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Justin tilted his brows the moment he caught sight of Natalie. He was seemingly astounded to see her there.
Seconds later, he regained his usual composure and nodded slightly at Natalie with a courteous smile. After that, he
lowered his head to remind Joyce, who was taking a pair of slippers for him, “Joyce, your friend is here.”
“Huh?” The latter rose to her feet in bafflement. “My friend? Where?”
“Joyce,” Natalie called out to her in an instant.
Dumbfounded, Joyce momentarily stiffened before she turned around. She gaped at Natalie for quite a while before
she could eventually utter a word. “Nat, why are you here?”
Wearing a look of a surprise amid jubilance, she moved toward Natalie at once. “Why didn't you notify me earlier
that you'll be coming?”
Natalie grabbed her hand and responded mischievously, “I was thinking of giving you a surprise!”
Joyce giggled. “Undeniably, I'm on cloud nine now. But I've to admit that I was stunned a while ago too. What makes
Follow on NovᴇlEnglish.nᴇtyou think of coming here all of a sudden? You have never mentioned that you would come, have you?”
“Well, I can't avoid deciding on last-minute trips at times,” Natalie replied casually.
Joyce nodded. “Yeah! I agree with you.”
Shortly after, something came to her mind. She asked curiously, “Nat, when did you reach here? Are you here
alone? Isn't Mr. Thompson here with you?”
“I've already been here for quite a while and was catching up with your mom. Shane is occupied with work and
unable to come with me,” Natalie explained.
“So you're traveling alone this round? The two kids are not here?” Joyce asked as realization dawned on her.
“No. It's safer to let them stay in J City,” Natalie replied.
Joyce hummed in agreement. “You're right. After all, Sean Thompson is still wandering out there.”
At the sight of the two ladies engaged in their conversation, Caitlin smiled. Seconds later, she put down the clothes
in her hand and headed to the kitchen to make tea, giving the three young people more space.
After she walked away, Natalie's smile faded away.
She fastened her gaze on the man standing behind Joyce, pretending that she did not know him. “Oh yeah! Joyce,
he is?”
Joyce only came to her senses that she had neglected Justin unwittingly. Smiling sheepishly, she pointed at the
latter. “Ah! Nat, let me introduce him to you. He's Justin Sutter, my best childhood playmate in the neighborhood.”
Natalie stroked her chin as she enunciated deliberately and teased, “Oh, I see! He's your childhood playmate! Why
didn't you mention that before?”
Flashing her a smile, Joyce explained, “It's because we haven't met each other for twenty years. If Justin didn't
come to look for me this round, I might not even remember him.”
“Oh, Joyce, my heart is broken,” Justin lamented exaggeratively. Even so, there was sheer affection in his smiling
eyes as he gazed at Joyce.
Seconds later, he retracted his gaze from her before stretching out his hand toward Natalie to greet her formally,
Follow on Novᴇl-Onlinᴇ.cᴏm“Mrs. Thompson, nice to meet you. You're indeed a stunning woman as described by the others!”
Mrs. Thompson? Hearing that, Natalie blinked her eyes in astonishment. “How do you know that my husband's
surname is Thompson?”
Could it be Joyce told him earlier? She cast a look in Joyce's direction.
Nonetheless, the latter waved, gesturing to her that she did not do so.
Justin elucidated, “I know Mr. Thompson in person as I was the one assigned to entertain him when he was
previously on a business trip overseas. Somehow, I happened to catch a glimpse of your photo on his phone screen.
Out of curiosity, I asked him who the person was on the spot. After all, Mr. Thompson doesn't look like anyone who'll
easily set a beauty's photo as the wallpaper of his phone.”
“Yeah, you've got the point,” Joyce echoed and added jokingly, “If I suddenly come across a beauty's photo on Mr.
Shane's phone, I'll surely be thunderstruck and ask him the same question!”
Justin nodded. “That was why I mustered up my courage to ask him. He told me it's his wife.”
“Ah, I see.” Natalie nodded.
Unequivocally, his explanation was perfectly reasonable and convincing. However, she could not be assured if he
was being truthful. In fact, she was relatively doubtful about something.
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