RETURN OF THE FORGOTTEN BRIDE

ChapterEleven

LANA’s POV

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I had mixed feelings when I found out that the wedding would not hold and even though I had planted doubts in Richard’s heart, that was only a ploy to prevent my facade from being unleashed.

Natalya’s father was a ruthless man and rumors have had it that he killed his own wife. I was very sure that Natalya, who grew up with him, would follow in his footsteps. I didn’t want her daughter for my son but there was nothing I could do, I had more to lose. My dignity.

“What are you thinking about?” Natalie asked, breaking my thoughts and on looking back at her, she looked concerned.

I didn’t realize when she walked in.

“I’m so sorry, my mind is a bit occupied”, I apologized. “When did you arrive?”

“It’s understandable, especially judging from how everything has played out in the last few days and I just got here”, Natalie said, heaving a deep sigh.

I stared at Natalie feeling sorry for her and didn’t utter any word again. My eyes finally settled on her stomach and I felt my body ache for more knowledge.

I finally opened my mouth and asked “Are you really pregnant?”, I asked, as if hoping to hear that all was a lie.

She smiled and placed her hand on her stomach, rubbing it.

“Yes, my period was late and I was feeling nauseous so I decided to go to the clinic and get a pregnancy test which was positive”, Natalie reached for her bag and brought out a pregnancy strip, handing it over to me.

Glancing at the pregnancy strip, there were two lines, which signified pregnancy. With everything that happened in the past days, from Richard losing his memory to Natalya threatening to reveal my long-kept secrets to the whole world, I was happy that Natalie could still be in Richard’s life because of the baby in her womb even though he didn’t remember her.

“This is good”, I said, after staring at the strip for a moment.

“Is it really good?” Natalie asked, and I could tell that there was more to the question. Even though I knew what it was, I wanted her to mouth it.

“What do you mean?”, I asked.

“My fiancée and the father of my unborn baby doesn’t even remember me and he was almost getting married to another woman”, at this point, Natalie’s face had gotten red.

I reached out for her hands and patted them with my both hands, that was all I could do.

“I know how the love between you and Richard grew. I'm very sure that with perseverance and patience, we can get him to remember you. I would always be there for you at all times”, I assured.

“Thank you, Lena”, she mumbled.

She placed her head on my shoulder and I was glad that I was able to comfort her.

“By the way, that was cool”, I said.

“What was?”, she asked, lifting her head from my shoulder.

“Stopping the wedding with your pregnancy, that was the best comeback at Jenna and Natalya”, I was proud that at least, Richard had someone who was relentless by his side. Even when his own mother was being a coward, which I regret, by the way.

“I would be damned if they got married together, this baby is my only hope of getting back with him”, Natalie’s voice was hoarse, she patted her stomach as though to give her some emotional support.

That was the connection a mother would have with her unborn child, even though her stomach didn’t protrude, all there was to know was that there’s a baby in her stomach. Growing to be a mixture of my son and her.

“I must commend you, Natalie. You moved smartly and you needed to see the disappointment on both their faces”

“Thank you, Lena”

“You’re always welcome, baby girl. If Richard was in his right senses, he would never joke with you so I don’t have any reason to do so”, I said, hoping to make her feel better but instead, her eyes filled with tears and they poured down her cheeks effortlessly.

I couldn’t utter any more words and just watched her cry, maybe it was for the better. She had a lot of bottled up emotions and it was only right that she poured them out.

“Mom?” Richard's voice called out.

I looked up and he was walking towards our direction, not long after, Jenna appeared behind him. The devil herself, I hissed.

“Hey, sister. Why are you crying?”, she hurriedly rushed to Natalie’s side, who was shocked at her reaction.

She was nothing but a liar and this proved why I didn’t want her for my son.

“Could you excuse us for a moment? I need to speak with my son”, I asked.

“Okay, mother-in-law”, she smirked and this made me feel like throwing up, hearing her call me her mother-in-law made me feel nauseous.

She bent over to give me a hug while I was seated and whispered “Don’t try anything funny or else…” She didn’t complete the statement and went out.

If only I didn’t have any secrets. I sighed.

*****

NATALIE’s POV

Richard, who once only had eyes for me, kissed Jenna on her lips and watched her walk out of the room. Only then, did his gaze shift back to his mother then, at me.

I felt my heart crumble and break all over again, for a moment, I didn’t know if it was worth fighting for again at that point.

“You didn’t have to stoop so low as far as lying about me being responsible for your pregnancy, you know?”, his deep voice broke the silence.

“Richard, I wouldn’t dare lie about that. You are the first and last man I ever knew and allowed into me”, the words felt heavy, coupled with the fact that he didn’t want to believe what I was saying.

“Am I expected to believe that?” he asked, but this time, surprisingly, the question was directed at his mother, Lana.

“Richard, I think you should listen to her”, Lana said, unsure of what to say in response.

I brought out my phone and showed him more pictures and videos showing how close we were but it didn’t help anything as he got even more confused.

My heart wrecked yet again and I was about to let out the tears that were threatening to fall again.

“I don’t remember us being together but I can tell from the pictures that we were close and we might as well just have to wait till the baby is out to know if truly I’m the father”, he concluded and to be honest, this was a fair decision.

“Okay, that’s fine” I swallowed hard as I uttered these words. I was willing to wait if that would be enough for him to get his memory back.

“Mom, let’s go”, he said and Lana nodded.

She walked up to me and embraced me before finally leaving with Richard.

The door opened again and Amaya entered, we had an unspoken rule and she knew not to ask me any questions at that point.

“Are you set to go?”, she asked and I nodded.

We both went outside and realized it was already late; we tried to book a ride but all kept declining because of the weather change.

While we were contemplating on what to do, a huge van pulled up and masked men came out of the van very quickly.

Before we could even think of running, I was already apprehended by two of the men with my mouth covered.

Amaya had tried to fight back against these men, but she was thrown away like a piece of garbage. I groaned at the sight of Amaya lying on the floor unable to stand, I hated that there was nothing I could do to help her.

I was forcefully carried into the van and saw nothing but darkness!