    After Natalie spoke, there was only silence from the other end.


    Confused, Natalie looked at the phone screen. The battery was dead, and it was shutting down.


    "Ugh..." Natalie stamped her foot in frustration. What rotten luck, for the battery to die just then.


    "Damn it, how is it out of power already?"


    Angrily, she tossed the phone aside.


    She suddenly felt very drowsy. She yawned, kicked off her slippers, padded across the soft carpet, and climbed into bed. She pulled the covers over herself and quickly fell asleep.


    Natalie knew Sebastian was still in the house, that she couldn''t sleep, but her eyelids were too heavy to keep open.


    Just before she drifted into darkness, she felt someone wrap their arms around her.


    Sebastian watched her fall into a deep sleep and smiled slyly. He had put something in that ss of milk, and she had drunk it without suspicion.


    He''d done the same thingst time. Otherwise, how would he have been able to sleep here?


    She had been gone for two weeks, and he hadn''t slept well that entire time. Tonight, he wanted a good night''s rest.


    He was discovering that Natalie was his sleeping pill. With her by his side, he slept soundly.


    Thinking of what she''d said earlier, his expression darkened. She really didn''t love him anymore. She was trying to push him toward Joanna.


    She had even been happy to get Joanna''s call.


    Sebastian ignored the dead phone and gently gathered her into his arms. Looking at her peaceful, beautiful sleeping face, he smiled. "Natalie, with your simple tricks, you''ll never outsmart me.


    Do whatever you want. I''m here to support you now. You can bravely chase your dreams, anytime. But I have one condition: you must stay by my side."


    Sebastian murmured to himself as he looked at her, then nced around the room. Had she grown up here?


    All the furnishings looked like they were from many years ago.


    But then why had Jerome brought her back from the countryside all those years ago?


    She would rather let the entire Scott family misunderstand her than reveal her true identity to them.


    It made sense; her silence allowed her to see their true colors more clearly.


    Sebastian turned off the light. Outside, the wind and snow raged.


    On this snowy night, theyy quietly in the warm bed, the sound of their heartbeats


    like the most beautiful melody in the world.


    Sebastian gently stroked Natalie''s hair, his eyes full of tenderness. She was so obedient when she was quiet.


    The snowy night dragged on, the wind biting cold.


    Joanna sat on her bed, calling Sebastian.


    She hadn''t been feeling well today, and it had gotten worse since she got home. Whenever she was sick Sebastian would be by her side doting on her. She used to deliberately send photos to provoke Natalie, and seeing Natalie''s pale face the next day always brought her joy.


    But tonight, she couldn''t reach him.


    Sebastian never ignored her calls.


    Tonight, Sebastian didn''t answer his phone.


    She choked, feeling miserable.


    She looked up at the night sky, at the heavy snowfall, and the gloom in her heart deepened.


    "Sebastian, are you really going to force my hand?"


    Joanna''s eyes filled with venom. He had found out about Robert. Did he


    4k she was tainted now? I the


    he didn''t love her?


    >


    that


    But Sebastian had always trusted herpletely. Why, of all things, had he investigated her?


    "Damn it. I had a perfect hand, and now it''s all ruined."


    If she had known that driving Natalie


    away would also drive Somet


    heart away, she never would


    done something so foolis


    She remembered Sebastian''s words that he loved the kind Joanna-huh, that''s


    ridiculous.