Chapter 17: Bitter Words And Broken Heart

Jay turned to her, his face hard. "Though I hated your mother, I tried to be good to you because you’re my daughter. I was wrong. You’re just like her. You don’t deserve to be loved. You don’t deserve to be part of this family. Leave while I’m still being nice."

Natalie swallowed the pain that his words inflicted. "I will leave once I know what happened to Grandpa."

"He’s dying because of you. I already told you. Now leave," Sephina repeated angrily. "Jay, I don’t want to see her."

"I’ll leave once I see Grandpa," Natalie insisted, her voice firm despite the turmoil inside her.

Jay, his anger boiling over, stormed toward her.

Slap!

"Didn’t you hear what your grandma said?" Jay shouted at her. "Or would you rather see her lying in a hospital bed too?"

Natalie felt her heart shatter into a thousand pieces. It was the first time her father had raised his hand at her.

Though he didn’t show her any fatherly love, he didn’t treat her badly either. But he did watch silently when others in the family hurt her. The tears she was holding back since Sephina slapped her, threatened to roll down her eyes, but she held back. She looked at her father with teary eyes, but her gaze showed stubbornness and defiance.

"Are you done?" she asked, her voice trembling but resolute. "Now tell me where Grandpa is."

Jay clenched his fists, infuriated by her stubbornness.

Just then, a nurse entered the room, ignoring the tense atmosphere. "Mr. Ford is out of danger now," she informed them. "He’ll be brought back to the room shortly. There’s no need for all of you to stay here, as it could disturb the patient. Only one person is allowed to stay."

"I’ll stay with my father," Jay responded quickly. "Can the others at least see him before leaving?"

"Yes, but please don’t stay too long," the nurse replied before exiting the room.

As soon as the nurse left, Natalie hurried after her, knowing she wouldn’t get any answers from her family. "Nurse, what exactly happened to my grandpa?"

"He seemed to be shocked by something, which isn’t good for his current heart condition. Your sister was there before his situation worsened. You might want to ask her what happened. Thankfully, we were able to stabilize him without needing another heart surgery," the nurse explained before moving on with her duties.

Natalie’s mind raced. ’

His weak condition didn’t allow him to leave the hospital and attend her wedding. Briena must have been the one who caused his distress by telling him everything. Her fists clenched tightly in anger towards her sister.

Just then, Albert Ford was wheeled toward his room on a stretcher bed. Natalie rushed to his side. "Grandpa," she whispered, her voice thick with emotion.

Just as they reached the door, her step mother Clara stopped Natalie, "Didn’t you hear mother tell you to leave."

Clara’s tone was cold and dismissive.

Natalie gritted her teeth at this nuisance of a woman. "Stay out of my way."

Jay, overhearing the exchange, approached them. "Don’t cause a scene here if you don’t want to worsen your grandfather’s condition. Your presence will only hurt him when he wakes up and sees you. What are you going to tell him about your secret marriage, huh? Leave now before I call security and have you thrown out."

"I just want to see if he’s okay," Natalie pleaded, her voice cracking with desperation.

Despite the harshness of her family, she couldn’t bear the thought of leaving without making sure her grandfather was alright.

"You’ve seen him. Now leave and don’t show up here unless you’re asked to," Jay commanded, his tone final.

From the door Natalie watched as the hospital staff put the frail old man on the bed and Sephina sat by his side. Before she could take a better look, Jay had closed the door on her face.

Feeling helpless against her family’s coldness, Natalie turned to leave, hoping to visit her grandfather later and explain everything to him. She believed he would trust her.

As she walked down the silent hospital corridor, a familiar voice called out, "Natalie."

She stopped and turned to see her step-sister, Briena—the very person responsible for their grandfather’s current condition—approaching her.

Briena’s voice dripped with fake concern as she held out an ice pack. "I brought this for you. Your cheeks must hurt badly after being slapped twice." Her face was painted with insincere worry, a mask Natalie knew all too well. "As your sister, I can at least rub salt... oops, I mean rub ice on your wounds."

Seeing Briena’s lack of remorse, Natalie’s anger flared. She clenched her fists as she confronted her. "Why did you tell Grandpa about the wedding when he’s in such a fragile state?"

"Why?" Briena chuckled, her lips curved into a mocking smirk. "Because this is exactly how I wanted to see you. Consider it my revenge for what you did to me last time. If you keep this up, don’t blame me for being more ruthless."

"But he’s our grandfather! He could have died," Natalie shot back, her voice trembling with a mix of anger and desperation.

"He won’t," Briena replied, her tone dismissive. "That old man is too tenacious to let go of life, even after all those heart surgeries."

Slap!

The sound echoed through the corridor, but this time it was Briena’s cheek that bore the brunt of the heavy blow, so powerful that Briena’s head snapped to the side with a searing pain that made her think her jaw might be dislocated.

Briena was too stunned to react. She had never seen this level of defiance from Natalie, who had always been the one to endure silently. The slap was more than just a physical blow; it was a refusal to be victimized any longer.

"Briena?" A familiar voice of a man broke the heavy silence between the two angry sisters.

Understanding the situation, Briena immediately pulled out a crying face with heavy tears rolling down her eyes, and turned to Ivan who had just approached them.

"What’s going on here?" he asked, knowing Natalie had just slapped his fiancee.