Chapter 705
For a moment, neither of them spoke. Natalia could sense Matthias’ discomfort, and she began
thinking about how she should ease the current awkwardness here upon seeing this.
“Let’s sit down and have a good chat, Director Locke,” she then suggested, knowing that Matthias
would not be leaving any time soon.
When he noticed how Natalia voluntarily shifted the conversation away, the words that were stuck in his
throat didn’t seem important anymore. Instantly, he let out a breath. He had no idea if Natalia had
picked up on his thoughts, but he felt at ease right now.
Matthias didn’t feel pressured around Natalia, and he didn’t need to think about filtering his words. In
fact, he quite liked this carefree feeling. If love weighed people down, was there any real need to
continue?
“Okay,” Matthias immediately agreed. Things couldn’t get any better than this.
Similarly, Natalia also hoped that he would stay a little longer. She knew that there was a KFC nearby
which was on the cleaner side. This area was awful, and there weren’t many nice shops around here.
Hence, her inferiority complex kicked in once again.
In the meantime, Matthias spaced out as he stared at Natalia’s back while he followed her, for the
woman looked far too much like Heather from behind. His lips curved up faintly, and he couldn’t help
but feel a little glad at the sense of familiarity.
When he realized that he had been constantly searching for traces of Heather in her, Matthias felt
immensely guilty toward Natalia. After all, he truly couldn’t stop himself from those actions.
Just then, they had reached the aforementioned KFC. Business didn’t seem to be going well for this
particular outlet, for there were only a handful of people inside there. Natalia felt that it would be weird
to just sit down without ordering anything, so she got a sundae.
Naturally, Matthias had no interest in fast food. Natalia didn’t ask him what he would like to eat either,
for she knew that people with deep pockets would not eat this kind of food at all.
“There aren’t any other decent places nearby, so…” Natalia said awkwardly as she felt embarrassed.
Matthias had personally come to see her, but she could only bring him to KFC.
“It’s okay. It’s nice inside here,” Matthias said with a smile.
It certainly was nicer than the outdoors, for it was freezing outside. The heating in this KFC had been
cranked up a comfortable level, so it felt cozy and warm inside. Matthias wasn’t a picky person.
Natalia was surprised by this, for she could tell that Matthias’ words weren’t false assurances. Who
would have thought that a CEO would be so down-to-earth?
“Is there anything you want to ask me since you’ve come all the way here, Director Locke?” Natalia
switched up her phrasing. She had to get Matthias to say something, or her conscience would be
weighed down.
“I’ve already asked you my question.” Matthias eyed the sundae sitting before Natalia. The temperature
inside the KFC outlet was a little on the higher side, and the sundae would probably melt completely in
a short while.
Natalia wracked her brains to recall what Matthias had said earlier. He did seem to have asked her
something just now, and it was why she had resigned.
Natalia couldn’t give a satisfactory answer to that question at all, feeling that she’d sabotaged herself.
She had just clawed her way back up from a pit, but she was slipping and falling back into it again.
Natalia gave an awkward laugh, seemingly unwilling to continue that topic. Matthias didn’t mind it
though—he didn’t have any say over anyone’s resignations, after all.
“Director Locke,” she said. However, she didn’t know why she had to call his name. She needed to find
some other line of conversation to talk about, for she couldn’t stand this awkward atmosphere.
She recalled how she had run out of Matthias’ home in despair previously, but when she looked at him
now, all those negative emotions completely disappeared.
Even Natalia herself found it strange; she had only ever met Matthias a few times, but she felt an
inexplicable bond with him. Moreover, she didn’t mind even if she got her feelings hurt by him. If
Matthias hadn’t come to look for her this time of his own volition, Natalia would probably never know
just how tolerant she could be toward others.
“Ether.” Matthias was more used to addressing Natalia this way.
However, it was her first time hating the name ‘Ether’. She had only called herself that because she
liked how it sounded, but she didn’t want to hear that name coming from Matthias’ mouth. After all, she
knew that Matthias fancied someone named ‘Heather’.
Now that she had made that connection, Natalis couldn’t stop herself from continuing down that rabbit
hole. In any case, she never wanted to hear the name ‘Ether’ anymore.
Matthias picked up on the unnatural look on Natalia’s face. Before he could figure out what was going
on, he heard Natalia speak up. “You can call me Natalia or something else, but please don’t ever
address me that way ever again, Director Locke.”
Upon hearing that, Matthias wondered if Natalia didn’t want to hear anything related to her time at the
club because she thought that working there had been humiliating.
“I’m sorry.” Matthias never easily apologized back then, but now, apologies came from him easily.
Perhaps it was because he had been around Heather for a long time.
“You don’t have to keep apologizing to me. You’re making me feel bad this way.” Natalia thought about
the distance between herself and Matthias. They were in two completely different worlds, and the more
she thought about it, the less she could stomach Matthias’ apology.
“All right,” Matthias answered helplessly. He knew that Natalia had a fragile sense of pride, and he had
to protect her carefully precisely because of that.