CHAPTER 11: CHAPTER 11: WOULD YOU DARE ANSWER IF I CALLED YOU UNCLE?

As Natalie Vaughn listened to the manager’s introduction, she flipped through the manual and glanced up at Zane Thorne upon hearing his remark.

The man was lounging against the sofa, his right leg crossed over his left, with an unlit cigarette in his mouth and a lighter in his hand. His hair, a bit tousled after some time, fell over his forehead, adding a touch of languid charm.

Her thoughts, initially focused entirely on the project, suddenly shifted partially onto Zane Thorne.

Natalie closed the manual, took a sip of water, and asked.

"What does your cigarette taste like?"

In the past, attending various parties in the circle, Natalie was always surrounded by a myriad of cigarette scents, all of which she extremely disliked.

Only the scent of Zane Thorne’s cigarette did not repel her.

Zane Thorne stopped playing with the lighter, squinting slightly, and stared at Natalie for a while.

"Curious?"

Natalie nodded; the allure of Zane Thorne’s cigarette scent was already more enticing than the club’s projects.

The man pushed the cigarette pack from his pocket across the table.

A golden hard shell, with an eagle on it, sharp-eyed, beneath it silver-engraved characters.

Out of curiosity, Natalie drew one out.

She had never smoked before, so when she held the cigarette between her index and middle fingers, it was a novel sensation.

The manager, seeing Natalie like this, took out a lighter from his pocket and prepared to light it for her, but lazily, Zane Thorne glanced over, and the manager abandoned the idea.

Natalie stood up and sat beside Zane Thorne, imitated him by placing the cigarette in her mouth, and silently watched him play with the lighter.

Tsk, here we go again.

Zane Thorne uncrossed his leg, leaned forward towards Natalie, with his own cigarette still in his mouth, both cigarettes nearly touching.

Sss—

Zane Thorne lit his own cigarette with one hand.

Natalie’s eyelashes fluttered slightly; her right hand supported the sofa to steady herself, unsure of Zane Thorne’s intention.

The man took a puff and turned his head, exhaled the smoke aside, then wordlessly retreated, leaving a bit of distance, watching Natalie through the smoke.

"What’s a young girl doing smoking?"

The voice tinged with smoke, sounded instantly hoarse.

Natalie pinched her earlobe, her nose twitched slightly.

She finally clearly smelled the cigarette’s aroma, somewhere between milky and medicinal, the smoke rich, initially harsh, but once dissipated, a subtle fragrance, enough to linger on.

Natalie frowned, how come this is somewhat different from Zane Thorne’s scent?

"Do you always smoke this brand?"

Zane Thorne glanced at her, seemingly reluctant to discuss his smoking preferences.

Natalie smelled the unlit cigarette in her hand, then leaned closer to Zane Thorne, sniffing again.

Zane Thorne: ....

Taking the cigarette from his mouth, Zane Thorne furrowed his brow, looking at the person leaning in.

"What are you doing?"

Natalie raised her hand to touch her nose, realizing perhaps her actions were a bit inappropriate.

"Nothing."

The manager stood aside, eyes fixed on his shoes, afraid of seeing anything inappropriate. Zane Thorne was a regular here, had a good relationship with the boss. If the boss knew Zane Thorne brought a girl today, he would surely wait here.

Natalie was not familiar with shooting projects, planning to let Zane Thorne choose one casually, when a coquettish voice spoke.

"Zane?"

The hand almost extended retracted again, Natalie looked up.

It was a woman in white sportswear and a white baseball cap.

The woman spoke to the people beside her, then quickly walked over, looking at Zane Thorne with evident delight.

"Zane, how come you have time to play here today?"

Zane merely extinguished his cigarette, looked up, and nodded at the woman.

Natalie noticed the woman’s smile was somewhat stiff.

Interesting.

Natalie, playing with the cigarette like a pen, watched the interaction beside her with curious interest.

The woman obviously liked Zane Thorne; even though Zane Thorne responded coldly, she still smiled, trying to chat him up.

"I came with several partners today, but unfortunately I have commitments this afternoon, otherwise we could spar a bit."

Zane Thorne remained silent, the atmosphere almost awkwardly frozen.

The woman adjusted her hair to cover up and finally looked at Natalie, with some uncertainty and scrutiny.

"Is this your younger sister?"

Natalie raised her eyebrows, gave her a slight smile, then looked at the silent man.

A playful curl of her lips, she deliberately raised her voice.

"Brother?"

At the word "brother," the white-clad woman relaxed her tense expression, the manager looked bewildered, yet Zane Thorne furrowed his brow, glancing at Natalie.

The tone sounded odd.

"Why call it that aimlessly?"

The white-clad woman’s relaxed heart was once again uptight.

Natalie, smiling, took a sip of water.

"You’re an almost thirty-year-old man, six years older than me, what’s wrong with calling you ’brother’?"

Listening to Natalie’s deliberate tone, Zane Thorne felt a headache coming on. This girl pretends to be obedient in front of elders, fine, but even now she’s acting?

Natalie appeared quite amused.

"Or should I call you ’uncle’? Tsk, that’s a generational gap, aren’t you daring enough to accept?"

The manager almost couldn’t hold back his laughter, resembling exactly a young couple’s teasing. The white-clad woman noticed this, her expression instantly turning grim.

Her eyes scrutinized Natalie, not too friendly.

Zane Thorne squinted at Natalie’s mischievousness and unreservedness before him, unsure of his thoughts.

Natalie, on the other hand, ignored the woman’s gaze, seemingly intentional, wanting to hear a specific response from Zane Thorne.

Or rather, testing.

Both were set up for an arranged marriage by families, following today’s progression, barring accidents, they could begin advancing their wedding plans.

Natalie, pampered by family since childhood, has always exhibited boldness among friends. She wanted to test how far she could go in front of Zane Thorne.

The atmosphere between them instantly became peculiar, the woman in white felt uneasy, interrupting.

"Zane, didn’t expect your sister to be so adorable."

Hearing this, Natalie coldly curled her lips.

Calling someone adorable was one thing; calling them naïve or ignorant was another.

Zane Thorne finally looked away from Natalie and glanced at the woman in white.

"I am the only son in the Thorne Family."

He denied Natalie being his sister, as to Natalie’s identity, he saw no need to enlighten others.

The white-clad woman tried to force a smile, realizing despite her efforts it was futile, she awkwardly chuckled.

"My associates are waiting for me, next time we’ll chat more."

With that, she left, casting a meaningful glance at Natalie before going.

Once those figures were gone, Natalie retracted her probing intent, teasing.

"I chased away your admirer, you won’t blame me, right?"

Zane Thorne’s brow twitched.

"Speak normally."