Chapter 18

Natalie stood up instantly after realizing what Bethany wanted to do to her. She said, "I thought you wanted to discuss your husband. We haven't made progress on that. Ms. Powel, why don't you return to your seat and continue the talk?" Smirking, Bethany tried to splash the coffee on Natalie, who saw it coming. Natalie gently twisted Bethany's wrist and splashed the coffee on Bethany instead. The coffee cup shattered into pieces on the ground. In the aftermath, Bethany put on a shocked, innocent look as though she had been bullied despite having done nothing wrong. When Natalie was trying to understand Bethany's reaction, she was shoved away forcefully. She lost her balance on her heels and collapsed onto the ground, pressing her palm into the glass shards. A stinging pain shot through her body. "Beth, are you okay?" Natalie finally realized what was happening when she heard the familiar male voice. She looked up and saw Taylor towering over Bethany. He had always been good at hiding his feelings, yet at this moment, he appeared giddy, careful, and excited in front of his crush like a teen in love. Taylor carefully cleaned up the coffee stain on Bethany's face before draping his jacket over her shoulders. Natalie had never been accorded the care and love he showered Bethany with. It was clear who he loved and who he did not. Enduring the pain in her hand, she scrambled up from the ground and said, "Ms. Powel, seems like you're catching up with an old friend today. I'll excuse myself, then." With that, she headed to the door. Then, she heard Taylor calling out to her from behind, "Stand there!" She looked at him from the corners of her eyes. He held Bethany's hand and stood in front of Natalie. "Are you going to leave without a word of apology after splashing hot coffee on someone else?" "What do you want from me?" "Apologize to Beth!" Natalie clutched her hand tighter, increasing the pain from her wound. She found his behavior ridiculous, and she laughed out loud. He furrowed his brows. "What are you laughing at?" "Nothing. I just feel like laughing. Fine, I'll apologize if that's what you want from me." She turned to Bethany. "Ms. Powel, I'm sorry for trying to stop you from splashing hot coffee on me, which ended up spilling it all over you. I should've stood still and taken it." Taylor knitted his brows together when he heard Natalie's words. Bethany lied, "I-I didn't do that!" Natalie looked unbothered. "The truth doesn't matter as long as someone believes in your account." Then, she made her way to the café entrance. She glanced quietly at her blood-stained palm. It was a jarring sight that sobered her up. … When Bethany saw the blood on the glass shards, she stood in front of them to block the view from Taylor. She explained to him, "Taylor, I didn't attempt to splash coffee on Ms. Lopez." "I believe you. Just ignore her." She replied with gratitude, "I'm glad you believe me. It sucks to be unfairly accused." His demeanor softened. "Why didn't you tell me when you came back?" "I thought Ms. Lopez had told you about it." "Did she know?" He clearly sounded dissatisfied when he learned that Natalie had concealed the information. Bethany nodded. "Yeah, I'm currently going through a divorce. At first, I wanted to hire Matthew Quint of Goldstone Legal to represent me. Mr. Quint recommended Ms. Lopez to me, claiming she was good at her job. That's why I signed the contract with her." Taylor seemed unamused. "How good can she be when she's only worked as a lawyer for two years and got licensed a year ago?" "Really?" Bethany smiled. "If that's the case, Mr. Quint seems to go out of his way to look after her." Taylor snickered. "Hm."