CHAPTER 96: CHAPTER 96: MAKING A CALL

Natalie Vaughn arrived in Veridia at nine in the evening.

Zoe Chandler had booked her the presidential suite in the most luxurious hotel near the filming location. Just as she finished freshening up, the hotel manager led staff to deliver the food.

Natalie Vaughn didn’t like airplane food and was now starving. Zoe had asked in advance about Natalie’s food preferences and ordered everything she liked.

Seeing Natalie devour the meat, Zoe couldn’t help but remind her.

"You’re filming tomorrow, try to eat less tonight."

Zoe never imagined that someone as tall and slim as Natalie could eat so much. Still, being an actress requires a basic level of professionalism, and Natalie was no exception.

Otherwise, it would be a problem for the costume department tomorrow on set.

Though Natalie loved to eat and could eat a lot, she also cared about maintaining her figure. At this late hour, she wouldn’t let herself indulge.

After eating half-full, Natalie put down her chopsticks. Feeling bored, she paced around to aid digestion while thinking of something fun to do.

What did Zane say before her flight? She could call him. Once this thought appeared, it grew rapidly like bamboo shoots after a rain.

Natalie never overthinks things; she does whatever she wants to do.

When she called, Zane was just snatching Quentin Donovan’s phone and deleting the album dedicated to Natalie in front of him.

The name of that album was quite interesting: "My Sister."

Who knows how James Vaughn would feel seeing that.

As the call connected, Natalie seemed to hear a hysterical roar.

"Are you outside?"

Zane glanced at Quentin Donovan, who looked angry and indignant, and stood by the window.

"At a bar, did you finish dinner?"

"How did you know?"

"It’s about time."

Even though Natalie didn’t call him immediately upon arrival, he was already satisfied she thought of him after being well-fed and hydrated.

One couldn’t demand too much from Natalie.

"Are you with Felix and the others?"

"Yeah, and your other brother, so to speak."

"Other brother?"

Natalie frowned. What the heck was that?

Quentin Donovan erupted.

"Are you talking to Nina?"

Zane shot a smug and provoking glance at Quentin Donovan.

"Does your brother know, Quentin Donovan, that you secretly took his phone..."

"Zane! Don’t you dare!"

He wasn’t afraid of Zane knowing or even James Vaughn finding out, only terrified of Natalie discovering.

Given Natalie’s temperament, if she knew, she’d surely think he was a creep and possibly beat him up.

But he forgot that having a special album for a woman’s photos from childhood was inherently creepy.

Quentin Donovan lunged to snatch the phone from Zane. He’d already lost a fight to Zane earlier and was injured, so it was easy for Zane to dodge him.

"Do you think I dare?"

Quentin Donovan’s eyes bulged with rage.

"If you tell, we’re done!"

For a thirty-year-old man to even say "we’re done" is quite unusual.

"Quentin Donovan? What do you mean my other brother? What was he doing with my brother’s phone?"

Felix Langdon and Theodore Langdon were watching the spectacle. The upstairs was relatively quieter, and Quentin Donovan was close enough to Zane to hear Natalie’s words clearly.

"!!!!!!"

Feeling heartache!

"Natalie, you can’t be so heartless! Back when you broke your leg and James Vaughn wasn’t in the country, I carried you to school every day!"

Though it was only for a brief week, and he only carried her from the school gate to the classroom, her classmates all thought he was her brother!

Hearing this, Zane furrowed his brow. There was such a backstory?

Natalie obviously remembered those days, too.

Back then, she was cycling, got distracted by a couple being lovey-dovey, looked a little longer than she should have, and ended up falling into a ditch. Fortunately, she reacted quickly and only broke a leg.

She always thought that experience tarnished her reputation, an embarrassment she wanted to forget.

If Quentin Donovan hadn’t brought it up today, she might truly have forgotten.

"If I recall correctly, during that week, you managed to mess around with two of my classmates."

Quentin Donovan: ...

"Ahem, I didn’t do anything! I’m just too good-looking, I guess?"

Natalie snorted coldly.

"Why were you using my brother’s phone?"

Quentin Donovan: ...

"I didn’t do anything."

He finished, silently threatening Zane.

Zane casually glanced at the phone Quentin finally snatched back.

Quentin Donovan: ...

Damn! This guy even knew he had backups hidden.

Quentin Donovan loved to play around and charm countless beauties, but in matters of love, he remained clear-headed. Otherwise, he wouldn’t get through countless flowers unscathed.

Natalie was married, to his friend no less. Keeping her photos was definitely inappropriate, which is why he mentioned it in the group chat phrase.

Of course, he wouldn’t delete the photos so easily; he wanted to push Zane a bit.

Though he lost a fight to Zane and got punched...

"I just wanted to ask him for some pretty girls’ contacts."

He said and deleted the last backup in front of Zane.

Natalie didn’t suspect anything, as it was indeed something Quentin might do.

Zane turned slightly, annoyed, and urged Quentin to leave with a frown.

"Still listening?"

Unwillingly, Quentin withdrew.

The couple finally had some alone time to talk.

"What did you have for dinner?"

The conversation starter was so cliché that Natalie couldn’t help but laugh.

"The local specialties here."

Zane’s eyes flickered; the spicy food in Veridia was indeed to Natalie’s liking.

When they were face to face, they always had plenty to say, occasionally even a playful argument. But on the phone, neither knew what to say.

Their relationship hadn’t progressed to the point where they would get all lovey-dovey on calls.

Natalie did want to video call Zane, but she feared if she requested, Zane would definitely tease her. He would raise his slightly wild eyebrows, with a faint smile in his eyes, lifting the corner of his lips, chuckling mockingly.

"Miss me?"

Thinking of this scene, Natalie felt her face heat up and instinctively cursed under her breath: "Damn man."

Zane: ...

"Why the sudden outburst?"

Natalie regained her senses and came up with a random excuse.

"Oh, just saw a guy downstairs acting too cocky, like a wild dog, and cursed out loud."

Zane: .....

What could she see from upstairs? This girl didn’t even try to make up a believable story.

"You..."

"Okay, gotta go, I’ve got things to do here."

Natalie suddenly interrupted Zane, finishing her sentence and hanging up before he could respond.

The man’s face darkened instantly. It’s the first time someone hung up on him like this.

Was Natalie taking advantage of being in Veridia, thinking he couldn’t discipline her?