Chapter 4 Severed Ties

The moment the livestream began, a large crowd flooded into the room. When they realized it was me, they bombarded the chat and called me a homewrecker.

Natalie pretended to be gracious. "Be nice, people. She's here to apologize."

All eyes turned to me. My lips curled into a cold smile.

"I'm Linda Gray, and I'm here to apologize. I should have quietly watched the real mistress, Natalie Shaw, steal my boyfriend of seven years. I should have let her twist the story and send the Internet after me without making a sound. I'm sorry for not taking it lying down!"

Jonathan quickly turned the livestream off, but it had hit the top search chart. 'Natalie Shaw, the homewrecker' had become the number one topic.

Jonathan laughed mirthlessly. "You'd better not regret this! Stop all payments to the sanatorium!"

I trembled. If the payments stopped now, my mother would die. Jonathan grabbed my hand and stuffed me into the car. "We're going to the hospital. You'll see how your mother pays for your actions!"

When we got to the hospital, I cried and begged Jonathan to spare my mother.

My tears nearly moved Jonathan, but he looked away. "You hurt Natalie this badly. You have to pay the price." A pause later, he said coldly, "Get on your knees and apologize to Natalie. I'll resume the payment when she forgives you, or else, prepare for the funeral."

I trembled and bit my lip so hard, I tasted blood. Natalie looked at me mockingly as I bent my knees and kneeled before her. "I'm sorry." I apologized again and again, numb and hollow, like a dog that had already lost every last bit of dignity.

Jonathan's expression softened slightly. Then he stepped out to take a call, leaving only Natalie behind.

The moment he was gone, Natalie's face twisted. "You tried to take him from me! You will pay!"

Before I could do anything, she rushed to my mother's bed and pulled off the IV tube and oxygen tube.

"No!" I struggled desperately to reach her, but the bodyguards pinned me down.

The machines began to alarm. My mother's condition worsened in front of me. Life began ebbing out of her, until it was no more, and her head went limp.

My mother was dead. I collapsed to the floor, shattered beyond words.

Natalie pulled her hair and ran out, then she bumped into Jonathan, who had come back. She started crying. "I just wanted to tuck her mother in, but Linda shoved me and said you were too good for me."

Jonathan's face fell. "Is your dignity worth more than your mother's life, Linda?"

I put on a sorrowful smile. "My mother? She killed my mother!"

Natalie immediately denied it, and Jonathan believed her without hesitation. He laughed mirthlessly. "You would even use your mother's death to lie your way out of this? You still refuse to apologize, don't you? Fine!"

He put an arm around Natalie and left. Half an hour later, the Mueller Group made an official announcement.

"Mr. Mueller's relationship is now public knowledge. His only girlfriend is Ms. Natalie Shaw. Ms. Linda Gray experienced trauma during her school years and has suffered from unstable judgment ever since. Her statements are false."

Then there was a video. A girl was standing in an office, and the hand of an old man was on her waist.

My mind buzzed. Back in high school, I was the infamous underprivileged student. One of the teachers knew I had no one to turn to even if he did anything, so he molested me in the office.

I said nothing back then, as no one would back me up. That incident left me traumatized until college, and I tried to take my own life multiple times. Jonathan was the one who saved me.

He held me tightly in his arms and comforted me again and again. "Don't let scum ruin your life. It's not your fault. I'll always stay with you."

That was my darkest past, and I had only told him. And now, to clear Natalie's name, he had torn open my deepest wound and shown it to the whole world.

The last bit of hope in me burned to ash. A sorrowful smile touched my lips. I tossed a lit lighter to the bed's curtains. As the flames turned into a wall, I opened the window and leaped.

From now on, there would never be another version of us.

Jonathan was on a shopping trip with Natalie when he saw black smoke curling from nearby. He had an ominous feeling about this, so he stopped a mall staff and asked him what was going on.

"Hospital's on fire. I heard someone died in the burning. It was the VIP ward too."