After a while, he gave caution to the wind and asked his assistant for June's number. He did not even have one.He sighed before dialing it and waiting silently.June was in the kitchen when her phone rang. And looking at the caller, she froze. Ivan? Why was he calling her now?Her heart was filled with excitement as she picked up the call. After all, he could not have known that anything had happened to Carter.Maybe he had just come to his senses and decided to give her a chance. She felt even happier when she realized that he had her number.“Hello, Ivan,” she said in a sweet voice when she picked up. “You remembered me today.““Can I speak to Carter?“ Ivan ignored her and went directly to the point. All he wanted was to talk to Carter.June froze in place. So, the call was not for her but for Carter. What if the child sold him out?“Um… Carter's phone broke… but he is taking a shower now. Call me after five minutes,” she said.Ivan did not even bother to respond. He hung up immedi
She felt mad that Carter's mom could not believe her. She was the one who had seen Carter hurting, okay?Natalie tensed. Why did the child have that much of an attitude? Did she anger her?She sighed and quickly called back. “ It is all my fault, Little Candie. I don't doubt you,okay?“ She hurriedly spoke up.The child was silent for a second. And Natalie looked at her screen with the fear that she might have hung up again.Seeing that the call was still on, she sighed. “Little Candie? Can you talk to me? This Auntie is bad. She won't repeat that again…”“Carter feels bad that you left him alone. He even thinks that his daddy and you don't love him anymore. You have to come and check up on him! That auntie will hurt him,” she said.She could not help but feel like crying when she remembered the look on Carter's face earlier today.Natalie swallowed hard. “Can you do me one favour, Little Candie?“ Natalie asked. She felt like things were more complicated than she imagined.“What is it?
Natalie was also confused. “Who said that word, honey?“ She asked. Was anyone trying to frame another?Carter, still crying, spoke up. “Auntie June said that if I tell daddy the truth, she will cut me into pieces, kill me and frame you for that. She said that mommy would go to jail. Mommy, I don't want you to go to jail,” the child said in fear.Natalie froze in place. “Did she really say that?“ She asked. So, even when she was away, someone was still planning to frame her? And why would they say such words to a child?“That is true, mommy! She has said it to me many times. Mommy, I don't want to die? Will you come and pick me up?“ Carter asked.“Carter, mommy will come for you, okay? Just don't tell anyone about it yet. They might try to stop me…” she finally made up her mind. She had to save both the child and herself.Since Ivan could not believe her words, she was going to use her own means to do it. She would go and save the child.“Okay… mommy, come quickly. I want you to blow o
In the evening, Natalie prepared herself hurriedly. Her heart was beating so fast, but she hoped that things would go on well. If things went on well, she would be able to see Carter tomorrow.She told her family that she was going for a shoot. She knew that they would understand her later on.At exactly seven, her phone rang. She did not have anything to carry, so she left the house in a hurry.But Scott stopped her outside the door. “Are you sure you are going to be okay?“ He asked. Natalie froze. She had a feeling that Scott might have seen through her.But still, she was not ready to cancel her plans. She hurriedly nodded her head. “Mmh,” I will be fine. She was not going to open up to him today.Scott was silent for a while as he looked at her. His gaze was questioning, yet very uncomfortable. “You have to remember that you have a big brother somewhere, okay?“ He finally said and pulled her into his arms. “Don't suffer all by yourself.“Natalie was still uncomfortable with him hu
Natalie's face turned bright the moment he saw Carter waiting obediently on the bench. It had been long since she saw him.She could not contain her joy and found herself calling his name. And she froze a little when Carter looked at him in confusion. She was afraid that the child might have changed his mind about seeing her.But when he ran towards her and jumped into her embrace, her heart suddenly softened. She held him in her hands and her heart beat faster.And when he called her mommy, she felt like her heart was being smeared with honey.“My baby…” Natalie said and kissed Carter's face. She then tried wiping away his tears gently. “Mommy! You came?“ Carter asked and hugged Natalie even tighter. He was scared that maybe he was dreaming and that Natalie would not be there when he woke up.Natalie's heart ached a little seeing the child cry like that. She kissed his cheeks again. “Mommy is here! Stop crying now, okay?“she said softly. “Nobody is going to bully you ever again.“It
June looked around in confusion. “He is not home yet?“ She asked.The old lady tensed up. “No! Weren't you supposed to pick him up?“ She asked. June had been picking Carter up from school every day. Why didn't she do it today?“Um… he is not in school. I was told someone had picked him up. I even thought that you had sent someone,” June said as something appeared in her head.The old lady stood up hurriedly. “No! I did not send anyone to pick him up? Quickly, call the school!“ She said to the butler.There was confusion in the whole house as people moved around. The butler hurriedly called the school and came back shaking his head.“They say that a woman picked Carter up,” he said. He seemed tensed up.“Let us look for him!“ The old lady said. And people swang into action. She was not going to let anything happen to the kid. He was the only third generation kid that the family had.The butler swallowed hard. “Should we inform the young master?“ He asked. Maybe Ivan would have an idea
