Dumping Him for His Uncle (Natasha and Zachary)

"Mr. Foster, please leave first if you've got things to do. I'm going to look around a little more," Natasha said. Her tone left no room for misunderstanding.

With that, Zachary left the cafeteria reluctantly.

"I've got some things to handle too, so I won't keep you. My office is on the fifth floor, just up ahead," Quentin said, pointing ahead.

Following the direction he pointed, Natasha got a rough idea of where it was located.

Just as he turned to go, she asked curiously, "Have you known Mr. Foster for a long time?"

"Now is not the right time to talk about this," Quentin replied, deliberately keeping it as a mystery. Then, he left the cafeteria as well.

Natasha pressed her lips together in frustration. As curious as she was, she had no choice but to let it go for now.

Once both men were gone, the curious stares from the people around her became bolder.

Earlier during lunch, Natasha had overheard Quentin mention that the Fansville Research Institute had two ongoing projects. One of them was hers. The other was led by someone named Cameron Hopkins.

But for now, her priority was her source of food every day. What piqued her interest most was the layout of the cafeteria.noveldrama

She picked up her tray and brought it to the return area. A kind looking woman took it from her with a smile.

Even during the short walk over, she could feel numerous eyes sizing her up.

"Who is she anyway?"

"Haven't you heard? Mr. Anderson supposedly picked her out after his last academic seminar. Never even heard of her before that."

"Don't you guys know? She's apparently the sister of that woman who went viral on social media not too long ago."

Someone quickly pulled out their phone to check. Eventually, they found news related to Nicole. With a few more taps, they stumbled across an old photo of Natasha during high school and connected the dots.

Natasha had cut ties with the Bradley family after she graduated high school. Because of that, there was no information about her during her university years.

Natasha walked up to the group that was talking about her and caught them mid- conversation.

"If you're that curious, why don't I just tell you myself?" she interrupted.

None of them had realized that she was right behind them. "If you knew about t why didn't you say

overen

something earlier?" one of them

snapped irritably.

The group turned at the sound of Natasha's voice. Only then did they realize she was the very person they had been gossiping about.

"M-Ms. Bradley?"

The group was at a loss for words. They were unsure of how to address her.

Natasha used to think gossip was mostly a girl thing. But now, she realized that guys could be just as bad, if not worse.

"It's fine. We're done here," one of them replied quickly.

They grabbed their trays and practically bolted out of the

cafeteria. The remaining crowd net

had witnessed everything, were ready for another round of gossip.

Natasha sighed and rubbed her temples. Wherever people went, gossip followed.

Natasha made her way to the lab after she surveyed the cafeteria. Then, she

headed toward the research pods in the clinical research unit.

She wasn't allowed to access that area yet. She hadn't been able to visit the clinical research unit the last time either. That missed opportunity still lingered in her mind as a small regret. '

Thankfully, they had a clinical research unit here too. She figured she would try to find a way in for a quick look.

"Wow. Look at this bumpkin. This research pod was personally funded by our dear Vivian. First time seeing it in real life huh?" a girl mocked.

She had a smug expression on and threw the jab at Natasha without hesitation.

Natasha wasn't bothered by her words. There were plenty of things in the world she hadn't seen. This wasn't anything special.

"Yara, don't be like that. Ms. Bradley's going to be our future project lead," a voice called out from behind.