Chapter 1 Fading Hope

"Ah, ah, ah!”

Natalie was stunned when suddenly her husband's lover, Gina, slid to the floor.

What the hell was going on here? She didn't push her.

Then, when she heard Charles growling angrily behind her, she understood.

"NATHALIE! ARE YOU CRAZY? DO YOU WANT TO KILL GINA'S BABY?" Charles immediately hugged Gina and shouted at her.

What?!

Natalie's eyes darkened and she stroked her stomach, trying to digest this new development. Little did she know that her husband's mistress was also pregnant, and her heart was squeezed again.

She knew her husband had cheated on her because she had been unable to give him a child, and she had just been informed by the hospital that she was pregnant.

She had come to ask her husband to return. She froze.

"You can be angry with me, Nathalie, but please have mercy on my baby," Gina moaned pitifully. "This baby is innocent and even though Charles won't marry me, I will still keep him."

"Who said I wouldn't marry you, baby?" Charles snapped, ignoring natalie's mood. "This is our child, and you will soon be my wife!"

Then he hugged Gina tightly and turned to look at Natalie, his eyes full of anger, "Natalie, is this what you came here for today? Kill my baby? To stop me from marrying Gina?"

He continued to stare at her, and if Charles had lasers in his eyes, Natalie would be in a million pieces by now.

"What?" said Natalie, trembling. "I didn't touch her at all, she fell down on her own and tried --"

"Don't make up stories, Natalie," Charles interrupted coldly. "Do you think Gina's crazy? She was so careful about getting pregnant, why would she do that?"

"I'm not lying, she--"

"All right!" Charles interrupted impatiently, "I have no patience for your excuses. Now that you know why I married Gina, save me the time to explain it to you, you can leave now. I will order my assistant to send you the divorce papers soon."

Natalie was cold, as if she had been doused in a bucket of ice water, shaking all over, how could Charles be so cruel?

They went through eight sweet years together, the reason she fell in love with Charles, because he saved her on the beach, of course, later she also found that he has a humorous personality, and his big dreams.

He promised to give her the best care in the world, she lost her mother, and her father loved her, but he was always busy, she always faced all the things in life alone, and Charles came along, became her safe haven.

They got married, and later she became not only his wife, but also the most important partner in his business! Together they own a design company and she is the soul of all designs!

Thanks to her design, their company was able to go public within five years! Didn't he know that without her, his company's share price would soon drop?

She recalled two weeks ago, he had come to her and asked her to forgive him for his SINS, and they still wanted to try the possibility of getting pregnant.

She thought she must tell him the truth. "Charles, I must tell you that I also --"

But Gina screamed again in pain. "Charles... I have a stomachache and I need to go to the hospital right away..."

"But, Charles...."

"SHUT UP, NATHALIE!"

Charles's angry eyes shot at her again, and she held him back, trying to finish the sentence.

But Charles immediately pushed her to the ground.

"Sign the divorce papers and then quietly wait for the process to complete, Natalie. Don't mess around, or you'll know what I'll do to you and your father!" Charles hissed coldly.

Natalie fell to the ground and soon felt a sharp pain in her stomach as she tried to call for help, but her mother-in-law, Kelly, came down from upstairs.

"Evil woman! You want to hurt my grandson?" Kelly was in rage. "How dare you!"

Something sharp felt in Nathalie's lower stomach made her unable to move.

"I'm the evil?" Nathalie asked with a sad and shaky voice. "Your son betrayed our marriage vows and you accuse me of being evil? Mom? Do you blame me for their adultery?"

"Don't call me Mom! Look, Natalie, after Gina got pregnant with my grandson, you lost your right to be my daughter-in-law. You're a useless woman, and Charles has been wasting his time with you. He should have met Gina sooner!"

"You're cruel, Kelly! I wonder what would happen if something like that happened to you?"

Natalie couldn't believe that Kelly, who had always been so protective of her, was suddenly heartless.

How could someone change so quickly? Was her mother in-law's kindness all this time fake? Was she just acting?

Kelly snorted, "Cut the crap. Natalie, you failed as a wife to bear my son's child. How dare you push Gina and kill my grandson! You better be glad nothing's gonna happen to my grandson, or else... I will put you in jail! I'm warning you to leave, or I'll call security to drag you out immediately!"

Natalie broke out in a cold sweat and tried to tell Kelly about her pregnancy, trying to get her mother-in-law to help her get to the hospital.

But, before she could say anything, Kelly's shrill voice rang again.

"Security guard! Get this crazy woman out of here!" Kelly ordered immediately.

Suddenly, Natalie's phone rang and she stared at the screen, which displayed caller ID: The Angel Wing Hospital.

She knew the hospital call could only come from her father, and her heart was racing as she tried to get herself into the car before security arrived.

She didn't want to be treated like a criminal, having to be dragged out of the house that had been her second home for the past few years, and in an instant turned into hell.

"Hello?" she gasped, leaning over the steering wheel.

"Mrs. Fredrick, I'm Lyla from The Angel Wing hospital. Can you come see Dr. Benny now? Your father's condition is deteriorating and there is an urgent need for action. Dr. Benny needs your approval," said a woman on the other line.

Nathalie was in her car, crying on her steering wheel on the side of the road. Her hair was a mess and her face was wet. Her throat felt sore now, after crying for so long.

"I'll be right there," she said as she started the engine.

The anxiety about her father's condition, the anger and hurt towards Charles, Gina, and Kelly, and the discomfort in her lower abdomen, made Nathalie feel unstable.

Cold sweat soaked Nathalie's forehead, armpits, and back. Her vision was dizzy, and she babbled curses at the three people who had broken her heart.

As the pain in her lower abdomen became more intense, Nathalie gasped and looked down. Her skirt turned red and Nathalie screamed, reflexively releasing one of her grips on the steering wheel and touching her stomach.

"No no, no.... My baby, please... No!"

Nathalie's car swerved to the side of the road and before she knew it, the car skidded and crashed into the bushes. Nathalie moaned softly.

"No, no, no, no.... My baby, please.... Not yet! Somebody, please, save my baby!"

The increasingly intense pain and dizziness from hitting her head on the steering wheel made Nathalie's vision blurry. Using all her strength, Nathalie opened the car door and crawled down to the ground.

"Help... Save my child... Aah...  Please, someone...."

At the edge of her fading consciousness, Nathalie heard the sound of someone running towards her and calling her name in panic.

"Nate! NATE, OH MY GOD!"

"C-charles?" Nathalie murmured hopefully.

Then, everything went black.