Chapter CHAPTER 37

He finally steps down from the stairs and we are face to face. I look away, closing my eyes as soon as I
see his red watery eyes. Next thing, I'm being dragged by him up the stairs. I don't utter a word. He
flings me into what I suppose is his room rather violently. I want to scream at him, and remind him that
I'm carrying his child in my womb, but I ignore. "I can explain." is the first thing I'm able to say.

He begins to shake, as he points his finger at me. "How many times did it happen?" I try moving closer
to him, but he barks at me, almost making me tremble. "If you woul—he interposes, "Shut up!" He
continues, "You are so loose, Natalie. You. . . are. . .no less than a prostitute." He says, leaving me
stunned and heartbroken.

"Lu. . . Lucas." I whisper, unable to control the tears rolling down my eyes. I gasp as he begins to throw
things around. "I know it was wrong, I know I should've told you the very first time I saw him around us,
but— He begins to yell, "But what? You were too busy making a fool of me? Reuniting with your
boyfriend behind my back?! Under my roof, Natalie?"

I nod profusely, "No, no, nothing ever happened, Luke, I swear! I always told him to leave, believe me, I
did, but-

"Shut it!" He yells. I kneel on the floor, and I begin to sob. This was what I feared from the beginning.
The worst was happening now, and although I knew things weren't going to end well, a greater part of
me still wanted to believe that Luke and I could still settle things. I look at him once more, and my heart
shatters into pieces as I realize that he's crying too.

"Was it all a lie? I wondered why you were so quick to fall in love with me, I thought it was strange but I
chose to believe you, Natalie!" He says as he punches the door.

"Nothing was a lie, everything I said from after I got discharged from the hospital was nothing but the
truth!"



"Bastard. That's what you are." He says, but I ignore and I continue, hoping he sees reason with me. "I
need you to believe me, just one last time, Luke." I sob, my palms folded. "Please. . ." I beg.

"Nothing you say, would ever make me believe you, Natalie. You're just as terrible as your mother is.
No, you're worse than she is."

"I'm nothing like her, I was never after your money!" I say, as I get up, still sobbing.

"You let yourself be sold for money. You had a choice, and you agreed to it! Do you know how mad that
makes me?"

"If I'm a bad person for accepting, then you're just as bad as I am because you brought that dirty deal
up in the first place!" I say, as I wipe my tears away. "I agreed to that disgusting deal you made with my
mother just so my father wouldn't die!" I say, moving closer to him. "You are the evil one here, for taking
advantage of a helpless girl for your own sick benefit."

"That's why you decided to bring your lover into my house?!" He roars. "For revenge? Is that it?!"

"I didn't bring him and I swear, I didn't know anything. I stopped trying to contact him a long time ago. I
was just as surprised seeing him in the company and that's why I fainted!" I say, holding both his arms.
He jerks them off, and in the process, pushes me to the side.

"I have your child growing inside of me, why wou—

"My child?" He asks and I'm confused. He continues, "You must really think I'm a fool, huh, Natalie?
You expect me to believe that thing in your stomach is mine?" He asks, and hot uncontrollable tears
begin to roll down my face. I put my finger infront of my mouth, silently begging him to stay quiet or say
anything further. I didn't want our baby hearing his father reject him. I didn't want him saying things he'd
regret.



"I should have never trusted you from the beginning. You are a terrible woman, Natalie and I regret
ever knowing you." He says, tears still falling from his eyes.

I cry, "Luke, Luke, this is your baby. This is our baby, how can you? How can you reject him for my
mistake?"

"You had better pray I don't find that man, because if I do, I wouldn't be able to predict what I'll do to
him."

"Since I married you, no other man, has touched me, I swear, Luke. Nobody!"

"No!" He barks at me again, and I flinch. He continues, "You're a liar, so I could never believe a word
that comes out of that filthy mouth of yours!"

"If I didn't let anyone touch me, how did I get pregnant then?!" I yell. "You're the only one that I've had
sex with the past couple of months and we tend to do a lot of that, Luke. You can't reject this baby,
because it's yours!"

"You always wanted to run away. You always wanted to leave the manor. You're free to do so, now."

I caress my stomach as I stare in shock. "What do you mean? I don't want to leave. My place is here,
with you."

"One hour. I give you one hour to leave the manor. After an hour if you're still here, I'll have security
throw you out. Save yourself the embarrassment." He says, and I stand there, numb and confused,
trying to process all I'd just heard from Luke. He leaves the room and slams the door behind him.

***



"Try to calm him down, aunt. Please, just go to him and try to talk to him." I beg aunt Ruth. I was
desperate at this point. I'd never seen Luke cry. His tears made me feel awful and I knew that I'd totally
messed things up.

"I still can't believe he asked you to leave, Natalie. Oh, God. This is bad."

"Not only did he ask me to leave, he rejected his child too."

"What do we do now? We can't even let your parents, especially your father, find out about this." I nod
at her, completely agreeing with her. I needed to let Luke calm down and try to talk to him again. I had
to convince him of my innocence one way or the other.

"Calm down, Natalie. Let's think of a solution for this problem." Lydia says, trying to calm me down as I
pace around my bedroom. Aunt had gone to try talking to Luke and it'd been over ten minutes since
she left. Those ten minutes felt like eternity.

"I wonder what's going on, it's too quiet." I say, as I massage my temples, still pacing around the room.
"What should I do, Lydia?"

Lydia gets up, "Look, I don't know if you've forgotten but you're responsible for one more life. There's a
child growing inside of you, and this," She gestures to me, "Isn't going to do you any good. It could
harm the baby, so calm down."

I begin to sob again, "A baby? A baby that's innocent and knows nothing of this world that has been
rejected by his father while still in my womb?" I wipe my tears. "Luke took it too far by rejecting his
child!" I yell as I sit by the edge of the bed, my face buried in my hands. The door opens and I jump to
my feet as fast as I can. "What did he say?" I ask. I can see disappointment plastered on her face, but I
ignore it, wishing whatever she had to say wouldn't be as disappointing as the look on her face.

"Oh, aunt! Speak, please!"



"I couldn't talk to him, forgive me, darling. He didn't even let me talk, he completely refused to listen to
what I had to say and he told me to leave his house." I close my eyes in defeat. What could I possibly
do?

"Try talking to him again, Natalie. Remind him of the love he promised you. Remind him of your touch,
Natalie. You're a woman. Use that to your advantage now." Lydia says. It's a brilliant idea, and I can't
help but thank God for Lydia's advice.


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