Back at the quiet farmhouse, Natalie had recovered from another intense headache.
Drenched in sweat, she headed towards the bathroom to take a bath. And she saw her reflection in the mirror, still graceful as usual.
She was already fifty years old, but she looked like she hadn’t aged a day since her thirties.
After a hot bath, Natalie felt more energized, and the memories that had faded began to come back to her little by little.
She couldn’t help thinking of Archer, especially her past with him, his handsome face, sweet gentleness, and his betrayal. It still hurt her every time she thought of it.
She was kept in the dark about Archer and Savannah’s relationship for so long until Savannah got pregnant and came to flaunt to her about it.
Naturally, Natalie was livid about it. Since then, she fought with Archer so many times, and every time she was promised that she was the love of his life. He also assured her that he would marry her, but in the end, he was the one to break his own promise.
The stillbirth later gave her another heartbreak. When she needed someone to care for her the most, Archer came running his mouth, calling her a heartless mother who murdered her own child.
Disappointed at him, Natalie didn’t bother to explain for herself.
But she knew the new Mrs. Howard, Savannah’s stepmother, must have something to do with the death of her child. After all, Savannah was very close with her.
That lady was so beautiful, but her actions suggested otherwise. She actually allowed her nanny to insult her, and told her bodyguard to hit her. So, consumed by hatred, Natalie went to confront the new lady of the Howard family.
However, Natalie couldn’t foresee the accident that would happen. Her confrontation ended with Mrs. Howard slipping on an unexplainable pool of oil on the floor, causing her to fall and start bleeding out.
So, when Mrs. Howard passed away in the hospital, the entire Howard family turned their fingers to Natalie. Hayden even swore to send Natalie to prison to avenge his wife.
Knowing that she was innocent, Natalie was never afraid of Hayden’s means. But Archer had chosen to succumb.
He married Savannah, who was pregnant, and completely broke Natalie’s heart to pieces.
Natalie was so heartbroken that she almost lost her will to live.
But luckily, she managed to walk out of her sorrow even though Archer had killed her inside.
Since then, Natalie had no intention to get married. She was fine living alone for the rest of her life.
However, Savannah just wouldn’t leave her in peace. Three years after she got married to Archer, Savannah drugged Natalie and set her up with Ronald.
Natalie couldn’t remember how it all happened and where Ronald went that night, but Archer came in and swapped with Ronald before more damage could be done.
In a disorientated state, Natalie slept with Archer again. No matter how much she hated him, she still couldn’t stop herself from yearning for him.
And that resulted in her pregnancy. Seeing as she didn’t want her child to be born fatherless, Natalie married Ronald, hoping that it would make Savannah stop preying on her.
Before her wedding with Ronald, Natalie made it very clear to Ronald that their relationship would be on paper only. Other than a consummation of marriage, she would give Ronald whatever he wished for.
Thankfully, Ronald always thought he slept with her on that night. So, he never doubted that Valeria wouldn’t be his own flesh and blood.
On top of that, Natalie had never bothered to explain. Valeria was the only knot that tied her and Archer together, and she meant the world to Natalie.
Truth be told, although she hated Archer’s guts, Natalie had no control over what her heart felt, and she loathed herself for still loving him. If children were the fruit of love, Valeria would be the fruit of the tragic love between her and Archer.
For years, Natalie treated Ronald with respect. She also had been putting up a loving facade with him in front of Valeria when in fact, she had never trusted him.
She always took care of Valeria on her own and never once allowed Ronald to take charge of Valeria’s matter.
Ronald, on the other hand, kept his promise to act as her husband. Feeling sorry for him, Natalie put him up to take up the position of president in the Brownard Group.
And she didn’t mind when she caught wind of Ronald’s mistress, Julie Evans.
After all, Ronald wasn’t the person Natalie loved. It didn’t matter to her as long as Valeria never knew the truth.
However, right as Natalie thought she would be living this lie for the rest of her life, Ronald turned greedy for more and tried to kill her.
His plan failed the first time because she went abroad with Valeria, but she knew something wasn’t right after their return. She wasn’t that slow-witted.
So, determined to see what Ronald was after, she stopped taking those poisonous supplements.
To her surprise, the supplements traced back to Julie and Paxton, the man who worked for Savannah. It was then clear to Natalie that Savannah was up for something against her again.
And that realization made Natalie furious. Savannah was never going to leave her alone, even if she gave up everything she could.
This time around, Natalie wasn’t concerned for herself but for Valeria. After all, she had never seen someone as insane as Savannah before.
She needed to come up with a plan to counter Savannah’s attack, and she got Lucian to help her with it since there was no one else.
Averting Savannah’s attack was, truthfully, easier said than done since the Howard and Saunders families got her back.
So, when Lucian suggested they go with Savannah’s plan and fake Natalie’s death, and only think about their next step after that, Natalie had no choice but to agree with it.
She just didn’t anticipate Julie to come up to her and spilled everything to her not long after that. It seemed like Julie wanted to humiliate Natalie for one last time, thinking that she was dying soon anyway.
And Julie made sure to be triumphant about that. She told Natalie about how she got together with Ronald, along with some stories from Natalie’s past.
This included the fact that Savannah had plotted the night Natalie was supposed to spend with Ronald and the death of Natalie’s first child.
Julie told her that her child was born alive, but Savannah strangled him to death.
The news had left Natalie in shock. She couldn’t even begin to imagine how much pain her child had to suffer when the wicked woman cold-bloodedly killed him.
The news had also made it up to the list of reasons Natalie must get back at Savannah. Engulfed by the resentment, Natalie was even more determined to play along with Savannah’s plans.
Her original idea was to fake her own death and take her revenge on Savannah after she woke up. But she had too much of the drug that would stage her death, and everything had changed so much when she finally woke up.
Although she was glad that her young Valeria had grown into a young lady that could take charge of the Brownard Group, Natalie was rather unhappy with Valeria’s relationship with William.
She would never ever let her daughter marry one of the members of the evil Howard family.
All things aside, Natalie had a more pressing problem at hand. She had to find out why Gavin began to approach Valeria so frequently and what he expected from their meet-ups.
Surely he couldn’t have realized who Valeria really was and wanted to take her back into their family.
“Oh, never in his wildest dreams!” Natalie clenched her fists. Not only that she wouldn’t allow it, but Gavin would also need to get Valeria’s consent.
Nonetheless, the clock was still ticking. Natalie couldn’t afford to waste any more time. She needed to be in full health to take down Savannah.