Chapter 3

Even though Natalie had expected this outcome, her heart still ached. Deep down, she had always clung to a small hope that maybe nothing had changed, and that Benedict and Sapphire still loved her as they had for the past 20 over years. But reality kept shattering her fragile prayers over and over. Back when Zia first returned, Benedict and Sapphire hadn't been like this. So when did everything change completely? Was it the time Zia swapped her stomach medicine for vitamins while she was in pain, causing Benedict and Sapphire to rush home and think she was faking it? Or the time she tried to stop Zia from bullying a struggling classmate, only for Zia to team up with that same student to falsely accuse her, and Benedict and Sapphire punished her without even asking for an explanation? Or was it the day of her birthday, when she took a special day off to come home, only to find the whole family had left for a trip abroad to celebrate Zia, completely forgetting her? Maybe things had started to change even earlier. Maybe it was the moment Zia showed up at the Shaw residence with a DNA test report. From that day on, Benedict and Sapphire had already stopped trusting her. Natalie still remembered the moment they saw the results, their eyes turning cold and unfamiliar, as if she had suddenly become a stranger to them. Ever since then, their words of care changed from "Natalie, take good care of yourself" to "Don't bully Zia". Even if Natalie refused to believe it, it seemed that the 25 years of family love could really be erased with a single piece of paper. Reality was just that cruel. She sniffed and pulled her suitcase, turning to leave. The moment she opened the door, she ran into Lucas. Startled, he instinctively hid his hands behind his back. "Luke, you're finally here! Where's the strawberry cake you brought me?" Zia bounced over, hooking her arm around his. "Nothing escapes your notice," Lucas said with a fond smile, pulling out a delicately wrapped box from behind him. "Thank you, Luke! It takes forever to line up for that bakery in the south of the city. I've been craving it for ages!" Natalie's heart sank. Then she laughed quietly at herself. So this was the "urgent matter" he'd rushed off for. She remembered once, on a snowy day, when she'd returned from a business trip and gotten stranded at the airport. After two hours of failing to hail a cab, she called Lucas, hoping he could pick her up. But he said he was busy and sent nothing more than a screenshot showing a ride he had ordered for her. She had dragged her suitcase home through the snow, shivering and feverish, and ended up with a high fever. And now, here she was, instinctively thinking Lucas had come to see her. Even if love had a momentum of its own, Natalie felt utterly foolish and pitiful in that moment. "Nat, what's going on?" Lucas finally noticed the suitcase in her hand. He stepped forward and took it from her. "Where should I put it?" He didn't recognize it as a suitcase from the house and didn't ask why she was back to live here at all. "Upstairs. My bedroom." Natalie's voice was rough and dry. When the bedroom door opened, Natalie froze. Everything inside had changed. None of her belongings were there. The housekeeper stepped forward apologetically. "Ms. Zia said she liked your room, so Mr. Shaw told us to move everything out." Natalie had long been used to it. Zia had taken so much from her since coming back. Even when Zia already had her own, she always wanted what Natalie was holding. If Natalie refused, she'd be branded selfish and narrow-minded. So she accepted it without expression. "Where's my room now?" The housekeeper hesitated, then led her to a maid's room on the first floor. "Mr. and Mrs. Shaw said you live at the Moore residence anyway, so it didn't matter where your things were stored." In the cramped room, Natalie's belongings were strewn about. Beside her, Lucas' eyes darkened, his brow furrowed deeply. "Luke! Come try this! It's so good!" Zia's voice rang out right on cue. Lucas didn't say a word. He turned sharply and walked back toward the living room. On the way, he stepped directly onto a photograph that had fallen to the floor. A sharp, fine pain spread through Natalie's chest. Had Lucas finally realized she'd been completely cast aside in the Shaw residence? That he didn't even bother pretending to care? She kneeled to retrieve a photo from their engagement, gently brushing away the dirt with her sleeve. The family bonds and love she had once cherished were gone from her world. Or maybe… they had never been real at all.