Natalie looked at the child pitifully. “What is wrong, Carter? You have to be treated. This is serious,” she said.Tears fell from her eyes when she imagined the kind of pain that the child was going through. He had really failed.Carter still shook his head. “I want mommy to treat my wounds. I don't want to go to the hospital… please, mommy?“ He begged.Seeing the child looked like he wanted to cry, Natalie sighed. She wiped away the tears in her eyes and held Carter's hand.“I will try to disinfect them,” she said. “But if they don't get better, we shall have to go to the hospital, okay?“Carter nodded obediently. He was scared of going to the hospital. So, he let Natalie wash him, clean his wounds and treat them.Later, when they had calmed down from their crying, they had dinner. “Tomorrow, you won't go to school. You have to get well first,okay?““Okay, mommy,” Carter said immediately. He also wanted to stay home and accompany his mommy. And… what if he went to school and June ca
After Carter went to sleep while hugging Natalie, Natalie opened her eyes and she looked at the child in her embrace. She could not help but shed tears again.She was not sure why she was getting that emotional! Carter was just Ivan's child, she was not supposed to have those kind of emotions towards him.But she just felt so bad when she saw just how much the kid had been hurt. How could any human being be that heartless?Carter was such a cute child! Why did June have to do all that for him? Her tears fell even more. She felt like her heart had just been pulled out.She caressed the injuries that she had treated and swallowed hard. “I wish I would always be there for you, Carter! I don't want to see you hurt anymore…”Suddenly, she felt her hair stand. And in her head, an image appeared. No! It was actually a scene.Her emotions changed all of a sudden and a surge of sadness filled her. There was a girl, who was obviously herself.She held her belly, which was hugely protudred as so
Black and Ivan looked at each other before turning to Natalie. Ivan cleared his throat. “Honey, I recently found out that Black wasn't the person that killed my family. It was June and her accomplices!“Five years ago, Black really did have intentions of killing Ivan and the whole of his family. But his first aim was Ivan, and that was the reason why he sent Natalie to kill him. His family, back in the country, were out for a night. Black was prepared to attack, because Ivan was away and he would not be there to protect them. But an hour earlier, he received information that they were already killed.After gathering information, Ivan had recently realized that June was behind everything. Despite being around and pretending to be a naive and innocent girl, she had caused more havoc.She had killed, thinking that the company belonged to Ivan's dad. To her shock, it was Ivan who owned it. So she lost. She was not able to put her hands on the company.Luckily, she was now behind doors. I
The old lady chuckled. “I was so stupid! How could I not differentiate between someone with a good heart like you from those full of bad intentions? Instead of protecting him, I exposed all of us to danger. Please forgive me…”Natalie, who had never had any experience of an elderly person apologizing, did not know what she was supposed to say. She pursed her lips in fear.The old lady sighed. “I am not saying all this because you saved my life. I just think I was too blind in the past not to see the good in you. Please, take good care of my grandson, and my great grandchildren!“Natalie was just so shocked. She had not expected that things would be this easy after so much struggle. That meant that the old lady was blessing her marriage with Ivan, right?She lifted her eyes to look at Ivan, and seeing the broad smile on his face, Natalie relaxed. Everything was fine. They were finally going to be together without any difficulties.Ivan winked at her, and Natalie could not help but roll
The doctor sighed with disappointment. “You don't know it? That thing that healed you!“ He was not sure if the girl was just pretending or she really knew nothing about it.Natalie shook her head. “Wait… I think I was wounded! What happened? What is that Gello you are talking about?“ She asked.The doctor sighed. “When you were brought here, we all thought you were going to die! You had wounds, you had lost a lot of blood and you were almost losing your child. But… that thing they gave you… it healed you in less than ten minutes…”Even though Natalie was pretending not to know anything about Gello, she was shocked to hear that she was healed like that. “Doctor, are you sure about what you are talking about?“ “Yes… it happened… He just wrapped it around your hand…” The doctor had begun speaking when the door was pulled open and two men walked in. Trevor went directly to the doctor and held his hand. “Doctor, would you mind us having a small talk?“ He asked while pulling him out, not
