From Divorce To Dominance

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16

"No way," Darren said right off the bat. "Natalie wouldn't do that."

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Darren knew how much Natalie liked him; with her personality, she wouldn't dare block him. Raising an eyebrow, Darren confidently dialed her number again, but all he got was a cold beep. He scowled and tossed his phone onto the table, staring at it for a moment before suddenly shouting, "Tony! Lemme use your phone!"

Tony quickly handed over his phone.

Darren dialed Natalie's number, and to his surprise, it connected after just two rings.

"Who's this?" A sleepy voice came through the line. Of course, it was Natalie.

Grinding his teeth, Darren snapped, "Natalie, who told you to block me?"

His angry voice blared through the speaker, almost blasting her eardrum. The only time she remembered hearing a man sound so angry was with Darren. Natalie switched to speakerphone and held the phone a bit away from her ear, her tone steady as she asked, "Mr. Luther, can't you be a bit nicer?"

"What did you say?"

It hit Darren like a ton of bricks when he knew that she hung up him. He wanted to chuck the phone.

Seeing this, Tony quickly cleared his throat to warn Darren, "Uh, Mr. Luther! That's... my phone."

"She's got some nerve!" Even though Darren stopped himself from chucking the phone, he was still furning. "How dare she block me and hang up? Is she out of her mind?"

Tony, relieved that his phone was safe, carefully suggested, "Maybe you should call her Ms. Xavier?"

"Call her Ms. Xavier? Does she deserve that? Other people might not know her story, but I do. She acts all high and mighty around them, but tries to boss me around?" Darren scoffed, "I'm calling her Natalie. What's she gonna do about it?"

"She could hang up on you," Tony said honestly, "and block you too."

Darren shot him a glare. "Zip it!"

Tony took a few cautious steps back, too scared to say more.

Darren took a deep breath, glaring at the phone like it just insulted him. Around five minutes later, he suddenly moved and, gathering his courage, dialed her number again. Hearing it ring calmed him down-Natalie hadn't blocked this number yet. But as the rings kept going, he couldn't shake off the feeling of anxiety. She didn't pick up.

"Why won't she pick up?!" Darren licked his lips, feeling frustrated. Just then, the ringing stopped.

Natalie finally answered, "Speak."

With that cocky tone, he'd think he owed her money. Darren, felt ready to explode with anger, but somehow, he forced himself to change how he spoke. "Ms. Xavier." "Yeah?" Natalie replied, sounding lazy. "What do you want?"

Every time she spoke, it got under his skin. Darren held back his anger and said, "Grandpa wants to see you at home tomorrow. Just a heads-up-don't be late."

"I'm busy," she said, clicking her tongue. "Mr. Luther, things aren't the same as before. If you want to meet me, you'll have to wait your turn."

Darren scoffed, "Are you kidding? How many guys are after you? This line thing is just a game to mess with me."

"If you aren't willing to wait, then there's nothing to talk about," she shot back.

"Wait a minute!" If it weren't for his grandfather's orders, he wouldn't be dealing with this nonsense. "Fine." Darren wanted to see just how far she'd push him. With a relaxed tone, he asked, "So, how do we line up?"

"Hold on, I'll invite you to the group. Bye. Before he could say anything else, Natalie hung up. She opened her messaging app, easily added Darren to a group chat, and then completely ignored him.

It was just after work, and the group chat was buzzing. Members popped up, surprised to see a new face.

No. 193: [Whoa! A newbie? I just like one girl, but why are there so many rivals?!]

No. 285: [Don't sweat it! As long as Nat isn't married, we've still got hope.]

No. 88: [I don't care about the new guy; I'm just waiting for Nat to notice me. Gonna look good tonight!]

No. 107: [Seriously? 88 is showing off abs again? Like everyone else doesn't have abs!]

No. 222: [@Queen Natalie, wanna touch my abs?]

No. 92: [Newbie. Introduce yourself! Share your stats! Show us your abs! Show us your best features!]

The messages kept pouring in, making Darren's head spin.

Darren's face went from calm to shocked as he scrolled through the flood of abs pictures in the group chat. He couldn't believe his eyes, thinking, 'What kind of weird group is this? Is Natalie really hanging out with people like this every day?' If he hadn't seen the group name " MyBackup Boyfriends," he'd think he stumbled into some strange club.

Just as Darren was ready to ask Natalie what was going on, his phone buzzed with a notification. Someone had tagged him.

No. 1: [Welcome to the group, new brother @Darren! You should change your nickname to "No. 365"-that'll be your number.]

Darren frowned, 'Who would want to be her "No. 365" backup boyfriend? Is everyone in this group out of their minds? The fact that they are showing off their abs for attention is just ridiculous.

No. 1: [Alright, No. 365, listen up. We have some group rules. Everyone, quiet down.]

Darren was completely lost. He couldn't see Natalie the same way anymore. Setting up a backup boyfriend group was already crazy, but now she was making rules? He really couldn't stand it.

No. 1: [To keep things friendly and give our dear Nat a great experience, everyone needs to get along. It's okay to be a bit jealous and competitive, but no fighting or personal attacks. We believe in fair competition. Every weekend, Nat will draw names to choose her "date partner" for the next week. The lucky ones need to have their plans approved three days in advance. If you don't meet the requirement, you're out. Fail a second time, and you're off the list-no more backup boyfriend for you. So, No. 365, got any questions?] Darren stared at the screen, feeling a mix of disbelief and annoyance. He was wondering, 'How does Natalie get these guys to go along with this? Does she really set the bar this high for backup boyfriends?' He had no questions; he just wanted to finish his grandfather's request and get out of this bizarre group.

Darren: [So she says I have to line up to go out with her. How does that work?]

No.1: [First, change your nickname, then you can talk.]

Darren felt like throwing his phone.

No. 365: [Done. Can I get-a-response now?]

No. 1: [If you want to date Nat, you've got two options. First, wait for the weekend lottery; if you're lucky, you might get picked. Second, wait for Nat to think of you and invite you herself.]

Darren clenched his phone in frustration. This was embarrassing. It had always been Natalie waiting for him-now it turned around so that he had to wait for her. He was done with this nonsense and was about to call Natalie to confront her when his WhatsApp lit up with another message,