FRACTURED HEART: RETURNED BY FATE

NATALIE POV I should have known it would come to this the moment Ethan asked me out on a picnic – something he had never done before. I failed to notice the conspiracy hidden beneath his invitation. But even if i had, i would still have gone. That was how much he meant to me. How deeply i loved him. At first, i thought he knew about the good news i wanted to share and had decided to give us a chance. That moment shattered the lie i had clung to for far too long.I had never been the one he loved –only a shield ,protecting his true love and partner. “ I'm pregnant with your child.” My voice trembled as tears streamed down my face. This wasn't how i planned to disclose the news–not like this, not with a gun aimed at my life. But I did anyway. To protect the innocent life inside me. To protect our child …or so i believed. Until his cold words crushed the final hope i had foolishly held onto. “ Tch!” Ethan eyes were icy as he looked at me, devoid of even a trace of warmth. “ You think i'd father a child with you?” He scoffed. “ You're not fit, neither are you worthy of bearing my child.” “ You… What do you mean?” I asked, my voice quivered as disbelief crashed over me. “ Oh!” His voice was calm, far too calm that made me uneasy. “ That day you thought you were sharing those body fluids with me… but you're mistaken. You were nothing but a bait used to lure the enemy out.” “ Actually, Natalie…” Annabelle Ling's hesitant voice could be heard behind Ethan. Coming to stand in Ethan's presence, as if protecting him from me. Her face seductive with a phoenix eye. Her cheeks flushed as she avoided my gaze as if guilty. “ Ethan was with me that day.” “ No… no, this can't be true…” My head shook in denial, tears blurring my vision. “ Please – please tell me this isn't true, Ethan.” Why me? What had i done wrong to deserve this cruelty? A sharp pain seared through my womb, as if the life growing inside me shared in my suffering. Now it all made sense. The way my comrades had looked at me – eyes full of disgust, as if I were something dirty and tainted. They way they avoided me, refusing even a word , as though i carried a disease. They were united, working together… to destroy me. “ I'm so sorry, Natalie… For using you as my shield all this while. I never knew that Ethan had assigned you for my sake to protect me in moments like this. Your kindness… it hasn't gone unnoticed.” Annabelle's lips curled into a faint, mocking smug smile. There it goes again, her fake attitude of caring for me. Always talking as if I owed her my life. Why can't they see the fakeness in her. Why can't Ethan see that her love was with motives, It was literally showing on her face. But now I understood… Love indeed was blind. She had them wrapped around her fingers. “ Please… help us one last time.” Her hands shook slightly as she spoke, eyes gleaming with a mixture of mischief and faux remorse. With a false show of going down on her knees, she bowed as if in obedience.