A Love to Die For (Nathaly) novel Chapter 4

Chapter 4

When Nathaly woke up, her bandaged forehead still throbbed with a dull ache.

She lowered her gaze, gently touched her slightly swollen belly, then absentmindedly pulled out the IV and got up to leave.

As she passed the stairwell, she overheard Elijah’s close friend-the hospital’s deputy director-speaking to him in a hushed, urgent tone.

“Eli, Nicole only fainted from low blood sugar today, and you left Nathy behind to take care of her. Do you realize if Nathy had arrived even half an hour later, she would’ve lost the baby?”

“Are you really falling for Nicole? Have you forgotten that the Bowden family was ruined by the Fridleys? How can you do this to Nathy?”

Elijah’s tall frame was hidden in the shadows, the burning tip of his cigarette flickering in the dark, making his al- ready narrow eyes look even colder.

“I can’t let Nikki go. She’s the baby’s biological mother.”

His voice was chillingly calm.

“I love Nathy, but Nikki’s been in love with me for eight years. Yes, she made mistakes when she was young, but now the Fridley family is bankrupt. They’ve paid the price.

”

“And Nikki never wanted to compete with Nathy for anything. I gave Nathy the status and power of being Mrs. Tuck- ett, and Nikki’s child will be my heir. It’s fair.”

His friend was at a loss for words.

“So before you had Nathy undergo IVF, you deliberately ordered the doctors to perform five consecutive curettages?! Any miscarriage would cause massive bleeding-she’d lose her uterus.”

“That way, even if she found out the truth later and wanted to terminate the pregnancy, it would be impossible.”

“But did it ever occur to you that, when Nathy finally learns the truth, even if she can never have children again, she’ll leave you forever?”

Another brutal truth slammed into Nathaly’s already shattered heart, leaving it raw and bleeding.

She froze, mind blank.

She hadn’t expected Elijah to block off even her final escape.

She shook with rage, wanting to confront him, but stopped short when she heard Elijah’s next words.

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06:58

“Nathy won’t leave me.”

Elijah’s lips curled in a twisted, confident smile.

“Her mom is gone. I’m the last family she has left in this world. And unless I die, I’ll never let her go.”

A chill raced from Nathaly’s feet to the top of her head. Suddenly, she realized Elijah truly was insane.

She had to pretend she didn’t know anything-and get away, fast.

She forced herself back to her hospital room, just as a nurse arrived to change her bandages.

“Ma’am, your wound has stopped bleeding, but we need to do a CT scan to double-check everything.”

Nathaly didn’t think twice.

She followed the nurse to the MRI room, but as soon as she lay down, the nurse locked her onto the table.

Then she stuffed a wad of gauze into Nathaly’s mouth, pushed her into the narrow, claustrophobic machine, and left without another word.

Nathaly’s heart sank. Something was wrong.

She struggled desperately, trying to call for help, but heard the nurse lock the door and warn others that the room was under maintenance and not to approach.

In an instant, Nathaly was left alone in the vast, shadowy room.

The suffocating terror of claustrophobia wrapped around her like a tidal wave.

Her body, rigid and bound, began to tremble uncontrollably, panic carved into her bones.

It felt just like senior year, when Nicole and her clique had stripped her, drenched her in filthy kitchen waste, and locked her in the metal casket of the school’s basement biology lab.

She’d been trapped there for thro

days and nights.

After that, Nathaly developed severe claustrophobia.

Four years ago, Elijah spent half their savings on therapy for her, finally helping her escape the trauma of her youth.

Now, she felt herself back in that suffocating casket, her breath coming in rapid, damp bursts that were ing her.

nearly chok-

And worst of all was the throbbing pain in her belly-and the humiliating, urgent need to pee that she couldn’t ignore.