Billionaire's Broken Trust

Natalie:

On Saturday evening, I finished cooking in the kitchen and stepped out to the dining table to serve it. However, I saw that my half-sister, Amelia Jackson, had arrived.

I watched my husband, Franklin Howard, laughing so hard with Amelia in the living room. What pained me the most was seeing the way he got along with her. Franklin had never laughed like this with me before; here he was, laughing loudly with my elder sister in the living room.

Amelia Jackson was my half-sister. We share the same father but have different mothers. My mother was once a mistress to my father, and because I was an unwanted child, my family didn't like me.

I had three older brothers: James, Asher, and Felix. They all doted on Amelia.

Amelia and I were of the same age, but she was only a month older than me, which made her my elder sister. We were both fair-skinned, but while she was tall, I was short and chubby.

Franklin is a billionaire in our part of the city, yet he never liked me, his own wife. Our marriage was a mistake—a mistake I shouldn't have accepted.

Three years ago. My father and Franklin's father were best friends. While my father was hosting a business party at home and inviting many tycoons, things went from bad to worse, and Franklin and I ended up caught in my room.

I knew Amelia was the one who set us up, but no one believed me. Even Franklin didn't believe me. He felt I was the one who drugged him and lured him into my room so that he would sleep with me. We were forced to become a couple to hide the embarrassment, especially since Franklin's family was disappointed. Everyone knew I was the illegitimate daughter of my father, and they must have wondered why my father had kept me instead of kicking me out and allowing Amelia to marry Franklin.

It was after my wedding to Franklin that I discovered Amelia had a hidden crush on him. She regretted drugging my drink, as that was what I had served Franklin when he came to speak to me on that eventful night.

Many guests had also brought their adult children, but none of them spoke to me. I was already 22 years old then—naive and caught in a compromising position with Franklin on the bed. We got married while Amelia wept, claiming Franklin was supposed to be her husband.

Franklin didn't like me. After that night, we never slept together, and I never conceived, even though it was my first time. We lived like neighbors who hated each other. Now that Amelia had graduated, Franklin wanted to divorce me to marry her. How shameless for a sister to want to date her younger sister's husband?

Amelia is so shameless. Franklin is five years older than me. As I am 25 now, he is 30.

I watched Franklin wearing a white singlet that revealed his muscular abs; he loved going to the gym. He was fair-skinned, more handsome than any other man I had seen. His skin seemed to glitter like the sun, and I saw the way Amelia drooled over him.

Franklin is very tall. His arms are bigger, and so are his thighs. I am not even up to his chest; to tell you the truth, I'm a shorty. Although, I do have an hourglass figure.

Franklin doesn't find me attractive in any way.

"How were your studies, Amy?" I heard Franklin ask Amelia. He had switched from calling her "Amelia" to "Amy," her shortened nickname.

Amelia blushed as she picked up the glass cup of wine that Franklin had refilled, while I sat at the dining table setting up our dinner.

We have no maid at home simply because Franklin mandated that I wouldn't go to work unless I had a meaningful certificate. As the illegitimate child of my parents, I did not further my education. Instead, I was forced by my stepmother to learn tailoring, while Amelia went to university and became a certified accountant.

I wasn't even allowed to sew. Franklin felt it was a useless profession compared to becoming a fashion designer. He called me ugly and said I wasn't fashionable. He didn't like taking me out to hang out with his friends, nor did he give me money for upkeep.

I only managed to get money for my personal use when he gave me funds to restock the house with foodstuffs. Only then could I save a little for myself.

"It was fine, Frankie," Amelia replied. I hated how she and my husband called each other pet names.

This was my matrimonial home, yet Franklin only called me "Natalie!" In short, he shouted my name with such rage, as if he didn't want to see me.

"Natalie! Is the dinner ready?" Franklin asked me just as he settled across from Amelia on the black couch in our exquisite living room.

I had just finished preparing the delicious African delicacy of pounded yam and vegetable soup. I looked at the food I had prepared, then at my husband and my half-sister.

"Natalie! I am talking to you!" Franklin shouted at me again.

"Hmm, there's no food for you both," I replied, covering the food I had already served.

Firstly, I hadn't invited Amelia to my home, nor would I serve her any food. She should leave and return to our father's house to look for her own husband instead of calling him pet names.

Franklin immediately rose from the couch and dashed toward me. "Where are you taking the tray of food? Have you lost your mind?" Franklin slapped me as he approached and snatched the tray from my hand.

I looked at him irritably and at Amelia, who smiled and rolled her eyes, as I knew her target. She wanted to steal my husband. She had sent me a text message the previous month, telling me she was coming back to collect everything I had stolen from her, including my husband.

"Franklin, why did you slap me? I cooked this food, and you cannot eat it," I said.

"Why? Did I not give you the money you used to prepare the meal? Did you earn the money yourself? Move away and get me a bowl of water to wash my hands. Do not think I will apologize for the slap. Come, Amy, don't mind your sister. That's how silly she behaves." Franklin called out to Amelia, and I watched as she seductively stood up from the couch in her brown dress, which accentuated her hips and bosom.

Amelia walked up to the dining table, and I stood there watching as Franklin served her the delicious plate of pounded yam and vegetable soup that I had suffered to cook.

I knew Amelia was my sister, and I wasn't supposed to be jealous. But Franklin had never served me any food before, let alone food that I had cooked myself.

Franklin also noticed that I hadn't served a bowl of water, so he went to the kitchen himself and brought one for Amelia to wash her hands. He sat across from Amelia, who was blushing and didn't bother to ask me to join them in eating.

"Franklin!" I shouted and walked toward the plate of soup I had served for myself—the portion that Franklin had just served Amelia.

"What's wrong with you, Natalie? Should we leave this food for you to eat? Come, Amy, let's go out to get something more palatable to eat," Franklin said, standing up from the dining table. I hated it whenever I suffered to cook, only for my husband to go out of our matrimonial home to eat.

"Franklin!" I tried to stop him, but he warned, "Stay away from me, Natalie. Just go and eat your food since you don't want your sister and me to eat it. Who knows if you have poisoned it?"

"What?," I frowned as Franklin's words broke my heart. He quickly took the stairs in our living room and dashed upstairs to his bedroom.

Yes, Franklin and I have separate bedrooms. I looked back at Amelia and shouted, "You shameless slut! Aren't you ashamed to be dating your sister's husband? As beautiful as you are, you cannot use your beauty to look for your own husband!" I cursed at Amelia, and she hissed.

"Get out of my house!" I was enraged, remembering that Amelia and her brothers had never liked me. They mostly maltreated me. I had thought that getting married would bring me happiness and a family, yet this same family that didn't want my happiness wouldn't let me be.

As I rushed to push Amelia out of the house, she fell down and pretended to be hurt.