Billionaire's Broken Trust

Chapter 1

Natalie's POV:

I watched my husband, Franklin Howard, laugh so hard with my elder sister in the living room.

What pained me most was seeing how well he got along with her.

Franklin had never laughed like this with me before, yet here he sat, laughing loudly with my elder sister in the living room.

Amelia Jackson was my elder sister. We shared the same father but had different mothers.

My mother had been a mistress to my father, and because I was the unwanted child, my family never liked me.

I had three older brothers—James, Asher, and Felix—who all doted on Amelia.

Amelia and I were the same age, but she was only a month older than me, which made her my elder sister.

We both had fair complexions, but while she stood tall, I remained short and chubby.

Franklin was a billionaire in this part of the city where we lived, and he never liked me, his own wife.

Our marriage stemmed from a mistake—a mistake I never should not have accepted.

Let me take you back three years. My father and Franklin's father were best friends. During a business party at our home, my father invited many tycoons.

One thing led to another, and Franklin and I ended up caught in my room.

I knew Amelia had set us up, but no one believed me. Even Franklin refused to believe me. He accused me of drugging him and luring him to my room so he would sleep with me.

They forced us to become a couple to hide the embarrassment, as Franklin's family felt deeply disappointed. Everyone knew I was my father's illegitimate daughter, and they wondered why he had kept me around instead of kicking me out and letting Amelia marry Franklin.

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

Many invitees had brought their adult children, but none of them approached me.

I was already twenty-two years old then—naive—and Franklin and I got caught in a compromising position on the bed. We married while Amelia wept, insisting Franklin was supposed to be her husband.

Franklin never liked 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 and marry her.

How shameless of a sister to pursue her younger sister's husband?

Amelia was so shameless. Franklin was five years older than me, and as I turned twenty-five now, he was thirty.

I watched Franklin in his white singlet, which revealed his masculine abs—he loved to gym. He had a fair complexion, more handsome than any other man I had seen. His skin glittered like the sun, and I saw the way Amelia drooled over him.

Franklin stood very tall. His arms bulged bigger, and his thighs matched. I did not even reach his chest—to be honest, I'm a shorty. Although, I had an hourglass shape.

Franklin never found me attractive in any way.

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

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

We had no maid at home. Franklin had mandated that I could not go to work without any meaningful certificate.

As the illegitimate child of my parents, I never pursued further education. My stepmother forced me to learn tailoring while Amelia attended university and became a certified accountant.

Franklin did not even allow me to sew. He called it a useless profession, like becoming a fashion designer. He labeled me ugly and said I lacked fashion sense.

Franklin refused to take me out to hang out with his friends. He never gave me money for upkeep.

I only managed to get money for myself when he handed me cash to restock the house with foodstuffs. Only then did I skim some to save for my personal use.

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

This was my matrimonial home, and Franklin only called me "Natalie!"

In short, he shouted my name with so much rage, as if he never wanted to see me.

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

I had 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'm talking to you!" Franklin shouted at me again.

"Hmm, no food for you both," I replied and covered the food I had already served.

First, I had not invited Amelia to my home. Neither would I serve her any food. She should get out and return to our father's house to find her own husband to call pet names with.

Franklin immediately rose from the couch and dashed over to meet me.

"Where are you taking the tray of food? Have you lost your mind?" Franklin slapped me as he approached, then snatched the tray from my hand.

I glared at him irritably, while Amelia smiled and rolled her eyes—I knew her target. She wanted to steal my husband.

Amelia had sent me a text message the previous month, telling me she was coming back to claim everything I had stolen from her, including my husband.

"Franklin, you slapped me because of what? I cooked this food, and you cannot eat it."

"Why? Did I not give you the money you used to prepare the meal? Did you work for the money? Move away and get me a bowl of water to wash my hands. Do not think I will apologize for the slap. Come, Amy—do not mind your sister. That's how silly she behaves." Franklin called out for Amelia, and I watched as she stood up seductively from the couch in her brown dress that made her look like a model. The brown dress 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 was not supposed to feel jealous. But Franklin had never served me any food before, not to mention the one I cooked myself.

Franklin also noticed I had not brought a bowl of water, so he went to the kitchen himself and fetched one for Amelia to wash her hands.

He sat across from Amelia, and she blushed, not bothering to ask me to join them in eating.

"Franklin!" I shouted and walked toward the plate of soup I had served for myself—that was the portion Franklin had intended for 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." Franklin stood up from the dining table, and I hated it whenever I slaved over cooking only for my husband to leave our matrimonial home to eat.

"Franklin!" I tried to stop him, but he warned me.

"Stay away from me, Natalie. Just go and eat your food since you do not want your sister and me to eat it. Who knows if you poisoned it?"

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

Yes, Franklin and I had separate bedrooms. I looked back at Amelia and shouted at her, "You shameless slut—aren't you ashamed to date your sister's husband? As beautiful as you are, you cannot use your beauty to find your own husband!" I cussed at Amelia, and she hissed.

"Get out of my house!" I raged, remembering how Amelia and her brothers never liked me. They had mostly maltreated me, and while I thought marriage would bring me my own happiness and family, this very same family that rejected my happiness refused to let me be.

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