Natalie froze up. She waited for the excruciating pain, then maybe, death. She had been so sure that June had shot her straight in the chest. She would be dead in just a few seconds.However, after a few seconds, nothing happened. She did not get any pain either. Confused, she opened her eyes.“Natalie…” Someone called her. All she could hear and see were the movements of people here and there.But her eyes caught one person who was running towards her direction. “Natalie… are you okay?“ Ivan asked as he pulled her into his arms.Due to the pressure he applied, Natalie winced in pain. Her body was covered in several wounds due to the torture that these people had inflicted on her. She saw June lying on the ground, her gun some distance away from her.“You are hurt! Quickly, call an ambulance!“ Ivan ordered as he tried to untie her. Trevor and a few other men were checking up on the old lady.“Ivan… you came…” Natalie said in shock. She had not expected him to be back that quickly. But
Carter opened his eyes when he heard Natalie's voice. “Mommy…” he called between cries as he struggled. His mommy was finally there to save him.Natalie hurriedly untied him and pulled him into his hands. “You are fine now…”“Mommy…. Save great grandma. She is in the backyard. Auntie June has a gun…” Carter said the moment he remembered what had happened.Natalie shook. “It's okay,” she said and carried Carter to the room where she had locked Melan. “She will protect you,” Natalie whispered to Carter.She handed Carter to Melan. “Melan, don't open the door until I come back. Don't make any noise,” she said while trembling.“Sister… will you be safe?“ Melan asked in fear. Natalie hurriedly nodded and locked the door behind her, leaving.She ran upstairs to Ivan's room and took out her phone. Luckily, Ivan hurriedly picked him up when she called him.“Natalie…” Ivan called. “Did something happen? I am done here. I am taking the plane soon…”“Ivan… hurry up! Grandma is in danger!“ Natal
When Black came back to the room, Natalie wanted to keep her distance from him. If this man could send his wife away without blinking, what was he not capable of?Black sighed seeing her action. “Daughter, I sent her away to make up for what we caused you to go through in the past,” he spoke up. “Please, forgive me…”Still, Natalie could not fully understand if the man had changed or he was just pretending. “Why did you bring me back?“ She asked at last. She wanted to end things as fast as possible. She wanted to go back to Ivan and Carter.Black took a seat beside her. “I heard about your break up with Ivan… that man has wronged you. I am your father. I had to come for you. I will help you carry out revenge if you want to…”Natalie pretended to be really heartbroken. “But… why are you two fighting?“ She asked. She was still mad that the man had pretended that the break up had nothing to do with him.Black was silent for a while. “ We were fighting in the past, not anymore. I won't li
…Natalie's eyes widened when she woke up on an unfamiliar bed, her mind finally connecting the dots. The room she found herself in was lavish and spacious, a real contrast to the small, cramped space she had been forced to inhabit in the past in this house. The memories of the mistreatment she endured flooded her mind, making her feel annoyed and anger about those two people that called themselves parents.She moved, and her body ached. She could not help but wince in pain. She had expected to be taken away by Black, but the fact that they had sedated her before bringing her here spoke volumes about their intentions. It was as if they didn't even want to give her the chance to fight back or escape.Her thoughts were interrupted as the door was pushed open, and a woman around forty years old stepped inside the room. The woman's eyes widened in disbelief as they landed on Natalie, and she let out a horrified scream."Aaaah!" the woman shrieked, her hands flying to her mouth as if to st
Natalie tried to sit up, her concern immediately shifting to the boy who had accidentally knocked her off her feet. "The boy who just knocked me off... Is he okay?" she asked, showing her compassionate nature even in her own moment of distress.Ivan scanned the crowd and locked eyes with the worried boy. He noticed the blood on the boy's hand and pursed his lips. "Someone check up on the boy," he instructed, and the people around quickly rushed to help him.Still feeling disoriented, Natalie held onto Ivan's hand. "Can you help me up?" she asked, her voice trembling slightly."Of course," Ivan replied hurriedly, carefully assisting her to her feet. He guided her away from the gathering crowd and led her towards the car, where they could have some privacy.As they distanced themselves from the scene, Ivan noticed Natalie's expression changing. Her eyes turned red, and sadness enveloped her face. He gently helped her into the car, his heart aching for her."Are you feeling hurt anywhere?
Ivan woke up with Natalie in his hands, a broad smile appearing on his face as he looked at her sleeping face. He brought his hands to her face and gently caressed her, feeling the sense of peace that he had missed for days.Natalie's eyes fluttered when something kept moving on her face. Slowly, she opened her eyes and met a man's warm gaze. She snuggled closer to him, a smile on her face. "Good morning, beast," she greeted him jokingly.Ivan smiled and pinched her nose. "You look so happy today. Did that mean that I satisfied you well last night?" He joked back.Natalie buried her face into his chest to hide away her embarrassment. "Can't you just talk like a normal person?" She asked and pinched his waist playfully.Ivan hurriedly held her hand. "Stop messing around unless you want to awaken the beast again," he said, and kissed her lips lovingly.Natalie smiled, her cheeks flushed. She seemed to have thought of something and sat up. "Um... Black will be taking me today, right?" She