I Refuse to Be Your Second Choice novel Chapter 228

Natalie gave Alexander a silent glare, her frustration clear as day.

She was just about to put her phone away when Alexander grabbed it from her. “Watching this is just going to mess with your head. Stay here.”

He angled the phone, propped it up on the windowsill, and made sure it was recording through the narrow gap in the curtains. They didn’t bother peeking inside again. From where they stood, they could see most of the villa lit up against the night. But standing there, pretending to enjoy the view, felt awkward and all wrong.

“I think we’ve got enough,” Natalie muttered, clearing her throat as she went to pick up her phone. But as she approached, the image on the screen made her stop in her tracks.

“Isabella Ward?” Natalie blurted out. On the screen, Isabella was yanking another woman’s hair. The woman was practically half-naked, her face swollen and streaked with red marks across her shoulders. She didn’t even try to fight back, just cowered behind Steven.

Steven was already dressed, talking to Isabella about something. After a moment, Isabella’s expression softened, but she still slapped the woman hard before Steven pulled her out of the room.

“Looks like Steven Wright is a bigger piece of work than we thought,” Alexander said next to her. “Isabella is the Ward family’s favorite, and this guy still managed to get her. No wonder Arianna was so into him.”

They’d come here to catch Steven cheating, but now Isabella was tangled up in it too. Steven was juggling three women at once.

Natalie’s hands shook with anger as she pulled up Arianna’s number. Just as she was about to hit call, Alexander snatched the phone from her.

“What are you doing? Give it back!” she snapped, her eyes flashing as she reached for her phone.

“Now isn’t the time to tell Arianna,” Alexander said. He tapped quickly on her phone and handed it back.

Natalie stared in disbelief. The video she’d just recorded was gone.

So what if she didn’t have power or connections? Was she supposed to sacrifice herself for someone else’s comfort? Even if Alexander disagreed, she wasn’t going to back down.

Suddenly, the world tilted and she was hoisted over Alexander’s shoulder.

“Put me down!” she yelled.

“I’ll put you down when you promise not to tell Arianna.”

“Alexander, I’m not some puppet you can control!” Natalie pounded his back with her fists, fuming. They were nearly at the bottom of the hill, and she could hear the hum of an approaching crowd.

“If you won’t agree, I’ll let everyone see you like this,” Alexander said coolly. Then he gave her a quick smack on the backside.