Chapter 389: Your fault
Natalia’s POV
The news anchor’s voice echoed from the radio. The words struck me like a dagger, and my hand tightened on my car’s steering wheel.
"It has been confirmed there has been a death from the attack that happened today at Volkov Apex. Mr Raphael Volkov was stabbed from behind, the blade piercing deeply into his organs.." A strangled cry escaped my lips. My tears came down hard from my eyes. This wasn’t happening to me..
My Raphael, my Raphael.. my chest tightened. My head hung low. The news kept on going; I could barely get the rest of the words. "The attacker has been identified as Miss Amelia Sinclair, a close friend of the victim, who was also put under police custody.."
"Amelia was considered dangerous and held under a remand order, but as of 1 pm today, she was confirmed dead from food poisoning. Details are still unclear how, after dying, barely an hour later the attack happened. Police are calling this a coordinated attack." The anchor explained.
"We are still waiting for a statement from the police on how someone so dangerous left their custody without their notice." Listening to the news anchor made me laugh. This was ridiculous because I was also trying to figure out how she escaped and planned everything.
My instructions were to kill her, but Amelia outsmarted me. The plan was simple, to get her killed today before she said something she shouldn’t have, but Amelia might have figured out the poisoning and used it to escape.
She faked dying by poison and once everyone’s attention was off her, she escaped. It was almost impossible to pull that move unless she anticipated it or my contacts double-crossed me, but the bottom line was she outsmarted me.
I banged my head on the steering wheel, wondering when it all fell apart. Was it when she sent that email while custody blackmailing me or long before this?
Not only did she escape, she killed my son. It felt like I was falling into a hole I can’t escape. No matter how hard I climbed up, I kept falling deeper and deeper inside.
I never planned for this to happen. The tears kept pouring from my eyes. It was hopeless. Amelia had lost her mind. It is only a matter of time before she speaks, and once she does, even if I run to the end of the world, they would get me, and the fate that awaits me is worse than death.
I don’t know how long I cried until my throat was dry. It was over. This was game over.
My head was hazy and splitting from crying. The sharp ringing tone of my phone made me freeze. My eyes snapped to the screen. An unknown number was flashing on it, and that sent chills down my spine.
This was a new number I had. No one was meant to know it aside from my contacts. It wasn’t possible they investigated so fast to find out I was tangled in this.
So who was it? I wanted to ignore the call, but something pushed me to answer. I reached for the phone with trembling hands and answered.
A calm voice came through. "Congratulations, Natalia.." he chimed, and my entire body froze. I knew the voice, but how did he get my number.
"Ronan.." I said slowly, scared of calling his name. He scoffed at my words..
"Shocked that I found your number." he snorted. "Did you really think you could stay hidden for long? You can’t even hide from me and you think you can hide from the one you truly offended.."
My grip tightened on the phone. "How did you get my number?" I asked slowly. "What are you talking about??" The words felt like stones stuck in my throat.
"I have my ways. The only thing I regret was not finding your number earlier, at least Raphael would still be alive.." he drew in a trembling breath. I heard something shatter from his end, which made me shudder.
"You must be happy now, Natalia, and feel so smug about yourself.."
My grip tightened around the phone. I could feel my pulse rate picking up. "What do you mean, Ronan? Why would I be feeling smug about my son’s death?"
He went quiet for a moment. Each second stretched too long. "Let’s drop the act, Natalia. I am exhausted and tired of playing. I know the truth. Honestly, if I didn’t find out, I wouldn’t have put in this effort to find your number and waited patiently for Lucien to find you..." my stomach dropped immediately.
There was no way he knew the truth. The truth that gave Amelia the power to destroy my life. A secret I wanted to carry to my grave. "Did Raphael’s death get to you? I also lost my son, but I am not going crazy.." I tried to bluff.
Ronan wasn’t in the mood for games and laid everything out. "I know Natasha isn’t mine..." It felt like a bucket of ice-cold water was poured on me. There was no way he really knew.
"It’s funny, really. How I actually thought an albino was born to the Volkov family when we have no history of it, neither does your family..." his cold voice cut through, and I couldn’t refute it because I could sense his anger.
"I trusted you, Natalia. 29 fucking years I stayed loyal to our marriage, but barely 3 years into the marriage you already gave birth to a bastard." My teeth ground against each other. A stinging sensation hit my eyes, and before I knew it, I was crying.
"Don’t make me the villain, Ronan. For 29 years we had been married and you didn’t love me for one. You were loyal to a ghost.." I barked out, pouring out all my anger and resentment. This was all his fault. If he had loved me, my son would have still been alive.
"Even a dog kept that long gains affection. Yes, I cheated, and yes Natasha isn’t yours, so what? I needed a break from our loveless marriage.." I cried out..
A deep chuckle rang. "Is that it? Did you do it because you needed a break or because your guilt was getting to you?" He asked, and I felt something was very wrong.
"I know why you wanted Amelia dead. Why you wanted her dead?" He paused. "Why did Raphael have to suffer for your actions, Natalia? He was your son." Ronan cried out.