The Year I Was the Other Woman To Myself novel Chapter 363

The fighting only stopped when Theodore and Hamilton arrived.

“Bro, they were bullying Natalie, they—”

“Shut up,” Theodore snapped at Norton.

Norton looked indignant, but then he saw Natalie’s disheveled hair and the stains on her coat, and he burst into tears.

“Hamilton, I don’t know what I did to offend Natalie,” Cheryl sobbed, clutching her face. “She just started hitting me! Look at my face… oww, it hurts so much!”

Hamilton’s gaze fell on Cheryl’s face, and his expression turned to ice. Penelope looked over and drew in a sharp breath. There was a long, deep scratch under Cheryl’s left eye, likely from a fingernail. It was bleeding freely. That was going to leave a scar.

Hamilton turned to Natalie, his eyes sharp and cold.

Natalie took a deep breath and stepped forward. “I…”

“It wasn’t Natalie’s fault, it was—”

“It was me.”

In the chaos, it was impossible to know who had scratched Cheryl. Natalie was about to take the blame, and Norton was about to jump in to defend her, which would only make things worse. So Penelope stepped up. She didn’t care how angry Hamilton got; she wasn’t afraid of him.

“Honey!” she cried, running to Theodore and pointing at her own face. “Look! I think I’m hurt! It hurts so much!”

Theodore played along, cupping her face in his hands and examining it closely. “Is there something there?”

“Look closer!”

“Well, it might be a little red…”

“That woman hit me!” she declared, pointing dramatically at Cheryl. “We were having a nice, quiet celebration, and she came in here provoking us. She was bragging about how she was so special, carrying someone’s baby, and how that someone pulled strings to get her the role Natalie worked six months for.”

“It was infuriating! And what’s worse, even after Natalie let it go, she started spreading rumors that Norton was Natalie’s boy toy!”

“As if a Stapleton would ever need to be someone’s kept man! And besides, Natalie is a married woman! Is she the kind of person who would keep a lover on the side? It’s shameless!”

“I…”

“Isn’t what you’ve already taken from me enough? I’ll give you the title of Mrs. Amos, too. Do you want it?”

Cheryl shook her head, her face a mask of pity. “Natalie, I would never dare…”

Without waiting for her to finish, Natalie strode toward the door. As she passed Hamilton, she let out a bitter laugh. “Am I generous enough for you?”

Hamilton frowned. “Don’t be dramatic. I don’t like it when you’re like this.”

“You don’t like it? Then let me go.”

“Never.”

Natalie started laughing, a broken sound that quickly turned to tears. “Hamilton, you are a cruel man.”

She fled the room, crying. Norton rushed after her. Penelope, worried, sent Timothy with them to make sure Natalie got home safely.