Spoiled By The President: My Wife Is A Little Sweet

Chapter 244 Off to the Island

Jessica's eyes widened in shock.

"You mean..."

Julia snickered.

"The one thing that people hate the most is collusion between the rich and the powerful. So what if Natalia has Archie at her back? The better Archie treats her, the more everyone feels like the wealthy can do whatever they want. That way, people will begin to hate her. And you really think the McCarthy family is sitting steady on top of Eqitin with no rivals? Please! Everyone knows how many people have been after that position. If the McCarthy family gets put under public scrutiny from this, they would have to get involved on the inside too. With pressure put on him within and without, let's see what Archie will pick - the interests of his family, or one woman?"

Jessica was stunned into a daze.

After a while, she reacted, her expression overjoyed.

"I've got it now! So the most important thing now, Julia, is finding Natalia, right?"

"Yes. We have to prove she's not missing at all. This way, everyone will believe that she was lying all along!"

Jessica nodded.

"All right, I've got it. I'll try to find her right away."

*****

While Jessica tried to unearth Natalia wherever she was.

Natalia had already received the news.

After all, since the driver had exposed it, she'd guessed that Jessica would probably be coming for her.

She couldn't stay in the McCarthy household. Even though Jessica wasn't bold enough to intrude here directly, this was too big of a target to stay undetected. Natalia was considering where she could hide when Ariana called.

"What are you up to now, Natalia? How are you holding up?"

Old Mrs. McCarthy had called Archie's phone and told her to pick up.

Seemed like Archie was afraid the old woman and the child would get worried, so he'd told them about the situation beforehand.

Natalia replied hurriedly, "I'm fine, I'm at home. What about you? How have you been lately?"

"I'm doing well, but Anne misses you and keeps raising a ruckus about seeing you. If you're free someday, I can take her over to play with you for a couple days?"

"That's..."

Natalia was in a bad spot.

There was far too much going on right now. She needed to force Jessica and the rest of that family to admit their crimes against her mother, so she absolutely couldn't show herself.

But Anne...

Seemingly sensing her hesitation, Ariana added in a rush, "I bought an island in the south recently. The scenery is great there, and I had someone open a hotel there too. The chef was previously responsible for the national feasts, and his cooking is top of the line. Whenever you're free, how about we all take a holiday on the island?"

Now that she'd gone that far, if Natalia didn't get it, it would have all been for nothing.

She hastily replied, "All right, I'm good whenever. I'll leave the schedule to you."

"If that's the case, let's go with tomorrow. I'll have Archie bring you here."

"Okay."

With the deal set, the old woman hung up.

Archie looked at her expectantly from the side. Seeing that she'd hung up, he hurriedly asked, "You agreed, then?"

Natalia nodded. "Yeah, she says to go tomorrow."

"Ah."

The man's eyes flickered, his thoughts a mystery.

Curious, Natalia asked, "She says she bought an island in the south? Buying up a whole island takes plenty of money, right? Is she trying to break into the tourist industry?" Archie waved it off casually.

"No. She's just getting on in years, so she wants a place down south to spend the rest of her days."

All right, then! She just didn't get how rich people thought.

Buying up a whole island just for yourself to stay in - heh, wasn't that something!

The old lady had incredible follow through, too. The moment she decided on it, she had Archie send them over right away.

Early morning the next day, Natalia flew all the way to the island.

The island did have beautiful scenery, and a beautiful name to go along with it - Fortuna Island.

The way Ariana told it, there were plenty of rare birds on the island. Because of overhunting from nearby fishermen and the current state of the ecosystem, they were facing extinction.

Ariana had bought the isle in part to give them a quiet, peaceful habitat.

Anne had already heard the news that Natalia was coming over, and she'd been excited as could be from early in the morning.

When Natalia arrived in earnest at noon, she rushed to greet her.

Natalia hadn't seen her in a while, so she naturally missed her a great deal. The moment mother and daughter met, they hugged each other tight and snuggled against each other for a long while before they released each other.

Ariana looked her up and down and said caringly, "My, you've grown thin, Natalia. I heard you were kidnapped; how are you? Are you hurt?"

Smiling, Natalia shook her head. "I'm fine, just a little shaken."

The wound on her hand wasn't deep, and after a few days' rest, it was basically fully healed.

Afraid she'd worry Ariana and Anne, she'd taken the bandages off before she arrived. A faint line could still be seen running across her palm, but it wasn't as bad as it had been, so it wasn't frightening. Hearing that, Ariana relaxed and nodded.

Then she led the couple in.

There was only one hotel on the island, and the old lady had already prepared their room beforehand.

Natalia retired to the room with Archie and rested for a while, only coming out for lunch.

William wasn't feeling well, as always. He hadn't come with them this time.

But Ariana was as talkative as ever. She was approaching her seventies, but her righteous, childlike heart still remained.

Knowing what Natalia had gone through, she was barely holding it in and hollering about getting even for her.

Natalia just laughed at her adorable nature, but she also knew that this was Ariana's way of treating her as one of her own. The mark of concern moved her all the more for it.

"No need to get involved, Grandma. Natalia has her own plan."

Midway through Ariana's spiel, Archie couldn't sit by and interrupted.

Ariana glared at him.

"You've got some nerve saying that, haven't you? What kind of husband are you; not even protecting your wife properly? What are your brains for if you're having her do her own dirty work at a time like this?" The old lady did not hold back when it came to roasting her own grandson.

Archie scowled. Seeing that, Natalia hurriedly explained.

"It's not that he's not helping me, Grandma. I'm keeping him out of it."

As she spoke, she outlined her enmity with Jessica and how her mother Kiera had died.

Including how, five years ago, she was kicked out of the Dawson family, and how Jessica and Aleena had taken over all of her properties, making it difficult for her to even retrieve her mother's mementos. Hearing that, Ariana flew into a rage.

"What a disgrace! Is there still justice in this world? How is a family this shameless still around?"

Natalia scoffed mildly.

"Family always complicates matters. No one else is to blame. I was just too young and naïve five years ago and didn't think hard enough. If I'd just been smarter about it then and realized something was off with Mom's death, I wouldn't have needed to go through all this today."

Her heart aching for Natalia, Ariana patted her hand soothingly.

Then she recalled something and asked, "You say that your mother only left you with a necklace when she passed away?"