CEO's Passion: Love by Mistake

Chapter 1677

Natalie nodded firmly. “I believe you, but what do you mean by sending the children away?”

Shane suddenly reached out, pulled her into his embrace, and gently stroked her shoulder-length hair. Gazing coldly at the space behind her, he said, “I didn't plan to tell you about this initially, but I thought about it for a long time today and decided to tell you because it's impossible to hide it from you anyway.”

“What's going on?” Sensing his anger and hostility, she gently patted his back to calm him down and asked concernedly, “Did something significant happen? Is that why you were in a bad mood last night?”

When she exited the bathroom last night, she noticed something was off about his mood. Natalie knew he must've encountered some problems, but he didn't tell her anything when she asked about it.

Having no other choice, she could only let that matter slide.

Now, it seemed Shane had made up his mind to come clean.

He grunted in response. “That is why I was in a bad mood last night.” Copyright by Nôv/elDrama.Org.

“What exactly happened?” she asked again.

He held her tighter. “I never told you this, but I received a letter from Sean before I came here.”

“A letter?” Natalie's body stiffened. Then, she slowly pushed him away and stared at him. “Sean sent you a letter?”

Shane nodded slightly. “That's right.”

“What did he write on the letter?” She was curious.

Shane replied with a poker face. “Provocation.”

Instead of recounting the letter's content, he merely uttered that single word.

Nevertheless, Natalie had heard enough to figure out the gist of that letter without knowing its content.

“Sean provoked you?” She frowned.

Shane nodded before quickly shaking his head. “That's not all. That's not only a provocation letter but also a letter of challenge.

Natalie's expression changed drastically after she heard that. The chills she felt earlier came back in full force.

“Letter of challenge...” She parted her lips. Her voice trembled as she spoke. “Has Sean gone mad? Is he planning to fight a duel with you?”

She wasn't a fool. Given the grudges and hatred between Shane and Sean, their duel wouldn't just be a minor scuffle. Instead, it could evolve into a life-threatening confrontation.

That was why she mentioned if Sean had lost his mind, steeling his resolution to duel with Shane.

“Darling, did you agree?” Natalie cupped Shane's face, urgently seeking confirmation.

He pursed his lips into a straight line, not answering but not denying either.

Knowing him well, Natalie could fathom his reaction was a silent expression that he had accepted the challenge.

Her heart sank at that instant as she felt a shiver run down her spine. The acknowledgment had caused her to be at a loss. After a long while, Natalie grasped Shane's arm and uttered hoarsely, “Darling, how could you agree? You should know Sean's a lunatic. He's aiming to do away with you with his so-called duel. You—”

“I know,” he answered solemnly while turning his hands to hold hers.

She widened her eyes. “Why did you agree if you already knew?”

“That's because I don't have any other choice but to agree. Sean would never give me a chance to refuse.” His eyes reddened as he gazed at her. “From the moment I received that letter, it meant I had accepted his challenge. It wouldn't make a difference even if I tossed the letter away, tore it up, or didn't read it all.”

Natalie was rendered speechless because his words had made her understand the duel between the brothers wasn't determined by a letter, nor was it made effective by it.

Even if Sean didn't send the letter, a face-off between them would still be inevitable. Sean could've even launched an ambush to catch Shane off guard.

By sending the letter, Sean had allowed Shane to prepare some methods of defense in advance.