The Beauty and the Brain

Chapter 128

The next day, when Marie returned home, she happened to run into Shirley and Olive at the door.

As soon as Shirley saw Marie, she rushed up to her and confronted her, “Was it you? Did you make

Mr. Larson kick me off the production team?”

Marie glanced at her and said, “Shirley, my company is just a small studio, I can’t really be considered

a boss, and I don’t have the ability to persuade a producer.”

Shirley clenched her teeth angrily, “Don’t think that I don’t know it was you just because you won’t

admit it! You just can’t stand me and try every means to kick me out, making way for Sasha!”

Marie laughed, “You’re right, I just can’t stand you. But now, what right do you have to stand in Sasha’s

way? Have you paid off the more than 3 million dollars in taxes you owe?”

Shirley was frustrated. This issue could have been resolved privately, but somehow it blew up, and now

the whole world knew she committed tax evasion. No production team dared to work with her due to

public opinion, and many collaborations were terminated. Olive couldn’t do anything about.

1.

“Shirley, you’ve gotten yourself into this situation, and the good Olive wouldn’t help you? Aren’t you

guys best friends?” Marie said with a laugh, looking at Olive.

Olive felt awkward. How could she help? Shirley’s tax evasion scandal was already well-known to

everyone. Apart from letting her fade from the public eye and staying quiet for a while until the storm

passed, there was no other solution.

Marie reached out and smoothed Shirley’s long hair in front of her, smiling as she said, “You have to

make sure Olive protects you well, so I don’t find any more dirt on you. After all, I’ve already.

announced that I’m going to take you down, right?”

Shirley looked at Marie’s smiling eyes and felt a chill. How did Marie manage to intimidate her every

time, making her too scared to speak?

Marie ignored her and returned to the mansion. These past few days, Asher had been feeling unwell.

Marie would frequently go back home to check on him, making sure he took his medicine, had a meal,

and exercised. In this household, it seemed that only Asher was kind to her now.

“Grandpa, I’m back!” Marie ran into the living room, where Asher was sitting and drinking coffee.

“Marie is back? Come over and let Grandpa take a look,” Asher called out to her with a smile on his

face.

Marie approached Asher with a smile and asked, “Has Grandpa been feeling better these past few

days? Should we ask Gavin to come over and check on Grandpa?”

“No need, no need…” Asher waved his hand in refusal, “I know my own body. It’s just that when

people get old, they have more health issues. It’s nothing serious.”

Marie couldn’t persuade Asher, so she changed the topic, “Grandpa’s birthday is coming up, are we still

having a birthday party at home this time?”

Asher sighed helplessly, “Just go with it, we go through this every year. It’s important to maintain

connections with friends in the business world.”.

Marie knew that Asher was paving the way for Noel, and the birthday party was just an excuse to talk

business. The noisy celebrations every year were meaningless, as the elderly preferred a quiet

meal.

Marie pondered, thinking she should give Asher a unique birthday celebration. Asher was her only

family, and she wanted to show as much filial piety as possible.

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At the Whitney Group, Nataly sat on the sofa next to Dennis, pushed the design drawing forward,

and asked, “Dennis, do you think this design works?”

She was now working as a fashion consultant for Olive, and Olive had been quite eye-catching at

several events and in airport photos. Nataly was considering whether or not to establish her own.

brand, and she wanted to collaborate with Whitney Group, naturally connecting her career with

Dennis.

Dennis rubbed his brow and said, “Nataly, whether Whitney Group wants to collaborate with you or not,

I can’t decide on my own. We need to have a shareholders’ meeting.”

Nataly lowered her head, feeling a bit wronged, and said, “Dennis, I just want a chance. Won’t you

even give me that?”

Dennis felt helpless, as he had known Nataly since they were children. Moreover, Andres was deeply in

love with Nataly, so it was difficult for him to say anything harsh. However, Nataly’s persistent

entanglement caused him great distress.

“Put down the design drawing, and I’ll have the design department’s director take a look later,” Dennis

said as he stood up, preparing to politely see off the guest. However, Nataly suddenly leaned

forward and fell onto Dennis.

The strong scent of perfume made Dennis frown. He didn’t understand perfume, but he assumed

Nataly’s faste would be luxurious. However, this scent couldn’t compare to Marie’s shower gel. His

Marie, fresh and natural, yet captivating and enchanting.

Nataly stood up frantically, apologizing non-stop with her head down, “I’m sorry! I’m sorry! Dennis, I

didn’t stand firm, I didn’t do it on purpose! I’m sorry!”

Nataly, fearing that Dennis would be angry, apologized with a somewhat panicked look.

