What We Had Was Never Real novel Chapter 17

"You're awake." Natalie's tone was detached, as though she and Stephen were strangers.

Stephen was so excited that his whole body shook. It had been an entire month since he had last seen her, and the bone-deep longing had been gnawing at him relentlessly, almost driving him crazy.

Finally, he got to see her again and hear her voice. In an instant, a flood of longing crashed over him. His eyes reddened as he abruptly sat up to pull her into a tight hug. "Tania, it really is you! I've missed you so much!"

His voice was low and hoarse, filled with endless love and yearning.

Natania's body stiffened slightly before she swiftly shoved him away. "Stephen, we're already divorced!"

The sudden emptiness in his arms brought a flicker of pain to his eyes.

"Tania, I don't agree to the divorce," he replied anxiously. In an attempt to salvage their relationship, he added, "That day, I had a bit too much to drink and didn't realize what I was signing was the divorce agreement."

The panicked and pleading note in his voice made him seem like a child who was about to lose something very precious to him.

Despite that, Natania simply leveled him with a cold gaze. There wasn't even a flicker of emotion in her eyes. "Stephen, I'm sure you understand that the moment you slept with Rosalie six years ago, you should've known that a day like this would come," she uttered and scoffed disdainfully.

The mockery in her words caused the color to drain from Stephen's face. He shook his head helplessly. "Tania, I… Please believe me when I say that I had my reasons. All I did was due to circumstances out of my control!"

A hint of despair threaded his quavering voice as he tried to grasp at straws.

"The Fost family needs an heir. Only by gaining full control over Fost Group could I protect you properly. I didn't think that—"

"Enough!" Natania's icy voice cut him off sharply. She refused to listen to his hypocritical excuses any longer. "Since when have I, Natania Wendell, become so useless that I needed you to protect me? All those years ago, I was willing to sacrifice my life to save you, so your so-called protection was completely unnecessary!"

Her words were like needles that stabbed deep into his heart, bringing him endless agony.

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