Chapter 776

chapter776

"The assistant is coming over; he’ll take care of Mr. Powell. We can take our leave now," Natalie said as she buckled her seatbelt.

Skylar nodded, started the car, and pulled away from the curb. As they reached the highway, Natalie’s chatter picked up again. "Mr. Powell won't be busy in the upcoming days, so I’ll finally be able to take a break. You can contact me if Janine needs anything; I know you've got your hands full lately."

Skylar thanked her with a small smile and dropped Natalie off at her destination shortly after. Notably, neither of them mentioned the unsettling sight of seeing Joe and Jeremy together at the restaurant earlier.

Natalie didn’t head straight up to her apartment. Instead, she stopped at a convenience store near her neighborhood to buy two yogurt drinks. Savoring the cool sweetness, she walked the rest of the way home, the gentle evening breeze helping to lift her grim mood.

However, the peace didn't last.

Just as she unlocked her door, a hand suddenly clamped onto her arm. Before she could react, Natalie was spun around and pressed against the icy hallway wall. The cold seeped into her bones. She opened her mouth to scream, but the cry died in her throat when she realized the aggressor was Jeremy.

"Jeremy, you—"

The scent of wine and lingering alcohol wafted off him. He glared at her with a dangerous, predatory intensity she had never seen before. Natalie’s heart began to race in a panic.

"You divorced me not long ago," Jeremy growled, his voice low and threatening. "Have you already moved on to Austin?"

"What?" Natalie gasped, bewildered. How could he even think that? She was nothing more than Austin’s employee.

Jeremy pinched her chin, forcing her to look him in the eye. "Have you slept with him?"

They had known each other for a lifetime; Jeremy felt he understood her better than she understood herself. Natalie never used perfume, yet as he leaned in, a faint, unfamiliar scent wafted off her clothes. It was the unmistakable smell of men’s cologne—likely picked up from working in close proximity to Powell.

Her eyes widened in outrage. "That’s absolute bullshit!"

Natalie tried to shove him away, but it was like trying to move a mountain. He was too heavy, his strength fueled by a cocktail of alcohol and rage. In the past, she would have been thrilled to have him this close. Now, her only thought was escape.

"Then prove to me you didn't sleep with him," Jeremy challenged.

His muscles tensed as he suddenly hoisted Natalie into his arms and carried her into the apartment, kicking the door shut behind them with a resounding slam.

Terrified, Natalie shrieked, "Jeremy, you're drunk! Let me go! We are divorced—do you hear me? We aren't married anymore! You have no right to barge into my house like this!"

Jeremy ignored her protests. He knew every corner of her apartment as well as his own. He headed straight for the bedroom, his grip unyielding.

"I told you—prove to me you haven't slept with Austin!" Jeremy roared, his words underlaid with a primal fury. "Natalie, do not test my patience. You are my woman. No other man is allowed to touch you. Don’t you understand that?"

Natalie thought she had misheard him. She was livid. "Jeremy, listen to yourself! We are divorced! There are no ties between us anymore. Austin and I have a strictly professional relationship. But even if we were involved, you would have no right to interfere! You have no right to break into my home and demand anything from me!"

Jeremy didn't listen. He yanked his tie off and discarded his shirt, hovering over Natalie as he pinned her to the bed. She tried to scramble away, but she was confined by his weight and his overwhelming shadow. In his drunken, jealous state, he reached out and began to tear at her clothes, determined to reclaim what he still believed belonged to him.