Chapter four

Natalie woke up to sharp, uncomfortable pain.

It cut through her body in slow waves, settling deep in her abdomen, radiating outward until even breathing felt like work. Her eyelids fluttered, heavy, uncooperative. When she finally managed to open them, the white lights overhead stabbed at her vision, forcing a soft groan from her throat.

The room swam in her vision.

She blinked several times, tears gathering automatically as her eyes struggled to adjust. Gradually, shapes began to form. The outlines of machines. A chair.. A familiar figure slumped beside the bed.

Parker.

He sat close to her, head tilted awkwardly to the side, arms crossed tightly over his chest. His breathing was shallow but steady. He had fallen asleep there, clearly exhausted.

Natalie tried to shift, attempting to sit up, but pain flared instantly and forced her back down. She stilled, biting back a sound, not wanting to wake him.

He had been through enough today.

He had been by her side the entire time. If not for Parker, she knew she would have completely fallen apart. He had been there when her world collapsed, when her body failed her, when Jake had turned his back without hesitation.

She exhaled slowly.

Parker and Jake were brothers, yet they could not have been more different. The youngest carried the weight of responsibility with quiet strength, while the eldest behaved like a spoiled child with power he did not deserve.

Jake.

Her jaw tightened slightly.

She was going to make him pay.

She was going to take back everything she had given him.

For six years of marriage, she had been everything to him and nothing for herself. She had been a mother to his child, a therapist for him to unload his frustrations on, a maid tending to his needs without complaint, an attendant at his constant beck and call, and a body he used whenever he wanted without care or consideration.

He had never truly seen her.

He had never asked how she was doing. Never asked what she wanted. Never once paused to consider her health, her exhaustion, or the toll his demands took on her already weak body.

When he had asked her to quit her career, she had refused at first. She had pushed back. She had told him she loved her work and did not want to give it up.

He had made her do it anyway.

A week later, she found out she was pregnant with Skylar.

At the time, she had believed it was fate. A blessing. Something good that came out of compromise.

A year later, she overheard his phone conversation with his best friend.

He had gotten her pregnant on purpose.

The memory burned and she wanted to scream.

“You’re awake.”

Parker’s voice pulled her from her thoughts. He sat up immediately, eyes scanning her face with concern.

Her throat felt dry as sand. “W-What did the doctor say?” she asked quietly. “How’s my baby?”

Even as the question left her lips, she felt it. The strange emptiness inside her. The hollow, churning ache that did not feel like pain alone, but absence.

Parker hesitated…He sighed after a few seconds, his shoulders slumping.

“I’m sorry,” he said, voice heavy. “We tried. We really tried.”

Natalie smiled..It was not a sad smile. Not a smile of defeat. It was calm, almost serene, and completely at odds with the way her heart shattered all over again.

She nodded slowly, as if she had just been told something ordinary.

“I see,” she said softly.

Parker watched her closely, unsettled.

“Can you go find Jake for me?” Natalie asked.

Parker froze.

A strange feeling settled in his chest, something close to fear. He searched her face, the faint smile still lingering there, and it unnerved him.

Was this a distraction? Was she trying to send him away so she could hurt herself?

That smile was wrong. Someone who had just lost so much was not supposed to look like that.

“Nat…” he started.

“Please,” she said calmly.

After a long moment, Parker nodded. “I’ll be back.”

He stood and left the room, glancing back once before pulling the door closed.

The moment she was alone, Natalie exhaled shakily.

Her hands moved slowly, carefully, as she reached toward the table beside her bed. Her phone lay there, screen dark. She picked it up, fingers trembling.

Her heart began to pound.

She unlocked the phone and went straight to her call logs, scrolling through the names, blinking back tears as her vision blurred again.

Please. She silently prayed as she searched. She needed this person.

Knowing Jake, she knew he would not let her go easily. He would do anything to keep her under his control. The Campbells were powerful and dangerous. One of the most influential families in the country. Jake was the heir. The eldest son, the one everyone bowed to.

And Jake was not just controlling. He was a maniac.

Only she had ever seen that side of him. The calculated cruelty behind closed doors. The quiet threats masked as concern. The way he tightened his grip every time she tried to assert herself.

She had done so much to help him rise in the business world. She had introduced him to people. Smoothed deals. Given up opportunities so he could shine. He would never let her leave willingly.

Her thumb stilled.

There it was. The number.

The last contact had been a year ago.

Her breath hitched.

She stared at it for a long moment, fear and resolve battling inside her. This was dangerous. Reckless, even.

But it was also her last resort.

She tapped the number and lifted the phone to her ear, silently praying the owner had not changed it.

It rang once and then on the second ring..

“Hello?”

She did not waste time. “Does the offer you made me a year ago still stand?”

There was a brief pause.

“It does,” the voice replied.

“I’ll meet you tomorrow,” Natalie said. “Noon.”

“Agreed.”

The line went dead.

Natalie lowered the phone slowly. Her hands shook violently now, her breath uneven.

This was it. There was no turning back.

The door suddenly opened.

Natalie startled so badly that the phone slipped from her hand and fell onto the bed.

She looked up and her parents stood there.

The same parents she had not seen in six years.

Jake had never allowed it. He had said they were poor. That they would only bother them for money and favors. That they would embarrass him.

None of it had been true.

Her mother stood frozen in the doorway, both hands covering her mouth, tears spilling freely.

“My precious child,” she cried.

She rushed forward, wrapping Natalie in her arms.

Natalie broke down.  Short, broken sobs tore from her chest as she clung to her mother, the weight of everything finally crashing down on her.

Her father walked in more slowly.

He said nothing.

The Alpha head of the Halleyways stood tall and imposing, his walking stick firm in his hand, eyes sharp and assessing. A dangerous man. A powerful man. A man Jake Campbell should have never underestimated.

He watched them quietly for a moment. Then he sighed.

“I’m sorry, Papa,” Natalie whispered.

He stepped closer. “Are you ready to let go of him now?”

Natalie lifted her head.

Her tears dried… Her face hardened.

“I’m not just ready to let go, Papa,” she said steadily. “I’m also going to take back everything I’ve given. I’ll let him feel what it’s like to fall from glory