The Divorced Heiress Is Entering a New Marriage

“A stalker?” I asked, stunned and weirdly jealous. Of course Natalie would have a stalker, as beautifully stunning as she was. I would never be pretty enough for that. I was more surprised it hadn’t happened

sooner.

“Ugh, mom, he’s not a stalker. Just…an enthusiastic fan,” Natalie shrugged.

“A fan? This man has been sending you gifts, showing up where you work. He acts like you two are married or something,” Mom shook her head. “You had to call the cops on him last time he showed up.” Belongs to (N)ôvel/Drama.Org.

My mouth dropped. I thought Mom was maybe exaggerating, but getting the cops involved? No wonder she was worried.

Natalie rolled her eyes. “It was just a misunderstanding. He was just being protective, he thought I was in trouble,” Nat said.

“Being protective? He’s the one you need protection from!” Mom said.

Natalie threw her head back and groaned. “Look, I don’t have time for this, my date is waiting for me.”

Mom sighed. “I can’t believe he’s making you drive yourself. You know, back in my day, men acted like actual gentlemen. They would pick us up for our dates, meet the parents…”

“Bye, Mom,” Natalie said impatiently. She bounded down the porch steps to her car.

I stepped inside and stood by Mom, who watched Natalie until she got in her car and drove away.

“I’m worried for your sister,” she said, closing the front door.

“What happened the night she called the cops?” I asked.

Mom waved her hand at me, then placed the back of it on her forehead. “I can’t talk about it, it’s too upsetting.” She rubbed her temples. “I have a headache. Get me the cold compress, would you?”

Mom walked towards the living room and I headed into the kitchen. I found Dad at the table reading a newspaper. I walked to the freezer and opened it.

1 just heard about the stalker Natalie called the cops on,” I said. Dad didn’t react. “Crazy, huh? What happened?”

Dad turned a page. “Ask your mother.”

I frowned. I couldn’t have any sort of normal conversation with my parents. Everything just got swept under the rug instead of actually talked about. I already knew that of course, but somehow it was still a surprise every time I attempted to glean any sort of information from them.

I dug around in the freezer and finally found the compress under a bag of peas. I grabbed it and shut the

door.

“Well Dad, nice talking to you as always,” I said as I walked out of the kitchen and into the living room.

An unenthusiastic “mhm” was his only response.

As I laid in bed later that night, tossing and turning, I couldn’t help but think of the growing number of coincidences between Natalie and Logan’s mystery wife.

After a couple hours of trying to turn my brain off and force myself to sleep, I gave up on the struggle. I clicked the lamp next to my bed on and walked over to my desk to grab my laptop.

I opened a search engine once the computer was powered up. I paused, unsure how to even begin my search with the little information I had. I typed “Natalie Whitaker” to start. That just resulted in photos of her and lists of the movies she’s starred in, plus a website for an unrelated doctor by the same name.

Next I typed “Natalie Whitaker stalker.” Nothing.

I thought for a moment, then typed in “Natalie Whitaker police report,” I scrolled through the results. Still nothing useful. The only things I found that were about Nat were some semi–related articles about the small indie movies she had been part of that involved policemen as part of the cast.

I thought I should move this search party downstairs to the living room, that way I could maybe catch Nat when she returned from her date and ask her for more info. I closed my laptop and stood, then I hesitated. I was being ridiculous. There was no way Natalie could be the mystery woman I had been buying and planning things for…right? The odds of that were so, so small. And yet…