Chapter 187

Chapter 187

She spoke so openly that it made me feel a bit small.

But something didn't add up.

"How are you so sure my ex-husband is your brother? Do you even know who I used to be?"

From the moment I met Natalia, I never revealed my past identity to her.

When did she find out? Could she be bluffing?

"Is it that hard? I think if someone wanted to investigate you, it wouldn't be difficult to find out."

She looked at me, puzzled. "Anyone who cares about you can find out everything with a little digging. Those who don't care, don't need to know."

I still felt a chill down my spine.

The secret I thought I had hidden so well was discovered by her so quickly.

"Then tell me, who am I? And who is my ex-husband?"

Investigating my past wasn't hard, but those from my past finding me wasn't that easy either.

She said she hadn't met her brother. I couldn't determine whether she was telling the truth.

"Caroline, do you really need me to spell it out?" Natalia said helplessly. "Your name is Caroline, my brother's name is Raymond. It's rumored that your relationship wasn't good..."

"Enough! I don't want to hear it!"

How could she so casually bring up such painful memories?

She asked, and then she had to say it right in front of me.

"You asked me to."

Natalia looked down and fiddled with her fingers, looking aggrieved.

Now I seemed like the bad guy.

"You... never mind. What do you want? Since you've investigated me, you should know how hard it was for me to leave Raymond. And now you're telling me you're his sister? What is this?"

It felt like a cruel joke from the universe.

I moved to a different country, and even my neighbor is related to Raymond.

This karmic connection seemed inevitable.

Maybe my reaction scared her, as Natalia looked worried. "I... I didn't mean anything by it. I've never met Raymond, but my mom never talks about him. I'm curious, so who else could I ask but you?"

I couldn't help but roll my eyes. "Raymond is always in the headlines. You don't know about him?"

"My mom never told me his name. She didn't even tell me about my dad. My adoptive parents kept it from me too. If I hadn't convinced my mom to leave the lab a year ago, I wouldn't know anything about Raymond."

So, she was well-protected. She hadn't heard a thing about the Brown family's feuds.

I gradually let my guard down around Natalia.

She told me a lot about what had happened over the years.

Natalia was sent to live with her adoptive parents when she was young. At six, her exceptional medical talent was discovered, and Orla took her in as a student. She later discovered her true identity by chance.

"But I was too young then. When I found out, I immediately confronted them. I should have pretended not to know."

I finally confirmed that Natalia posed no threat to me.

She was desperate to find Raymond and had been secretly investigating for years, only recently making some progress.

"It was because my adoptive mother mentioned my resemblance to Liliana that I thought to investigate you and Raymond. I'm sorry, I didn't mean any harm. I just didn't realize so much had happened back then."

Since she had already found out, there was no point in hiding anymore.

"If you had to choose between me and Raymond, who would you side with?"

This was a question that would inevitably come up.

There was no chance of reconciliation between Raymond and me.

Natalia's lips moved, but she didn't answer for a long time, her eyes dimming.

"It's hard to choose, right?"

I stood up to clear the dishes. "He's your family. We shouldn't interact too much in the future."

Blood was thicker than water. Natalia would ultimately side with Raymond.

I couldn't take the risk.

I was still too afraid of Raymond.

"Caroline... there's no need for this." Natalia sighed. "He's my brother, and I won't do anything to betray him. But... you're also my good friend. I won't do anything to harm you either. Just because of my identity, are you going to pretend our time together never happened?"

I didn't answer, standing at the kitchen door. "Don't call me that. We're not friends anymore."

"Then... Mrs. Brown?"

Natalia's serious, confused look was impossible to deal with.

"You... never mind. Do what you want, just don't cause me any trouble."

If she called me that in front of others, our identities would be exposed. She shouldn't be that foolish.

"I know."

Natalia looked down and fiddled with her fingers, looking like she knew she was wrong. I leaned against the door, my gaze unfocused.

She suddenly looked up, her innocent smile catching my eye.

In that moment, I felt my heart was filthy.

Natalia thought simply, while I overcomplicated things.

"I've prepared a document on Vesperia's power distribution. You can read it or I can explain it to you."

The document was on a USB drive. I copied it and returned it to her.

"I'll read it first. If I have questions, I'll ask you."

In the end, I still wasn't ready to figure out how to interact with Natalia.

She yawned. "I'll head home then. I only have one day off, and I haven't slept enough."

Before closing the door, she reminded me, "Oh, Caroline, our conversation today is a secret. Don't tell anyone, not even Avery. Of course, I'll keep it a secret too. I won't even tell my adoptive parents."

Could she not use such a playful tone?

The door closed, and I wondered if she took my words to heart.

Compared to the shock of learning her true identity, I was now calm.

So what if she was Raymond's sister? He had already discovered my whereabouts.

I was afraid of him, but I didn't plan to keep hiding.

I intended to check the document Natalia sent me, but Liliana suddenly started crying.

Guessing she was hungry, I made her some formula.

Liliana must have smelled the milk, as she immediately stopped crying.

Adjusting the bottle, I saw her face, increasingly resembling Raymond's and my eyes filled with tear.

Natalia was right.

The rules didn't allow abortion, but if I wanted, there were many ways to prevent this child from being born.

Liliana was my only connection to Raymond.

I didn't want to go back to him. I wanted to get revenge, to make him suffer, to destroy everything he cared about.

I still loved him, and I was willing to raise our child.

Was there anything more despairing than this?