The Heiress Nobody Saw Coming

Chapter 518 Cannot Avoid It

Natalie sat across from Hector and Charlene. She glanced around the room but didn't see Charles or Sheldon.

"Where are Grandpa Charles and Sheldon? I don't see them today."

"Mr. Holden Senior left The Herbalist's Sanctuary early this morning with Sheldon," Hector said. He had woken up slightly earlier than them and had heard about it from Matias.

Joshua had instructed Matias to care for them, so when Charles and Sheldon left, Matias was the first to know.

"Do you want me to call Matias over and ask him for details?"

Natalie looked at Marcus, who had just come back with some food. After a brief moment of thought, she shook her head. "Let's ask Marcus first."

"After all, Grandpa Charles is his biological grandfather. Let's see what he has to say."

Charles leaving so suddenly-right after she had brought Charlene over last night -was a little too well-timed.

"What's wrong?" Marcus sat beside Natalie and noticed the serious expressions on both her and Hector's faces. "Did something happen?"

"Grandpa Charles left early this morning," Natalie said with a cold expression. "I just brought Charlene here last night, and now he's gone first thing in the morning. What perfect timing that is."

Marcus' face darkened immediately. Without even touching his food, he took out his phone, got up, and walked away to make a call.

The phone rang for a long time before Charles finally picked up. "Hello, Marcus. What's wrong?" His tone was calm, with no hint of guilt or hesitation.

"Grandpa, didn't I ask you to meet Charlene today? Why did you leave so early?" Marcus forced himself to stay calm, trying to keep his tone even.

"Marcus, I don't want to meet strangers."

"Do you not want to meet her, or are you afraid to?"

"Marcus, I've been away from home for a long time. I miss it, so I decided to go back," Charles said, clearly trying to change the subject. "If there's nothing else, I'll wait for you to bring your mother home.

early this morning and have been on the road for a while now. I'm tired

hung up before Marcus

expression turned even darker. Charles' actions

dining table, Natalie put down her cutlery and walked over

said he missed home and went

as much," Natalie said, completely unsurprised. "Don't be mad. Come and eat. He

Charles running away like

a deep breath. "I might've had doubts if he hadn't run. But now

stay with Hector

Marcus calmed down and returned to the table to

they ate, Charlene kept glancing between Natalie and Marcus as if she wanted to say something. But every time she opened her mouth, Hector placed more food onto her plate, effectively shutting

ate gracefully but efficiently. After finishing, they only said goodbye to Hector and completely ignored

glared at Hector angrily. "Hey,

to argue with her, but he didn't like the way she kept staring at

an adult. You should know what's appropriate and what

"I was being nice by distracting you with food. If you were any older, I wouldn't have

pause, she suddenly stood up, her face

admire good-looking people? And the reason I only stared at Natalie and

turned red. "I'm just a harmless fan! Yeah, I might have been a little too enthusiastic, but I didn't do anything bad! Why are you treating me like

she spun

Stop

her. If anything happened to her while she was under

and Marcus arrived at the

been checked by Connie. Otherwise, she didn't feel safe. After years of being harmed by others, she had developed

"Mom."

"Laura."

been working on. "Nat, look. I

was a little

slowly improving with proper care. She wanted to do something with