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In midst of the meal, Lina recalled something all of a sudden and fixed her eyes on Natalie as she queried, “Oh
right, Nat, have you told Mr. Thompson about Joyce?”
“What about Joyce?” Puzzlement inundated Natalie as she put her fork down.
“The matter we had our suspicions about. Stanley might have used some pick-up artistry on her, causing her to fall
madly in love with him.”
“Oh, that's what you meant.” Realization dawning upon her, Natalie nodded. “Shane thinks something's up with
Joyce as well, so he's investigating it as we speak. It's just we haven't gotten any results back, but it shouldn't take
any longer.”
“If Mr. Thompson also has his suspicions, then it seems there's really something wrong with Joyce.” Lina furrowed
her brows.
Natalie pressed her red lips into a thin line as she continued, “Yeah, if Joyce is proven to have been seduced, then
Follow on NovᴇlEnglish.nᴇtthe person behind it would undoubtedly be Stanley. Although he's a neurologist, he's studied psychology and is well-
versed in hypnosis; hence the chances of him seducing Joyce is the highest.”
“If he's truly the mastermind, then what could be the motive behind his actions?” Upon hearing that, Lina looked at
her in puzzlement. “Doesn't Stanley hate Joyce? Why would he make her fall deeply in love with him and be so
infatuated with him? Logically speaking, shouldn't he make Joyce forget about him and stop clinging to him if he
hates her? Why did he do the exact opposite?”
Natalie shook her head and shrugged. “For the time being, I'm unsure about that. Perhaps we'll have an answer
once Shane's done with his investigation.”
“That's true, but this is such a melodramatic turn of events. I can't figure out what he's thinking at all. Also, didn't
you and Mr. Thompson mention that Stanley went to Astoria? Well, why did he go there? Was it really to look for
Joyce?”
“I don't know his exact reason for being there. Shane didn't tell me, and I don't think he's found out about it yet.
After all, he has no reason to keep it from me.” Natalie took a sip of her beverage, swirling it in her mouth before
adding, “But I'm sure Stanley didn't go to Astoria to look for Joyce. Firstly, she didn't contact anyone from Astoria,
and the people there didn't know where she was either. Hence, he must have gone there for some other matter.”
“That's good to know. If he went there looking for Joyce and she remembers him upon seeing him, things would get
complicated.” Lina sighed.
Love was supposed to be a pleasant and wonderful thing, but after seeing how miserable Joyce turned out after
loving someone, Lina realized that it wasn't always wonderful.
It could be tragic, too, and that was exactly what Joyce's love was—a tragedy.
Alas, this was the regret of falling in love with the wrong person.
Women have two choices—fall in love with the right person or not fall in love at all. Otherwise, if one ended up
loving the wrong person, it'd be plain torture, and they'd end up with nothing but wounds and scars.
“Don't worry. He won't be able to find Joyce. Shane and I won't allow that,” declared Natalie. “Besides, Joyce and I
Follow on Novᴇl-Onlinᴇ.cᴏmhave talked about this. She said she wouldn't let her curiosity be roused by Stanley or think about meeting him. As
long as she isn't interested in him, then she wouldn't fall for him again.”
Curiosity was the beginning of love.
Although Joyce had forgotten Stanley, she knew the fact that she had once loved him—deeply, in fact. All of that
could potentially pique her curiosity.
But at the same time, Joyce also knew how torturous her love was, so she would try her best to stop that from
happening again.
In short, she wasn't entirely safe or in danger.
It would depend on Joyce herself, whether or not she'd be able to control her curiosity toward Stanley. If she could,
then she wouldn't fall in love with him again. If she couldn't, then all of their efforts would be for naught, and they'd
end up back to square one.
There was nothing Natalie and the rest could do but hope that Joyce would keep her word and not think or have an
ounce of interest in Stanley.
“It wouldn't be a problem if she's a woman of her word. I'm only afraid she might not be able to keep her word,”
said Lina as she shrugged.
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