Marico laughed. "You know I'm not exactly known for keeping my word, right?"
"Marico!"
Natalie pushed herself up, furious. She raised a hand to slap him, but her strength failed her, and she collapsed right against his chest.
Marico smoothly wrapped one arm around her waist, taking a drag from his cigarette with his free hand.
A sudden, uncontrollable tremor wracked Natalie's body. Desperate for something to anchor her racing thoughts, she reached for his hand, trying to take a drag of his cigarette. Marico pulled it away.
"Alright, out with it," he said. "What exactly do you want from me?"
Natalie pressed her lips together. "I want you to marry me."
"And then?"
"Help me get Kristin back from Hamilton."
Marico frowned. "You're saying Hamilton has Kristin right now?"
"Yes."
Marico took one last, deep drag of his cigarette before crushing it out. He scooped Natalie up into his arms and carried her into the bathroom. After they had both showered, he carried her back out.
"Get dressed."
"Will... will you help me?"
Marico rolled his eyes. "I might be a bastard, but I don't take advantage of women for nothing."
A wave of relief washed over Natalie. She hurried to get dressed. By the time she finished, Marico was already clothed and on his phone.
"I'm heading over to the Amos family estate right now. Give them a call so they don't lock me out when I get there."
"Don't worry about why. It's important."
"I'm not going there to start a brawl. Do I look like an idiot? The Amos family has connections everywhere. Causing a scene at their place would be a death wish."
The person on the other end must have agreed, because Marico ended the call.
Inside the massive living room, Mr. Amos and Alma were waiting. The moment they saw Natalie, they knew exactly why Marico was there.
Alma let out a heavy sigh. "Natalie, at the end of the day, this is a family matter. Dragging outsiders into our home like this is incredibly inappropriate."
"Where is Kristin? Where are you hiding her?"
Alma frowned. "Since when are we hiding Kristin?"
"Hamilton took her from school. Is she not here?"
Alma's frown deepened. She clearly had no idea this had happened.
"Hamilton just wants to bond with his daughter. Taking her without your permission might have been a bit out of line, but you have to understand where he's coming from—"
"Understand my ass! He kidnapped a kid, and you want her to be understanding?" Marico snapped.
Mr. Amos's face darkened instantly. "Marico, when your father called me, I assumed this was an urgent matter. Since it's about this nonsense, consider this a stern warning: stay out of my family's business."
"What family business? Natalie is my fiancée, and Kristin is my daughter. Anything that happens to them is my business!"

Comments
The readers' comments on the novel: The Year I Was the Other Woman To Myself
Hello! This series has been requested a lot on Reddit, but we’re unable to post the link there ourselves. If you have a Reddit account, we would truly appreciate it if you could help us share the link to this novel to increase its readership. As a thank-you, we will increase the number of free chapters available each day. Thank you so much for your support!...