An Affair With The Ceo (Natasha and Jared) novel Chapter 94

Chapter 94 Stayed by Her Side

Chapter 94 Stayed by Her Side

Natasha’s brows knitted together.

She couldn’t believe that at a time like this, her mother was still defending Joelle.

“This has nothing to do with Joelle. Why were you tied up here?” Natasha demanded, barely holding back her anger.

Sandra’s pale face stiffened. “Because…”

She struggled for a long moment, unable to come up with an answer.

Eventually, Sandra’s strength gave out, and she passed out cold.

At the hospital, Natasha stayed by Sandra’s bedside, quietly watching over her.

A nurse had put Sandra on a glucose drip.

The doctor had checked Sandra over.

Aside from the wound on her forehead, there were no visible injuries anywhere else on her body.

But after being tied up and starved for days, and given Sandra’s age, she needed to be kept in the hospital for observation for a few days.

Jared had arranged for a caregiver to take care of Sandra.

But Natasha refused to leave. She insisted on staying by Sandra’s side until she finally woke up.

But Sandra had been so traumatized that she remained unconscious.

Even in her sleep, she kept calling out Joelle’s name.

Natasha couldn’t shake the feeling that her mother’s ordeal had everything to do with Joelle.

She even suspected Joelle had deliberately used Sandra’s birthday as an excuse to tie her up in a VIP suite at the club, then lured Natasha over, setting her up to fall right into Gordon’s clutches.

Even though Natasha managed to stab Gordon and escape in the end, there’s no denying that Joelle’s move was downright

cruel.

Natasha thought, ‘I’m Joelle’s half-sister, and yet Joelle handed me over to Gordon to mess with me.

‘As for my mother, Sandra, she has always treated Joelle like her daughter.

‘All my mother’s live, she has been kinder to Joelle, even more than me, her own daughter.

‘How could Joelle be so ruthless, turning on my mother and using her like that?’

“Joelle!”

Just as Natasha was seething with anger, Sandra suddenly called out Joelle’s name and opened her eyes.

“Mom, you’re awake,” Natasha blurted out, her voice full of relief and joy.

She reached out, eager to hold Sandra’s hand.

But as soon as Sandra realized it was Natasha, her expression instantly frosted over.

“Why are you here? Where’s Joelle?” Sandra demanded, pulling her hand away, her voice icy with displeasure.

Natasha felt a chill run through her heart.

Her nose tingled, tears threatening to spill.

She thought, ‘No matter how hard I try, Mom never notices me.

‘She always thinks it is because I’m not good enough.

‘If only I could be better than Joelle, Mom might finally notice me.

‘So I work myself to the bone, always pushing to be better.

‘But no matter what I do, Mom still never notices me.

‘It is always Joelle this, Joelle that. Never me.’

It hit Natasha then. It was not because she wasn’t good enough.

In her mother’s world, there was only room for Joelle, with no one else.

“She’s not here,” Natasha replied, her voice icy as she turned her head away.

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Chapter 94 Stayed by Her Side

Sandra sounded flustered. “So where is she?”

Natasha’s expression was numb. “I have no idea.”

Sandra pleaded with her again, “Can you help me reach Joelle? I want to see her.”

Natasha clenched her fists, fighting to keep herself from losing it.

“Mom, you need to rest,” Natasha said.

Without another word, she got up and walked out.

From behind, Sandra’s voice shouted after her, urgent and loud.

“Nat, can you tell Joelle I want to see her?”

Natasha nearly stumbled as she walked out of Sandra’s ward.

She was trembling with anger.

Natasha thought, ‘Why does Mom only want to see Joelle?

“Why am I invisible to her?

‘I’m her daughter, her own flesh and blood.

‘Joelle’s the reason Mom’s in the hospital.

‘How can Mom be so clueless?’

She was both furious and frustrated.

Her heart ached so badly that it felt like it was being twisted.

Natasha struggled to hold back her tears, barely keeping herself together.

Just then, Aileen, Sandra’s caregiver from the Whittier family, arrived.

Natasha left Sandra in Aileen’s care and walked away in a daze, her spirit shattered.

Natasha thought, ‘How many times has it been now?

‘How many times have I ended up hurt because Mom always picks Joelle over me?

‘Stuff like this has happened over and over again, for as long as I can remember.

“Why can’t I just let it go?

‘Why do I still keep hoping Mom will ever see me?’

Instead of leaving the hospital right away, Natasha went to visit her best friend, Dorothy Stetson, in her ward.

Dorothy was doing much better now, though she looked a lot thinner than before.

The doctor said she could be discharged next week.

But she’d still need to rest at home for a while before she could go back to work.

Natasha didn’t bring up anything about Sandra to Dorothy, so Dorothy wouldn’t have to worry about her.

After talking with Dorothy, Natasha felt her mood lighten a lot.

Maybe she was destined never to have her parents’ love in this lifetime.

*****

Stepping out of the hospital, Natasha walked silently alone along the sidewalk.

Jared’s Rolls-Royce slid up behind her, almost unnoticed.

“Boss,” the driver called. His hands stayed on the wheel, ready for Jared’s orders.

“Follow her,” Jared said, his voice low and commanding.

His hazel eyes were shadowed and enigmatic, impossible to read.

The driver crept along behind Natasha, keeping the car at a snail’s pace as they followed her.

Jared’s brows drew together in a tight frown.

Jared’s eyes stayed locked on the slim figure ahead, his gaze shadowed and full of tangled emotions.

He and Natasha had brought Sandra to the hospital together.

Natasha had barely left Sandra’s bedside since then, keeping watch over her.

Jared stepped out to handle some business, but returned to the hospital not long after.

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Chapter 94 Stayed by Her Side

During that time, he had someone quietly investigate the relationship between Natasha and her mother, Sandra.

After all these years, Natasha had never gotten any real love from her parents.

Sandra’s heart was always with Joelle, never Natasha.

It was Natasha who begged him to save Sandra.

But Sandra didn’t show even a shred of gratitude to Natasha, her own daughter.

Every word out of Sandra’s mouth was about Joelle, the very person who landed Sandra in this mess.

Jared couldn’t help but feet bad for Natasha. She deserved better than this.

Jared thought, ‘Honestly, Natasha’d be better off without a mother like that.

‘But Natasha is still hurting because of it.

‘Deep down, she still treasures that mother-daughter bond, no matter how one-sided it is.

‘But some people aren’t worth it.’

*****

Natasha had walked a long way, her legs numb and aching.

She’d already been hurt when she fought back against Gordon, and she still hadn’t fully recovered.

Then she’d spent most of the day keeping watch over Sandra in her ward.

It was no wonder she felt so exhausted now.

Just then, she spotted a bench by the side of the road.

Natasha made her way to the bench and took a seat.

She leaned back, hands resting on her thighs, her head bowed.

Her mind was a mess, weighed down by everything.

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