Chapter five

“Are you sure you don’t want us to go in with you?” Mrs. Halleyways asked worriedly.

“It’s fine, Mom. I’ll be okay.” Natalie gently patted her mother’s hand. “There are some of mine and Skylar’s things I need to take.”

“Okay. We’ll be waiting outside,” her mother nodded.

Her father said nothing. He stood by the car, arms crossed.

Natalie turned and looked at the house she once called home..the house where she had once believed she would raise her children, pouring all her love and heart into it.

As she took a step toward the gate, the heaviness in her chest nearly made her turn back. But this..everything..needed to be settled once and for all.

The house was quiet when she stepped inside. She glanced around. No one was home. Of course. Jake was with his lover again.

She shook her head and climbed the stairs quickly.

When she reached their room..the room where she and Skylar used to sleep..she packed a few things hurriedly, throwing them into the bag she’d brought.

She had spent two more days in the hospital, and Jake hadn’t bothered to show up even once after taking her blood for his mistress.

“What are you doing?” his voice startled her.

He was leaning against the doorframe, arms folded across his chest, a frown etched on his face.

Natalie stared at him for a few seconds, then turned back to continue packing.

“I asked you a question,” Jake said as he stepped into the room.

“Where is Skylar?”

The question made Natalie freeze.

She turned slowly to face him.

He saw the disdain in her eyes. It was the first time since he’d known her..truly known her..that he saw something cold and feral there, like an ugly lion staring back at him.

“She doesn’t want to see you,” Natalie said. “You’ve never cared about her, so why start now?”

She shoved the last item into the bag and turned toward him.

He approached her slowly. “If you think playing this game for attention will work, try harder.”

He grabbed her jaw roughly.

“I want to see my daughter. Where is she, Natalie?” he demanded, noticing how bloodshot her eyes were.

“Get your hands off me.” She slapped his hand away.

“Trying so hard after crawling into my bed so many times?” he scoffed.

She rolled her eyes and handed him a set of papers. “Sign them.”

“What’s this?” he asked, flipping through them.

“Divorce papers.” She folded her arms across her chest.

“Stop this tantrum. You worked your ass off to make this marriage work. Why would you suddenly want a divorce?” He stepped closer and she backed away.

“Well, I’m done working my ass off to keep this nonsense fairytale afloat.”

Jake was taken aback by her tone.

These past few days, Natalie seemed like a completely different person.

“If this is another one of your…”

“Just sign the damn papers,” she cut in impatiently. “You have three days. Otherwise, I’ll see you in court.”

She walked past him, but he grabbed her arm and threw her back onto the bed.

“You want to walk away from me? You want to make me a spectacle in this city? Keep dreaming!” he yelled, pinning her down.

“What are you doing? Let me go!” Natalie struggled.

She couldn’t let him have his way. He was trying to repeat the same game..trying to get her pregnant again, knowing how fertile she was.

She had just lost two children. He had made her lose her baby and now he was trying to trap her again.

“Did your mistress reject you again?” she laughed mockingly.

The only time her so-called husband touched her was when Selena rejected him. He was the biggest asshole she had ever known. She wondered why she had ever fallen for him.

Oh, right. He had saved her from a fire that could have killed her when she was thirteen. He might not remember. He would certainly not care. But she had remembered. She had secretly followed him around for another seven years.

When his mother needed a kidney, she hadn’t hesitated. She gave one of hers against her parents’ wishes. Even marrying Jake had been against their wishes. That was why, for six years, they had turned their backs on her…because she refused to listen.

Especially her father, who had wanted her to marry another man.

“Don’t you dare mention her name,” Jake spat. “You’re not worthy.”

“Not worthy?” Natalie laughed hysterically. “To point out the affair between my scumbag husband and his pretentious mistress?”

Jake tore at her blouse…

His grip tightened as he leaned over her, his breath sharp with fury and entitlement. Natalie’s heart hammered against her ribs, not with fear alone, but with rage…hot, bitter, years of rage. She twisted beneath him, her palms pressing against his chest, pushing with everything she had left.

“Get off me,” she said through clenched teeth.

He didn’t listen. He never listened. That had always been his problem.

The door burst open.

The sound was violent, sudden enough to make Jake’s head snap toward it. Footsteps flooded the room…heavy, urgent and unmistakable.

