The Heiress Nobody Saw Coming (Natalie and Marcus)

Zane and Declan headed to the village's surgical room to operate on Maverick, while Taylor organized a team to round up everyone in Ashford Vale, gathering them on the field.

After Lynette, Sue, and Ann had finished crying their hearts out, they wiped their tears and went to meet Natalie in the office.

Meanwhile, Una, Dossie, Tressa, and nearly every other girl in Ashford Vale- aside from infants or toddlers still unable to walk-were now inside the school.

Some of the younger ones had no idea what had just happened, but the slightly older girls understood that whatever occurred today was going to change everything.

Una asked curiously, "Ms. Natalie, what's everyone doing outside? Marcus is so handsome! He's way better looking than any of the guys in our village, but he looks really scary!"

Natalie walked over to the window and glanced outside. She saw Marcus standing on the platform in a fitted black tracksuit, staring down at the villagers who had all been forced to line up neatly across the field. He looked like a principal scolding a bunch of unruly students.

Sophia walked up beside her and glanced out as well. "Marcus is mad."

"You can tell?" Natalie looked at him again. To her, he seemed as calm and composed as ever-no visible signs of anger at all.

Sophia nodded. "Yeah. He used to stand up for me when we were kids. I know what he looks like when he's angry. But Nat, I don't think he'd ever show that anger in front of you."

Natalie thought for a second, then shook her head. "That's not always true. There was a time he misunderstood me, and he didn't treat me well at all."

Sophia replied, "No, Nat. When Marcus is really angry, he doesn't just show a bad attitude. Look at those villagers-I'm willing to bet none of them will dare cause trouble again after today."noveldrama

"Really?" Natalie narrowed her eyes as she looked out the window. "If Marcus being angry means can ep this place peaceful and actually focus on

educating these girls, then I'm okay with that."

Sophia explained, "Exactly. Nat, your methods were too gentle before. That's why the villagers thought they could push you around. You came here out of kindness to help, so why should you let them walk all over you?

"These people don't even appreciate what they've been given. Then again, they live in a place like this, so you can't expect them to think like normal, rational people with decent values. The only way to handle people like this is to use methods they understand."

Sophia gave a dry, bitter smile as she spoke. "Funny how I can say all this now when not too long ago I was just as weak, someone who let people bully her without fighting back. Nat, after coming here with you, I finally know what I want to do with my life.

"I want to be part of this mission. Saving these girls matters more to me than love or romance ever could."

Hearing that, Natalie turned toward Zachary, who had just walked in behind them. "If you're going to help girls, there's no need to cut yourself off from love entirely. Look at me I married Marcus.

"And now look at him-he's out there handling these unruly villagers for me. Having a good man by your side is actually pretty great."

"Mrs. Holden is absolutely right," Zachary said as he stepped forward and wrapped an arm around Sophia's shoulder.

He added, "Sophia, I won't stand in the way of anything you want to do. Just don't push me away, alright? It took us so long to finally be together, and I don't want this trip to end with me losing my future wife.

"And Mrs. Holden's right. When you've got a husband, you can send him charging into battle on your behalf."

"Hey! I never said Marcus should be anyone's pack mule or warhorse!" Natalie laughed from the side. "But I will admit... I've never seen this side of him before."

When Taylor came to get Zane, he gave them a quick rundown of what had happened. Natalie did not react at all when she heard what Marcus had done to Maverick. She simply nodded.

In this village, whether it was Maverick or the others, they always looked down on her because she was a woman, even when she arrived fully backed by a team.

Even after she used force the first time to build this school and earned enough compliance to operate, Maverick and the others never truly respected her.

On the other hand, Marcus was not bothered by kindness or diplomacy. He would make sure Maverick was so scared that he would never forget it.

And these villagers? One encounter with Marcus, and they would likely never dare rebel again.

Natalie did not go outside. Instead, she stood by the window briefly before quietly returning to her desk.

Outside, Marcus stood on the

platform, his icy gaze sweeping over

the gathered villagers like a blade.

He announced, "This place is getting

a new name. Anyone who doesn't like it, step forward. I'll beat the fight out of you.

"Your precious Maverick already has an explosive chip implanted in his body. The

next time he stirs up trouble, he's going up in smoke."

"Who the hell are you to act like a tyrant in our village?" someone shouted from the crowd.

Marcus turned his head slightly. "Elijah, drag him out."

"Yes, sir." With that, Elijah charged into the crowd, grabbed the man by the collar, and yanked him forward.

"Beat him. Keep going until he submits," Marcus ordered.

"Yes, sir." Without hesitation, Elijah delivered a brutal beating.

The man screamed in agony, and when he finally collapsed, Elijah pulled a chip from his metal case. Then, in front of everyone, he implanted it into the man's thigh.

After that, he pulled out another chip, embedded it into an apple, and pressed a button on the remote in his hand. With a sharp bang, the apple exploded into pieces.

Pist

Marcus stepped forward and placed his foot on the beaten man's leg. "Whoever has a problem with me next. Maverick and this man right here have chips in their bodies how. If any of you act up, disrespect Natalie, or try to stir chaos again, I won't be polite about it."

His voice was calm but razor-sharp, cutting through the still air of the field.

The beaten man caught sight of the blown-up apple and went wild, screaming and

clawing at his thigh like he could dig the chip out himself.

Marcus stared him down, cold and unmoved, his gaze sweeping across the crowd. "Anyone else wants to test me?"

One of the villagers in the front row suddenly dropped to his knees. He shouted, "We give in! We surrender We won't cause trouble anymore! We don't want money and will cooperate! We'll do whateverMs. Natalie says!"

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After that villager dropped to his knees, the others quickly followed. "We'll behave!

Just please don't put those bombs in us!"

They did not understand how the explosive chips worked. Nonetheless, after

seeing that apple blow apart, fear overtook logic.

"I'll behave too! Please, I'm begging you—just take it out of me!"

Elijah said with a casual grin, "Not happening. You filthy bastards aren't worth a shred of pity. Selling your own daughters? You don't fear anything unless we show you what real fear is."

"I swear I've changed! We've all learned our lesson!" The man sobbed.

Marcus stepped forward, his tone chillingly direct. "You want it removed? Then, sign these."

With a slight nod from Marcus, Elijah immediately pulled out a thick stack of printed contracts.