Dumping Him for His Uncle (Natasha and Zachary)

Xavier quickly wiped the look off his face. That familiar sense of foreboding made him think of his university days again.

Back when he had just joined the lab, he was slower than everyone else at pretty much everything.

Luckily, Natasha had been willing to take him under her wing. Otherwise, Xavier had no idea where he'd be now.

Halfway through the experiment, Natasha stood up and stretched.

Most of the other staff members had already left by now. The ones still around were either fully focused on their experiments or helping Nicole with hers.

"Which one of you is Natasha?"

A woman dressed sharply walked into the lab at this moment, and Natasha gave her a nod of acknowledgement.

"Mr. Graham's waiting for you on the 15th floor of Foster Tower, room 306. Head over."

Natasha didn't recognize the woman but figured she had to be from the lab too. She quickly gave Xavier a few instructions before heading out.

Just as she took one step out the door, she quickly sidestepped, startling a colleague from the opposite lab who was about to take a water break.

"Go ahead," she whispered.

Faye Young had just stepped out of the lab across the hall, and the two of them nearly bumped straight into each other. Natasha barely managed to dodge in time.

She waited a couple more minutes, figuring it was safe, then slipped out carefully. But just as she thought she was in the clear, she spotted Faye still lingering in the lobby, deep in conversation with someone about the experiments.

Natasha moved cautiously, silently praying she wouldn't get spotted while keeping one ear trained on their conversation.

Unfortunately, their chat wrapped up before she could catch anything useful.

She decided to leave it at that. It was better for her to head to Foster Tower first and deal with Faye later.

Just as she reached the front desk, she saw the last two people she wanted to run into.

"Matt, you really didn't have to bring me anything," Nicole said sweetly. Her voice wasn't loud, but it carried across the entire lobby loud and clear.noveldrama

Nearby, two people were whispering amongst themselves.

"Did you see that?" one of them said. "That's a pink diamond! Those are worth at least a million dollars each."

"Look how big it is. That one could be worth two million dollars."

Nicole practically glowed with pride. She hadn't expected Matthew's gift to come with strings attached.

He said, "My mom's been working with a jewelry brand overseas. They're looking for a reliable supply factory. Could you maybe talk to Ms. Spencer for me?"

Hearing that, Natasha couldn't help but let out a soft laugh. As it turned out, Matthew was actually capable of asking someone for a favor. Back when they were dating, he would always boss her around.

Nicole clearly wasn't getting special treatment either. The only difference between them was her connection to Molly.

Though to this day, Natasha still didn't understand how Nicole had suddenly gotten close to Molly.

"This way, miss."

The front desk attendant had to call her several times before Natasha snapped out of it.

At Foster Tower, Natasha took the elevator up to the 15th floor. But before she could even figure out where room 306 was, she heard faint noises coming from the bathroom nearby.

"Hello?" she called out cautiously, though no one answered.

Thinking she must have imagined it, she turned to leave. But that was when a phone started ringing from the inside, going unanswered for a long time after.

Natasha felt something amiss, so she mustered up the courage and walked in. The bathroom seemed to be rarely used as it was incredibly clean. That said, it also felt unusually cold. The space was vast, and even the sound of her footsteps echoed.

A door was left partially ajar, and the sound was coming from inside.