Chapter 73
Chapter 73
Chapter 73
Upon hearing her words, Jasmine panicked for a brief moment, but she calmed down immediately and responded gloomily, “Natalie, what do you mean by that? You doubt my abilities?”
“I’m just curious. It’s fine if you’d rather not talk about it.” Natalie smirked as she shrugged, neither denying nor affirming the other woman’s allegation.
Jasmine snorted at her, “I have nothing to hide. It’s totally normal for a designer to have a variety of styles. It’s nothing unusual. You, on the other hand, should concentrate on your work rather than questioning me!”
After that, Jasmine strutted away in her high heels, but there was something odd about the way she walked.
Natalie watched her leave before letting loose a sigh.
It’s normal to change styles? Everyone knows that every designer has only one style! Only Jasmine could have spouted such nonsense. Did she not see how everyone’s expressions changed at her words?
Natalie shook her head, directing her gaze back to the computer, and went to work.
When Natalie left the office in the evening, she went to the kindergarten to pick up her kids first. Then, she took them to Joyce, who would be taking care of them for the time being, before hailing a taxi to Sunrise Hotel.
It was ten minutes to eight when she arrived at the Sunrise Hotel.
As soon as Natalie opened the door to the booth, she heard Jasmine call out to her in an airy tone, “Why, Ms. Natalie, you’re late!”
“I’m late?” Natalie walked over to her, pulled out her cell phone, and pointed at the time. “The party starts at eight, right? It’s not even time yet. How can I be late?”
Jasmine swirled her glass of red wine as she eyed Natalie with a half-smile. “I did say the party starts at eight in the beginning, but later I changed it to seven. The notice was sent to the group chat. Ms. Natalie, didn’t you get the memo?”
Natalie pursed her lips. “Sorry, I’m not in the group chat!” This content © Nôv/elDr(a)m/a.Org.
“Is that so?” Jasmine, pretending to be shocked, turned to ask the other attendees, “Didn’t anyone add Ms. Natalie into the group chat?”
“No, we’ve maxed out the group chat capacity!” Someone answered.
Jasmine smiled coyly at Natalie, “Oh, pardon me. I thought they added you.”
Natalie watched Joyce as she kept up the farce, and the corners of her mouth twitched in annoyance. “It’s fine!”
Up to that moment, she understood their intentions.
What do they mean the group chat’s capacity is full? From the very beginning, they were specifically instructed by Jasmine not to add me. That wretched woman also changed the time of the party on purpose, just so that I would be late. What a way to make things difficult for me!
Sure enough, as soon as Natalie pulled a chair to sit down, Jasmine placed a bottle of red wine in front of her. “Ms. Natalie, it’s not your fault you’re late, but you still are. Why don’t you be a good chap and down a bottle?”
Bingo!
Natalie grumbled silently, then pushed the wine bottle back to Jasmine. “Ms. Jasmine, I’m sorry. I can’t drink.”
Jasmine did not think Natalie would refuse upfront. Her expression darkened. “What’s the meaning of this, Ms. Natalie? Do you intend to make me look bad?”
“Of course not. I’m just not quite well today. I took two antibiotic tablets, so...”
As she spoke, Natalie took out a packet of antibiotics from her bag and placed it on the table.
Jasmine turned blue in the face when she saw the pills.
She had not expected Natalie, that wench, to be taking the same kind of antibiotics as her!
“Ms. Jasmine, as you can see, I can’t possibly drink today. But I’m fine with juice, so why don’t we replace the wine with juice instead?” Natalie said, her eyes on Jasmine.
Jasmine pulled a long face. “Don’t bother!”
Juice? Who makes a fool of themselves from drinking juice? She might as well not drink any!
“That’s so generous of you, Ms. Jasmine. Thank you very much.” Natalie beamed at her as she put away the pills.
The medicine was not specially prepared for the occasion. It was just her habit of always keeping some with her.
In the past, while she was overseas, she would often attend parties with her mentor, where drinking was inevitable. Eventually, the ongoing routine damaged her stomach. Stanley suggested she brought
antibiotics along everywhere she went. That way, she would have a reason not to consume alcohol.