Chapter 156: She knows
I looked at her with curiosity burning in my eyes and anticipation hung on my face as I waited for her to say something. My words caused her to hesitate for a while and I watched as she inhaled deeply before letting the words leave the tip of her tongue.
"Evelyn knows that ...I know she isn’t my biological daughter," she revealed and I felt my blood chill as my heart sank to the pit of my stomach.
I looked at her with wide eyes. "How did she..." My voice trailed off and she knew exactly what I was talking about as she answered my question without me having to complete my sentence just yet.
"I let it slip," she muttered under her breath as she lowered her head and averted her gaze in shame, guilt laced her voice. "It’s my fault," she confessed, the words leaving a sour taste in her mouth as a defeated look was stretched across her face.
I reached up to rest one hand on her shoulder. "Don’t say that, Natalie. It’s not your fault, things happen, don’t beat yourself up for it," I comforted in a gentle tone as I let the corners of my lips curl upwards into a reassuring smile.
She looked up to meet my eyes, emotions running wild in her dark brown eyes. "Maybe it isn’t but now... my life is one big mess. I don’t know how to fix it..."
"What... What do you mean? How is it a mess?" I asked with a puzzled look etched onto my face as my voice was laced with a hint of confusion. "I’m sure everything will be just fine."
"But it isn’t fine at all. I think my husband hates me," she started and I looked at her with disbelief written all over my face. "He thought that I would hurt Eve and he doesn’t trust me at all, he thinks that I was cheating on him. I..." She let a soft sigh escape her lips this time and there was a slight pause before she continued.
"I hate to be the one saying this but..." she dragged, struggling to get the next few words out of her lips for a while before she finally broke the silence that settled among us. "I think Evelyn has been trying to sabotage me ever since the day she found out that I knew about her. She threatened me not to tell anyone, especially her father. Everything is too much of a coincidence, I feel like such a horrible mother for even thinking this," she said as her voice cracked towards the end of the sentence.