Rejected by the husband, claimed by the Ruthless Brother

Jullian came fully prepared.

Still Natalie shook her head. Even if there was a tiny chance, a little one that Jullian wouldn't divorce her today, she would take it.

It was better to be humiliated than deal with her father's wrath.

But before she could open her mouth to speak again she heard a familiar voice, but the words were not familiar at all.

"Jullie? Baby? What's taking so long?" The person asked.

Natalie raised her head to see the lady as she walked into her room. She wore a red a short gown that stopped above her mid-thigh, with a blue jacket and red heels.

The jacket and heels... They belonged to her.

Her...

Instantly, Natalie's mind went back to the call yesterday, and the party.

"Baby? Baby?!" She yelled, the words tearing out of her throat. "Did you just call my husband baby?"

The woman who just walked in looked so calm, the complete opposite of Natalie at the moment, as she walked towards Jullian who received her with a smile.

"I'm going..." She struggled to get back up, "I'm going to murder you!" She charged towards the woman who had just walked in.

"Jullian!" The lady screamed, immediately hiding behind Jullian.

"Don't you dare touch her!" Jullian yelled, and Natalie couldn't help but stop in her tracks. "Or you'd be the one dead." he continued.

The lady, who saw that Jullian's wife couldn't do anything to her spoke freely. "Husband?" She asked Jullain, sounding annoyed. "Why does she still call you husband? She hasn't signed it yet?"

Of course.

Natalie knew this idea couldn't he Jullian's. He was too stupid.

It had to be this fucking witch.

She couldn't believe that it was this one... This lady who broke her home.

"I took you into my house, Mirabel," Natalie said in tears, reminiscing about the day she had brought Mirabel home just five months ago. "I helped you when you were at your fucking lowest. How could you do this to me! Why would you do this to me?"

She had done the lady a favor, and yet she was backstapped.

Mirabel, showed no remorse. She felt none either. "It's not my fault that you can't keep a man." She said before rolling her eyes. Then she gently brushed Jullian's upper arm with his. "And it definitely isn't my fault that he picked me over a smelly degraded thing like yourself."

Smelly? Degraded?

Natalie couldn't believe that someone used those words to qualify her.

"Take a look at yourself, Natalie." Mirabel continued. "Compared to me, you look... You look like someone's grandmother." Natalie's subconscious looked down at herself.

It was fatter than before, and a bit swollen, her hair... Unlike Mirabel's long blonde hair was pruned, her black hair was scattered everywhere on her head.

But she just gave birth!

What? She expected her to look like a model?!

"Look at yourself, Natalie," Mirabel sneered. "Compared to me, you look pathetic and disgusting. Jullian deserves better. He deserves me."

Mirabel's last words repeated in Natalie's head.

Jullian deserved better?

Mirabel thought she was better?

Natalie didn't even know when a loud laugher erupted from her lips

She was actually begging this scum to take her back?

Had she gone that low?

No.

Her father could go fuck himself.

She raised her hand to her face and wiped the tears in her eyes with her hands. Then she looked at Jullian. "You actually brought this bitch to the hospital to divorce me? What is she? Your handbag?"

"You..." Jullian fumed but Natalie didn't let him speak.

"You know what? Where are the papers?" She asked?

Her sudden change took Jullian by surprise. He thought he was going to beg a bit more. But he cleared his throat and pointed at the brown envelope near her feet.

Natalie picked up the papers, then she stretched her hand. "Pen."

"What?" Jullian's eyes widened. She was really doing it. He cleared his throat before shoving his hand into his pockets and taking out his pen.

"Don't you worry baby." Natalie heard Jullian comfort Mirabel. "Once this is gone, I'd apologize personally."

Natalie scoffed. His words fueled her. She signed her name on every paper quickly, then threw everything at Jullian.

"That's it right? That's all you came for right?" She asked and Jullian nodded absentmindly, staring at Natalie's signature on the papers.

"Good." Natalie walked towards the door and opened it. "Now get out! I don't want my children's eyes to be stained by the sight of you and that... Thing."

Mirabel eyes widened. 'Did she just call me a thing? Again?'

...

Natalie left the hospital just after midnight, quietly without telling anyone. The only thing she had with her was one small suitcase. Jullian had dropped it before leaving that bitch... Saying that it was all she had left after four years of marriage.

No way. After she was settled, she would return back there and take everything she owned... Not now.

The automatic hospital doors slid shut behind her with a soft hiss.

Cold air struck her immediately, and Natalie shivered.

Her body was still weak from childbirth. Every step sent pain shooting through her abdomen, but she forced herself to keep moving.

She had nowhere else to go.

The twins stirred softly against her, their tiny movements making her chest tighten painfully.

“I’m sorry,” she whispered, tears burning her eyes. “I’m so sorry…”

She didn’t even know which apology hurt more.

Apologizing to her children for failing them…

Or apologizing because she had brought them into a world where nobody wanted them.

The streets were nearly empty. They were dark and silent. A few distant streetlights flickered weakly against the pavement.

Natalie tightened her grip on the suitcase and kept walking slowly toward the main road.

She needed a taxi.

After that… she would figure things out somehow.

Even if it meant returning to her father.

The thought alone made her stomach twist violently. Her father didn’t tolerate failure.

And divorce? Divorce after being abandoned?

That was humiliation.

Natalie could already imagine the look on his face.

Disgust... Cold disappointment and punishment.

Natalie looked down at the twin in her arms. Her father wouldn't accept them.

Wouldn't it be better for her to just take them to an orphanage? Somewhere far away from the family?

No. She immediately shook her head.

She couldn't give up her children. She went through too much to give them up. She was selfish.

A tear left Natalie's eyes.

Her breathing became uneven.

The pain was getting worse.

She stopped walking beside the road, trembling slightly as she adjusted the baby in her arms.

For one terrifying second, her knees nearly gave out beneath her.

No.

Not now.

She couldn’t collapse now.

Not with the twins.

She forced herself to stand back up, ignoring the pain between her legs.

Headlights suddenly appeared in the distance.

Natalie looked up quickly.

A car.

Hope flickered inside her chest.

She stepped forward immediately, raising her hand desperately.

“Please!”

The vehicle slowed.

But before she could sigh in relief, another black car appeared behind it.

And another.

And another.

Natalie froze...

This was...

Her heart slammed hard against her chest.

Three black SUVs stopped in front of her one after another, their tinted windows reflecting the pale streetlights.

Her feet stumbled, and she held her suitcase tighter in her arms, while eyeing the three vehicles.

The back doors opened simultaneously.

Men dressed entirely in black stepped out from the first and last vehicles. They were all tall with broad shoulders and they had an expressionless look on their faces.

Natalie’s heartbeat spiked violently. Her grip tightened around the babies.

“W...Who are you?” she asked shakily, stepping backward.

Nobody answered.

The men spread out silently around her instead.

Blocking every possible escape.

Fear crawled up Natalie’s spine.

Her instincts screamed at her to run.

But how could she?

She turned around... she shook, they were everywhere.

“Please…” she whispered. “I just gave birth, I don’t have money…” she cried, her voice breaking. God, she couldn't afford to be mugged now.

But the men remained cold and unmoving, like statues.

Then...

The rear door of the middle SUV opened slowly.

And the atmosphere changed instantly.

With her heart beating loudly against her chest, Natalie turned to look at the man who stepped out slowly.

The first thing she noticed was his height. She noticed it from his tall legs. He was tall enough that the other men seemed smaller around him.

And then the dark tailored coat.

She noticed the aura around him.

It was dangerous. And worse, it seemed familiar.

"Jullian?"