Married To My Billionaire Stepbrother - Chapter 71

Chapter 71: He Never Loved You

Natalie immediately returned to the bedroom and called Justin.

“Hmm?” came his reply.

“What are you going to do now? How are you planning to get your grandma out of here without meeting my grandpa? Your grandmother is really something.” She blurted out in panic.

She heard Justin sigh on the other end before he spoke. “I’ll come by later, after dinner is over, but I won’t come upstairs. Make sure your grandpa takes his medicine right after the meal, so he would feel drowsy and won’t come downstairs to see my grandmother off.”

“That’s actually a good idea. You do have some brains after all.”

“Not everyone is like you,” he shot back.

She frowned. “Don’t go thinking you’re too smart.”

“I’m at least not dumped by a loser and still pining over him.”

“Dumped? I was not dumped, alright? And I’m not—”

“Yeah, sure,” he interrupted. “He announced his engagement to your sister right in front of you without even trying to find out what really happened. Even if he was angry, any man in his place would have first tried to figure out who you supposedly cheated on him with. He’d have taken his time before deciding on revenge by marrying your sister. But…” Justin paused, his tone growing sharper, “what he did on your wedding day shows he was just looking for an excuse to dump you, and he took the first chance he got. He never loved you.”

“Stop it!” she exclaimed angrily, her voice trembling with anger. “You don’t know anything about him, so just shut your mouth!”

She angrily hung up the call and sat on the bed, tears welling in her eyes. Feeling overwhelmed, she opened her long-inactive social media account under the name “Sunshine,” which she hadn’t touched since returning home from Xyros.

Back then, she used it to chat with Ivan from Xyros city, but once she was home, there was no need to message him anymore—they were together.

On her first day in the unfamiliar city of Xyros, she had received a message from an account named “Little Star.” The name tugged at her heart, as it was what her mother used to call her when she was younger. In return, she always called her mother “Sunshine,” which is why Natalie had chosen that as her own account name.

The moment she received the message from “Little Star,” she knew it had to be Ivan. He was the only person, aside from her mother, who knew about that nickname. Unable to contact Ivan by phone, as he wasn’t allowed to speak with her after she was sent to Xyros, Natalie clung to the belief that this message was from him. She had no one but Ivan and her friend Mia to rely on back then.

Her fingers trembling, she scrolled through their old messages.

Sunshine: You’re Ivan, right? I knew you’d miss me and find a way to message me. Did you make this new account to hide from your parents?

Little Star: How are you, Natalie?

Sunshine: Natalie? You call me Nat. Are you not Ivan?

Little Star: How are you, Nat?

Sunshine: It’s really you, Ivan. I can’t tell you how happy I am that you messaged me. It’s so lonely and scary here. I wish I could come home.

Little Star: You’re strong. You’ll get through it, Nat.

Sunshine: Do you miss me?

Little Star: Yes.

Sunshine: I miss you too. Wait for me, I’ll be home soon.

Little Star: Take care.

Sunshine: Wait, will you message me again? Please do, or I’ll feel lonely and cry.

Little Star: I’ll message you. You can reach out whenever you feel lonely. I’m always here for you.

Natalie continued to read more and more these messages and how Ivan was her only hope back then. Tears rolled down her eyes as she sobbed lightly.

Why did Ivan change so much? Natalie wondered, her thoughts swirling. He was always so good to me when we used to chat. He cared for me, trusted me, even when we were apart. But why did he feel like a different person when I returned to him? Is talking through messages really that different from meeting in person? The care, the warmth I felt in his messages—I never felt that from him when we were together.

What went wrong? Or was I the one who deluded myself, thinking those few messages meant he truly cared for me? That he loved me?

If he didn’t love me, why would he agree to marry me? No one forced him. His parents weren’t even happy about us being together. That must mean he loved me, right? Or why else would he go against his parents? Maybe it was the betrayal—my marriage to someone else—that made him so angry, pushing him to my sister.

I shouldn’t listen to Justin. That jerk says whatever pops into his head. I don’t know what his issue is with Ivan. Yes, I loved Ivan, but I’ve let him go. So why does Justin keep insisting that I’m still pining over him? I never mention Ivan. It’s Justin who keeps bringing him up with his sarcastic remarks. I just can’t understand his temper when it comes to Ivan.

She wiped away her tears and made sure there were no traces left, not wanting anyone outside to notice. Taking a deep breath, she forced a smile and headed to the kitchen to focus on what to cook for everyone. After placing an order through her phone for some necessary things, she prepared some juice and snacks for the three elders and got to work in the kitchen.

Julia, unable to stay away, followed Natalie under the pretence of helping, but her true motive was something else. If it weren’t for Justin’s insistence, Julia would have told Natalie the truth—that she was her granddaughter—and taken her home right then and there.

‘Alright, this is a chance for me to know what kind of a man my granddaughter is married to. If he is not good enough, I will ask Justin to make that man disappear from her life.’