“You…” The actor looked back in the direction of the garden swing. It was also some distance away. Did this lass know how to perform flash stunts?
“How did you … get here from there?”
The girl looked at him like he was an idiot. “Of course I walked! Did you think I flew? I don’t have any superpowers!”
The actor muttered under his breath, “I didn’t see you walking over.”
“You looked very serious while on the phone call earlier.” Natalia asked curiously, “Who was on the phone?”
The actor was silent for a moment, then said, “It was… a friend.”
Natalia preferred not to be too close to Alice and had much displeasure over her probing behavior. Therefore, the actor avoided mentioning Alice in front of her. Natalia didn’t like Alice, he knew this little secret.
Still, Natalia managed to guess. “Oh? Alice?”
“How … how did you know?”
“I can see from your expression that you don’t want me to know who it is. In that case, it must be that evil woman.”
“Evil woman…” Somewhat exasperated, the actor knelt down in front of her. “Alice isn’t an evil woman,” he tried to persuade her. “She’s just a doctor treating your condition.”
Natalia immediately looked crestfallen. She pursed her pink lips tightly and corrected him with a solemn expression. “I’m not sick. I’m not a patient. I don’t need her watching over me. I’m not a prisoner!”
She seemed angry. Many people said that she was ill, and treated her like a sick person, but she did not feel that she was sick. She’d seen sick people, and she could not identify with them. She did not understand. She was fine and healthy. Why did everyone treat her as though she was a sick person! She did not like those looks of pity or sympathy! It was as if she was seriously ill! She was not!
“Alright, alright, you’re not!”
“Actually, I know.” Natalia took a deep breath. “You and Alice have an agreement. You’re responsible for spying on me, aren’t you?”
The actor was speechless. What he hadn’t known was that Natalia would be sensitive and observant enough to notice such things, even at such a young age.
Natalia saw his expression and felt a sense of loss, even disappointment. She had begun to feel closer to Hua Jin gradually, and had even developed affections for the actor. But just as she was about to open her heart to him, this knowledge disappointed her!
She looked around coldly and said with little expression, “This beautiful garden exists only so that I’d feel less lonely while I’m in this prison. You say you’re keeping me company, but it’s only because Daddy can’t bear for me to be alone, right?”
The actor was at a loss for words.
“Sometimes I wonder why I feel a little uncomfortable when you look at me as though you want to be friends with me. You pity me, don’t you?”
Natalia’s pointed questions made the actor nervous. Indeed, he pitied the child, but not purely because he liked her. He wasn’t all that fond of kids. He even thought that if in the future he were to be alone and single, then he would want to be earning lots of money and have no kids.
