The Lies Behind Her Marriage novel Chapter 7

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**Chapter 7: The Collins**

The Collins.

Nathaniel sank deeper into his chair, his fingers pressing firmly against his temples, as if he could physically will away the chaos swirling in his mind. He exuded the kind of magnetic charm that made him the envy of boardrooms and gossip columns alike, yet there was an unsettling quality to his stillness. It was as if his thoughts were a tempest, refusing to calm, each wave crashing harder against the shores of his consciousness.

Just then, his mother entered the office, her gaze immediately landing on the resignation letter from Serena that lay conspicuously on his desk. “It’s for the best that she is gone,” she stated, her voice carrying a weight of finality.

Nathaniel remained silent, absorbing her words. He inhaled deeply, a frown knitting his brows together as he processed the implications of her statement.

The tranquility of the moment was shattered as the office door swung open once more. Gavin, his assistant, stepped inside, his expression a mix of concern and professionalism. “Sir, Miss Kline is fine. She said she was just stressed,” he announced, his tone trying to ease the tension that hung in the air.

Bianca, Nathaniel’s mother, frowned at this news, her body tense as she settled into a chair across from him. “Why?” she demanded, her voice laced with disbelief. “What do you mean she’s fine?”

“Miss Kline fainted in the elevator,” Gavin explained, his eyes darting between the two. “I took her to the hospital.”

Bianca’s reaction was swift and fierce. “You asked your assistant to take her to the hospital? You’re not going soft on her, are you, Nathan?” Her voice sliced through the air like a knife, sharp and unyielding. “Don’t you remember how your father died? How Victor Kline stole everything from us—my love, our future, the happiness we were meant to have!”

She sprang to her feet, the chair scraping violently against the floor, the sound echoing in the otherwise quiet room. “Do you remember how I had to work day and night just to put food on the table? You were just a child, but you had to help me. Remember how the bank evicted us from our home? How everyone turned their backs on us? We became pariahs because we lost everything after your father was taken from us. And worst of all, he was killed in the most brutal way imaginable! He was beaten to death!”

“Your father’s colleagues at work called him a fraud! You were bullied in elementary school; we were humiliated by this wretched town!” Her voice quivered with rage and sorrow, each word a reminder of their shared pain. “Remember how we had to uproot our lives, change towns, change our names just to survive? And for heaven’s sake, don’t forget how the stress nearly killed me! I had a stroke, Nathaniel! It still haunts me!”

“All of this suffering was because of Victor Kline! He did this to us!” The intensity of her words filled the room, a palpable force that demanded acknowledgment.

Bianca wasn’t finished. Her voice rose, fueled by the fury of years gone by. “While he and his family reveled in the riches from your father’s invention, we were left to wallow in misery. If it weren’t for your uncle’s generosity and my relentless determination—my sleepless nights plotting our revenge—we would have remained buried beneath the ashes that the Klines buried us under!”

Nathaniel had been just ten years old when all of this transpired, yet the memories were etched into his mind with painful clarity. The true agony, however, lay in the loss of his father—the man he idolized.

It was on his birthday when everything changed. Once, he had proudly carried the name Collins, a title that resonated with strength and legacy.

They were the Collins family.

Despite the struggles that began when his father fought for his patent, Neal Collins had still planned a camping trip for them. But that adventure never came to pass.

Days turned into a blur, and three days later, Neal’s lifeless body was unceremoniously discarded from a speeding car, landing gruesomely in front of their driveway. Nathaniel was the first to discover his father, and the sight of him in such a state left an indelible mark on his soul, a trauma that would shadow him for years to come.

His love for his father was profound, and even as a child, he felt a desperate need to protect him, a weight that was far too heavy for his young shoulders to bear.

They had attempted to stand against the Klines, but in Velmon City, the powerful dictated the terms, leaving the vulnerable to suffer in silence.

From that moment on, Nathaniel’s rage became a laser-focused weapon, while his mother’s hatred fueled the fire within him.

Their quest for revenge was meticulous and strategic—until Serena Kline entered the picture, becoming an unforeseen complication that Nathaniel had never anticipated.