“Natalie!”

Her mother’s voice cracked as she rushed forward, tears already spilling. Parker followed close behind, his face pale, his eyes widening at the sight before him. And behind them stood another man..tall, broad-shouldered, his presence commanding the room before he said a single word.

Jake barely had time to react before the man grabbed him by the collar and flung him against the wall.

The impact was brutal.

Jake groaned, stumbling as he hit the surface hard, the force knocking the air out of his lungs. Before he could recover, the man had already turned away from him, helping Natalie sit up.

She was shaking.

Without a word, the man shrugged off his coat and wrapped it around her shoulders, shielding her, grounding her. Natalie clutched the fabric instinctively, her fingers curling into it as though it were the only solid thing left in the room.

Jake pushed himself upright, breathing heavily, his eyes blazing with fury.

“Who the hell is that?” he snapped, pointing. “Who is he?”

The man straightened slowly, then turned back toward Jake. His gaze was cold, measured and dangerous.

He crossed the room in two strides and grabbed Jake again, this time lifting him just enough for their faces to align.

“Haven’t you done enough?” the man asked quietly.

Jake shoved at his hands. “Stay out of this. This is between me and my wife.”

He tried to reach past him, toward Natalie.

She flinched back instantly. “Don’t touch me,” she said, her voice low and final.

Jake didn’t hear her. He was too busy laughing.. a sharp, unhinged sound that filled the room.

“So that’s it,” he said, eyes darting between them. “That’s why you want a divorce. Because of him?”

He turned, snatched the papers from the bed and tore them in half. Then into quarters and let them fall like confetti to the floor.

“You think I’ll let you go?” he yelled. “You think you can humiliate me like this?”

He lunged forward. The punch came fast and Jake didn’t see it coming.

The man struck him square in the jaw, the force sending him crashing sideways into the dresser. A sharp crack echoed as Jake hit the edge and collapsed to the floor.

“Stop!” Parker shouted. “Stop this, Jake! Haven’t you hurt her enough?”

“Shut the fuck up!” Jake roared, scrambling to his feet.

His eyes locked on Natalie again, wild now, spiraling. “You’re never leaving me,” he said. “You hear me? Never. You’re nothing without me. An orphan who can’t survive on her own.”

Natalie’s father laughed. It was a short, humorless sound.

“Who did you just call an orphan?” he asked calmly and Jake froze.

Her father stepped forward, leaning on his walking stick, his presence suddenly filling the space like a storm waiting to break.

“As long as I’m alive,” he said evenly, “you will never touch a hair on my daughter’s head again.”

Jake stared at him, disbelief flickering across his face. He had never asked. Never cared to ask. He had assumed her silence meant they were no more..when she had stopped begging for them to come visit. He had treated it irrelevantly.

He took another step toward Natalie anyway.

Parker moved instantly, blocking him. “Enough! You’re acting like a maniac. Like a fool. Skylar is dead!”

Jake’s laugh returned, hollow and cruel. “You think this little drama scares me?” he sneered. “Skylar isn’t dead. This is another scheme. Another lie to force my hand.”

Natalie stepped forward, quiet and still.

Her eyes met his without flinching.

“She’s gone,” she said softly. “Sign the papers. Or we’ll meet in court. And I promise you…I will make you pay.”

For a moment, the room was silent.

Then she turned and walked out and they followed.

Outside, the air felt colder and sharper. Parker pulled Natalie into a tight embrace at the gate.

“You’ll always be my favorite sister-in-law,” he said hoarsely. “Thank you… for everything. I wish it didn’t end like this.”

Natalie hugged him back, briefly.

The other man opened the car door for her. She slid inside without looking back.

Parker shook his hand as her parents got into their own vehicle and started the engines. The house behind them loomed…empty and finally powerless.

Inside the car, silence stretched between Natalie and the Man.

“Are you sure you don’t feel anything for him anymore?” the man asked calmly as he drove.

Natalie stared out the window, the city blurring past them. A sad smile touched her lips.

“Twice the fool?” she murmured.

He smirked slightly. “Should I invite him to our engagement party?”

She turned to him. “He hasn’t even signed the divorce papers yet.”

“I’ll make him sign them in front of the whole city,” he said coolly.

She exhaled. “That sounds… interesting.”

“I’ll help you drag Jake Campbell and his ego through the mud