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“Not in her room?” Natalie narrowed her eyes as her voice volume went up a notch, “What do you mean?”
Shane, who was keeping his distance nearby, had been keeping an eye on the whole exchange. Noticing her grim
expression, he pursed his lips and walked over. “What's wrong?”
Natalie had not anticipated his approach. Shaking her head at him, she motioned to him that she would reveal the
conversation to him later.
Reading the situation, Shane understood her hint and kept his silence. Yet his eyes remained fixed on her cell
phone.
On the other end of the line, Mr. Malone reported abashedly, “It means that she might have left the mental hospital
temporarily. I'm sorry, Ms. Smith. I've lost sight of my target.”
Natalie pinched her brow. She did not mean to put the blame solely on him. “It's okay. You're not omnipotent. I'll let
this slide. However, I'm curious. What makes you say that she left the mental hospital temporarily?”
Mr. Malone pushed his glasses up. “Because I've just checked her check-in information. There are no signs of
checkout, nor the ward has been vacated. Her mother, Susan, was still there. That's why I suspected that Jasmine
was only temporarily away.”
Follow on NovᴇlEnglish.nᴇt“Gone out, eh...” Natalie grasped her cell phone tightly before she instructed, “Seems like she's pretending to be
deranged and stupid after all. Mr. Malone, you are to stay put and continue your snooping around. The very
moment Jasmine comes back, you shall notify me immediately. Capisce?”
“Sure!” Mr. Malone nodded.
The moment Natalie ended the call, Shane raised his eyebrows and asked, “So, what happened to Jasmine?”
Looking at him intently, Natalie explained, “In order to escape serving jail term, Jasmine pretended to be mentally
ill. The prison transferred her to a mental institution. To collect shreds of evidence of her act, I've employed a
private eye to monitor her movement. However, I did not expect to receive a call from him so soon. He said that
Jasmine had escaped from the mental hospital.”
“Is this for real?” Shane was not pleased.
“Yes. For the sake of escaping imprisonment, she's willing to do anything and everything now.” Rubbing her temples,
she continued, “First and foremost I want to know Jasmine's whereabouts right now. Also, I would love to know her
next move.”
“I'll get Silas to dig around too.” Saying that, Shane took out his own cell phone and dialed for Silas.
Natalie did not stop him, for she felt like she needed all the assistance she could get. What mattered most was to
locate Jasmine as quickly as possible.
After all, Jasmine was now a ticking time bomb. Who could anticipate her next move?
While she was engrossed in her thought, she suddenly heard an excited commotion coming from the front. “Mr.
Dylan is here!”
Upon hearing this, Natalie's eyes lit up somewhat as she stepped forward and craned her neck in an attempt to
peer past the gathering crowd.
She could see a tall and handsome aged man surrounded by a group of people as he walked down from the second
floor.
As he came down, he waved his hand, much to the crowd's delight. Everyone was feeling enthusiastic at the
encounter. He, however, seemed to be looking around, as if he was looking for someone or something.
Finally, catching the sight of Natalie, the handsome old man beamed at her. Raising his brows and with a smile, he
walked over to Natalie.
She could feel her heartbeat accelerated to the point of bursting out of her chest. She could not help but swallow
the lump in her throat before grabbing Shane's arm and excitedly said, “I... I must be dreaming. Mr. Dylan seems to
be looking right at us! At our direction!”
Follow on Novᴇl-Onlinᴇ.cᴏmShane looked down at her hands grasping his arm. Unable to resist, he chuckled and curled his lips, “You're not
dreaming. He is walking over right now.”
As soon as he finished speaking, the legendary Mr. Dylan stopped in front of the two of them.
He spared a couple of seconds to look at Shane before stretching out his hand and speaking in a thick accent, “Mr.
Shane, it's been a long time.”
“Yes, it has been a while,” Shane shook his outstretched hand.
After the handshake, Mr. Dylan turned his attention to the lovely Natalie standing next to Shane and enquired, “And
this young lady is...”
Natalie was stunned for a moment. The excitement of being face-to-face with her idol seemed to diminish
somewhat.
That's strange. Doesn't Mr. Dylan recognize me?
Why would he invite me to such an important exhibition tonight if he doesn't know me?
Seeing Natalie's pensive and somewhat downcast look, Shane could easily guess her thoughts. With a gleam in his
eyes, he immediately introduced her to Mr. Dylan. “She's Natalie Smith, a very talented upstart designer.”
“Natalie Smith...” Mr. Dylan repeated her name in a low voice. A thought suddenly jolted him as he ruffled his gray
beard, “So, you're the one Mr. Shane mentioned to me before. A young designer who is a diamond in the rough.”
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