Chapter 8
It had been eight months since I last saw Zayn.
Natalie gave birth to a baby boy in our hospital, but Zayn filed for divorce before she was even discharged.
That day, the obstetrics department happened to call me in for a
consultation. After it ended, I passed by Natalie’s ward and overheard a heated conversation.
“Natalie, just sign the divorce papers now, or things will get ugly,” Zayn said coldly.
Natalie was crying uncontrollably. “Zayn, I gave you a son. I’ve done something for this family. How could you treat me like this?
“You can divorce me. But I deserve 25% of the Lloyd Group’s shares, just
like Eleanor.
“If not, you’ll never see your son again.”
Zayn said disdainfully, “My son? Natalie, look at this paternity test. Tell me–what part says he’s mine?
“You even auctioned off your virginity, huh? Many men were with you. before me. You even had surgeries to pretend you were a virgin. And your still dared to trick me into loving you?
“You murdered my real child and ruined my marriage with Eleanor. And now you want shares? You’re already lucky that I’m not taking you to court for fraud!”
Natalie stared at him in shock, fear growing in her eyes.
Chapter
“What are you talking about? How is he not your child?
“The doctor must’ve made a mistake. Zayn, let’s do another test.”
Zayn’s voice rose. “Even if you test 100 times, the result won’t change. He’s not mine! You’re never staying in the Lloyd family!”
Natalie’s tone was almost desperate, her words jumbled and hard to
follow.
“After we got together, I was only with another man once. We’ve been together so many times–how could the child not be yours?”
After a long while, she seemed to have made a difficult choice.
“If you don’t want the baby, I don’t either. I’ll give him away. You can throw him out if you want.
“Just don’t leave me.”
Zayn opened the door, his expression full of disgust as he pulled away.
Still, Natalie ran after him, her voice strained and rough. “Zayn, I didn’t want any of this to happen.
“After my family went broke, my dad handed me over to his creditors. I was also a victim.
“Yes, I’ve been with others, but you’re the only one I truly loved.”
Zayn scoffed with an ugly smile.
“Now I get why Eleanor was so firm back then. Hearing love from someone so dirty is sickening.”
Natalie laughed crazily.
“I’m your wife now! I worked so hard to climb to the top! Where did I
mess up?
“I thought I hid it perfectly. How did you find out?”
Zayn smirked. “Hide it? Did you know Eleanor works at this hospital? She’s the one who did your surgery.
“You were dumb enough to provoke her. Everything you did, even using me, became a joke to her.”
Natalie laughed wildly again. After a moment, her voice turned calm, as if she had come to terms with everything. “I’ll agree to the divorce, but at least wait until I’m discharged.”
Zayn didn’t argue. He turned and walked away, only to notice me standing at the doorway.
“I divorced her, Eleanor,” he said.
I gave a quiet nod.
Seeing my bland response, he adjusted his sleeves awkwardly.
‘Anyway, thanks for telling me the truth.”
I smiled slightly. “No problem. You deserved to know.”
That afternoon, I headed across the street for lunch. A car in the distance sped up out of nowhere. I didn’t have time to react. Just then, Zayn rushed over and pushed me aside–he was struck instead.
An ambulance arrived quickly and took him away. Natalie, who had been behind the wheel, was arrested by the police on charges of attempted murder.
I handed my lawyer a video from an earlier incident where Natalie had almost run me over. That evidence made her intentions clear. The court found her guilty of trying to kill me. She was sentenced to jail.
Zayn pulled through, but the accident left him unable to have children.
I remembered what he once said.
“I shouldn’t touch any woman–or I’ll lose everything and never have
kids.”
It was as if fate had answered.
Cecilia later asked if we should release Zayn’s story to the press.
I refused and bought the rights to the news myself. I saw it as a way to repay him for saving me.
Eventually, I sold all my shares in Lloyd Group and gave away most of my wealth to support kids who couldn’t go to school.
A little girl looked at me and asked, “Eleanor, why are you so nice?”
I gave her a soft smile. “Maybe I’ve just witnessed too many bad people. get what they deserve.”
She tilted her head, puzzled. “I want to be nice like you when I grow up.”
I glanced down at a message on my phone–it was my promotion notice. I had earned the associate senior title with top scores.
I gently tapped her forehead. “Just stay kind. Life will reward you.”
Far away, the sun was rising. A new chapter in my life was just about to begin.