Dennis waved his hand irritably, signaling her to leave, and Nataly almost jogged out of Whitney

Group.

As soon as she went downstairs, Nataly opened her palm, and there was a key lying quietly in it. She

knew without even thinking that the key Dennis had was only for Glorious Estate.

Marie was nestled in Glorious Estate, flipping through a script. She hadn’t been to Glorious Estate for

over half a month, as Sasha had been hospitalized recently and Asher had been unwell these past few

days. She thought she would wait for Dennis to return today and ask him what would be the best way

to celebrate Asher’s birthday.

Suddenly, there was a commotion at the door. Marie perked up her ears and listened, then ran to the

foyer wearing her slippers, only to see the doorknob turning. Then, the condominium door was pushed

open from the outside.

As soon as the door opened, Marie was stunned, “Ms. Carmen?”

Nataly stood outside the door holding groceries, looking at Marie who was inside wearing casual

clothes and slippers, and clenched her teeth.

She knew that coming at this time would definitely block Marie!

Ever since discovering that Marie and Dennis were living together at Glorious Estate, she couldn’t

sleep at night when she returned home!

Why? She clearly met Dennis first, and she had been waiting for him for so many years, but Dennis

wouldn’t even give her a proper look. Meanwhile, Marie was already living with Dennis!

She absolutely couldn’t accept Dennis being with another woman! Any woman who approached

Dennis, she had to drive them away!

Nataly had been pondering for several days, and it seemed that Dennis and Marie’s relationship wasn’t

very good. From what she could gather from Andres’ words, Marie had never seriously agreed to be

with Dennis.

In her opinion, this woman was totally playing hard to get. Dennis was such a good man, what reason

did she have not to agree?

Nataly called Olive today and insinuatedly asked about Marie. Olive said Marie wasn’t home. Nataly

then had someone check Maris Entertainment, but Marie wasn’t there either, and there was no sign. of

anyone from the production team. That left only Glorious Estate as a possibility.

So, Nataly went to the supermarket downstairs to buy groceries, arrived at Glorious Estate, used

Dennis’s key, opened the door, and saw Marie’s surprised expression as she had hoped.

“Ms. Spence? You… you’re here too?” Nataly said with an awkward smile.

She walked in and took a pair of slippers from the shoe cabinet to put on. Marie squinted her eyes;

those were Dennis’s slippers.

Nataly’s small feet were wearing Dennis’ slippers, making it difficult for her to walk, but she looked

surprisingly adorable. She carried the groceries to the kitchen, put everything away one by one, and

then came out.

Marie was still standing in the living room, like a fool, watching Nataly busily tidying up.

Nataly came out, rubbed her hands together, and said, “I didn’t know you were… Dennis told me you

hadn’t been here for many days, and I didn’t expect to bump into you.”

Marie raised her eyebrows, “Did Dennis say this to you?”

Nataly nodded and said, “Ms. Spence, would you like something to drink? I’ll go to the kitchen and get

it for you. What would you like to eat tonight? I’ll cook a meal later.”

She chattered on and on, as if suddenly she had become the mistress of the place, while Marie stood

there like an impolite guest, not uttering a single word.

“Was Ms. Carmen familiar with the kitchen?” Marie asked.

“Well, not really. I just cooked a few meals for Dennis since Melissa was busy and couldn’t come to

cook a meal these past few days,” Nataly said with a laugh. Please check at N/ôvel(D)rama.Org.

“Didn’t Dennis cook a meal with you?” Marie asked Nataly, staring at her.

“What kind of cooking can a big man do? He still needs me to take care of him,” Nataly said with a

loving and virtuous expression.

“Ha!” Marie laughed.

“What was Ms. Spence laughing about?” Nataly was somewhat unhappy.

Marie hugged her arms, looked at Nataly, and said, “Ms. Carmen, Dennis is really good at cooking.

After all, we’ve cooked together many times. Didn’t he tell you about this?”

Nataly’s face changed color, but before she could speak, Marie ignored her and walked to the

kitchen. She took a green pepper out of the refrigerator and handed it to Nataly, saying, “You’ve been

cooking for so many days, didn’t you know that Dennis doesn’t eat green peppers?”

Nataly stood in the living room, extremely embarrassed, holding a plastic bag. As soon as she

loosened her grip, the huge green pepper bounced twice on the floor and rolled next to the coffee table,

looking both boring and ridiculous.

Marie had a cold expression on her face, arms crossed, and said, “Ms. Carmen, I don’t care what you

think about Dennis, but you better stop trying to sow discord! I, Marie, am not a push-over that anyone

can manipulate!”