Natalie imdiately returned to the bedroom and called Justin.
"Hmm?" ca his reply.
"What are you going to do now? How are you planning to get your grandma out of here without eting my grandpa? Your grandmother is really sothing." She blurted out in panic.
She heard Justin sigh on the other end before he spoke. "I’ll co by later, after dinner is over, but I won’t co upstairs. Make sure your grandpa takes his dicine right after the al, so he would feel drowsy and won’t co downstairs to see my grandmother off."
"That’s actually a good idea. You do have so brains after all."
"Not everyone is like you," he shot back.
She frowned. "Don’t go thinking you’re too smart."
"I’m at least not dumped by a loser and still pining over him."
"Dumped? I was not dumped, alright? And I’m not—"
"Yeah, sure," he interrupted. "He announced his engagent to your sister right in front of you without even trying to find out what really happened. Even if he was angry, any man in his place would have first tried to figure out who you supposedly cheated on him with. He’d have taken his ti before deciding on revenge by marrying your sister. But..." Justin paused, his tone growing sharper, "what he did on your wedding day shows he was just looking for an excuse to dump you, and he took the first chance he got. He never loved you."
"Stop it!" she exclaid angrily, her voice trembling with anger. "You don’t know anything about him, so just shut your mouth!"
She angrily hung up the call and sat on the bed, tears welling in her eyes. Feeling overwheld, she opened her long-inactive social dia account under the na "Sunshine," which she hadn’t touched since returning ho from Xyros.
Back then, she used it to chat with Ivan from Xyros city, but once she was ho, there was no need to ssage him anymore—they were together.
On her first day in the unfamiliar city of Xyros, she had received a ssage from an account nad "Little Star." The na tugged at her heart, as it was what her mother used to call her when she was younger. In return, she always called her mother "Sunshine," which is why Natalie had chosen that as her own account na.
The mont she received the ssage from "Little Star," she knew it had to be Ivan. He was the only person, aside from her mother, who knew about that nickna. Unable to contact Ivan by phone, as he wasn’t allowed to speak with her after she was sent to Xyros, Natalie clung to the belief that this ssage was from him. She had no one but Ivan and her friend Mia to rely on back then.
Her fingers trembling, she scrolled through their old ssages.
Sunshine:You’re Ivan, right? I knew you’d miss and find a way to ssage . Did you make this new account to hide from your parents?
Little Star:How are you, Natalie?
Sunshine:Natalie? You call Nat. Are you not Ivan?
Little Star:How are you, Nat?
Sunshine:It’s really you, Ivan. I can’t tell you how happy I am that you ssaged . It’s so lonely and scary here. I wish I could co ho.
Little Star:You’re strong. You’ll get through it, Nat.
Sunshine:Do you miss ?
Little Star:Yes.
Sunshine:I miss you too. Wait for , I’ll be ho soon.
Little Star:Take care.
Sunshine:Wait, will you ssage again? Please do, or I’ll feel lonely and cry.
Little Star:I’ll ssage you. You can reach out whenever you feel lonely. I’m always here for you.
Natalie continued to read more and more these ssages and how Ivan was her only hope back then. Tears rolled down her eyes as she sobbed lightly.
Why did Ivan change so much? Natalie wondered, her thoughts swirling. He was always so good to when we used to chat. He cared for , trusted , even when we were apart. But why did he feel like a different person when I returned to him? Is talking through ssages really that different from eting in person? The care, the warmth I felt in his ssages—I never felt that from him when we were together.
What went wrong? Or was I the one who deluded myself, thinking those few ssages ant he truly cared for ? That he loved ?
If he didn’t love , why would he agree to marry ? No one forced him. His parents weren’t even happy about us being together. That must an he loved , right? Or why else would he go against his parents? Maybe it was the betrayal—my marriage to soone else—that made him so angry, pushing him to my sister.
I shouldn’t listen to Justin. That jerk says whatever pops into his head. I don’t know what his issue is with Ivan. Yes, I loved Ivan, but I’ve let him go. So why does Justin keep insisting that I’m still pining over him? I never ntion Ivan. It’s Justin who keeps bringing him up with his sarcastic remarks. I just can’t understand his temper when it cos to Ivan.
She wiped away her tears and made sure there were no traces left, not wanting anyone outside to notice. Taking a deep breath, she forced a smile and headed to the kitchen to focus on what to cook for everyone. After placing an order through her phone for so necessary things, she prepared so juice and snacks for the three elders and got to work in the kitchen.
Julia, unable to stay away, followed Natalie under the pretence of helping, but her true motive was sothing else. If it weren’t for Justin’s insistence, Julia would have told Natalie the truth—that she was her granddaughter—and taken her ho right then and there.
’Alright, this is a chance for to know what kind of a man my granddaughter is married to. If he is not good enough, I will ask Justin to make that man disappear from her life.’
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