293 Along memory lane (3)
Preston and Fort Group.
Natalie arrived feeling overwhelmed. She only had ten minutes before the board meeting but she didn’t think she could take it. She wanted to drown herself in coffee—or tequila. Whatever would work best. When she met Zaria in the hallway, the latter was concerned.
“Are you okay, Nat? How are your parents?” Zaria pulled her in for a hug.
“They are doing fine. As fine as they can do after this murder attempt, anyway.” She forced a laugh. “How can anyone be so cruel?”
Zaria realized Natalie already knew what happened and it was probably not best to talk about it in the company hallways. She guided her back to her office. There was still some coffee left from the espresso she had just made. She poured it in a cup and offered it to Natalie. “It’s decaf. Do you mind?”
Natalie shook her head and took a sip. “How did you know what I need?”
“You like taking espresso with no cream and no sugar when you are upset. I don’t know how you ever manage to swallow it but yikes, whatever floats your boat.” Zaria circled her desk and sat, waiting for Natalie to decide whether or not she wanted to talk about it.
“Uhm, Zaria, do you know the name of your maternal great grandmother?” She asked.
It was an odd question, one which Zaria had no answer to. She shook her head.
.....
“I see.” Natalie downed her coffee in a few gulps, set the cup down and stood. “Thank you. I’ll rush to the restroom before the meeting begins.”
She left the office, leaving behind Zaria who was confused. She bumped into Zeus outside and grabbed his arm to stop him. “Wait.”
“What was that? Did you finally decide to go out with me, Nat?” He winked.
“Don’t even joke about that.” She felt bile rise in the pit of her stomach and had to do her best not to gag. She checked left and right to make sure no one was nearby and asked in a low voice, “Do you remember ever mentioning that Zaria and I look alike?”
Zeus frowned at her question. “I said you and my mother look a bit alike but now that you mention it, you could pretend to be Zaria’s sister and no one would doubt it. But why are you asking? Comparing my sister to you is kind of gross.”
Natalie had already bolted for the exit.
….
The meeting was bound to feel like hell with Lucy in the same conference room, so she did the only thing she could—she let Desmond know she wouldn’t be present and floored the accelerator out of Preston and Fort Group. The last place she wanted to be was near Lucy.
As soon as she got to her apartment, she grabbed a hair curling wand and a spray dye she had wanted to try before but hadn’t had the chance to. She took a deep breath and begun working on her hair, and when she was done, she pulled it back and scrolled through her phone for a picture of Zaria.
She had heard it from Zeus and Devonte but that was nothing compared to what she was seeing in the mirror. This was not necessary, she had to admit, but she wanted to see how similar She and Zaria actually looked. She had made her hair to look like Zaria’s and used a lipstick similar to hers, and the result nearly sent her breaking down. Forget sisters. With only a few alterations, they could pretend to be identical twins and no one would doubt it.
She angrily rubbed the lipstick off and took a shower much longer than necessary, only stopping when the doorbell rang. She grabbed bathrobe and draped it on, trying not to sob as she went to open the door. She threw herself into Devonte’s arms as soon as she saw him on the other side of the door.
He wanted to ask what was wrong but instead, he wrapped his arms around her.
“She’s my aunt!” She bit out through a sob.
He couldn’t make head or tail of what she meant. He led her back into the house and sat her on the couch, still holding her in his arms. “Who?”
“Lucy.” She still couldn’t believe it.
Devonte was taken aback. Lucy always seemed like the woman with a billion secrets but he still couldn’t imagine this. How could she be Natalie’s aunt? He had a gazillion questions but Natalie felt horrible so he reined them in and asked, “Why is that a bad thing? Haven’t you been close to her lately?”
“That’s the thing. She lied to me.” She angrily wiped her tears. “I wouldn’t hate her if I knew she is my aunt but she…” She sighed. “And she tried to kill my parents.”
“What makes you believe she did that?” Devonte frowned. He wasn’t implying it was something Lucy wouldn’t do. On the contrary, the woman was probably one of the most heartless people in Olphire. However, why would she want to hurt the parents of the woman she had been treating like a daughter?
“I have no idea. My parents think she’s behind the accident.” She sneezed and remembered her hair was still wet. She had been resting in Devonte’s arms without a care in the world but when she checked him over, she freaked out. “Oh my God. Your clothes are all messed up.”
“That’s okay. Don’t you have a hair dryer?” He let her get up.
“I’ll…get you my hair dryer.” She didn’t feel comfortable letting him dry his clothes with a hair dryer after the mess she had created but if he stayed in his damp clothes any longer, he might catch a chill. She changed her mind halfway towards her bedroom and turned around. “Or you could dry them in my room while…I dress up.” Her words dwindled as she quickly realized what they had implied.
Devonte chuckled as he followed her and wrapped his arms around her. “Are you sure you will actually get dressed?”
“On second thought, no.” She took a deep breath and closed her eyes. Dressing up was the last thing she wanted to do.
….
About an hour later, Natalie’s hair and Devonte’s clothes were finally dry. He kissed her lips. “I think you should talk to her. Maybe what you think is a murder attempt might be self defense.”
Natalie pulled away from him with a frown. “That’s not all I care about. But you’re right. Lucy and I have a lot to talk about. It’s a coincidence that I was invited to dinner this evening.”
____
That evening, Natalie finally showed up at Theodore’s house with the fakest smile she could muster. Lucy was, as expected, surprised to see her.
“Natalie, you are here. Are you feeling better?” She asked. Natalie had claimed to feel unwell when she refused to join the meeting.
“Never been better. It’s nice of you to ask, aunt.” She proceeded into the living room.
Lucy frowned. Natalie had been calling her ‘aunt’ for the past few weeks but she still thought there was something wrong with the way she said it today. It didn’t take long to figure it out. With the warning she had left Ava and her husband, it would be a surprise if Natalie didn’t know the truth.
She placed her hand on her shoulder. “Do you want to talk later?”
“What do you want to talk about, aunt?” She scoffed, feeling angrier than she thought she would be after blowing off some steam with Devonte earlier. “About the fact that you are my actual aunt or that you used me?”
“Wait a second.” Zaria froze on the staircase which she was descending when she overheard Natalie’s outrage. She looked at Natalie then at Lucy. “You’re her aunt?”
“I guess I’m not the only one who didn’t know this.” She took a deep breath. “I’m sorry you had to find out this way, Zaria. Apparently, Nathaniel Su doesn’t only have one runaway child. He had three of them, including my mother and Aunt Lucy, who knew the truth right off the bat—and who has been using me to get revenge against my parents.”
Lucy approached her carefully. “Nat, that’s not true. I did want to use you but…”
“But you realized I’m too good to be used in such a way? Save it.” She turned to head right out the door.
Zaria was still confused when she got to the living room. She glanced at the door and decided that Natalie would probably want to be alone, so she turned to Lucy. “How long have you known this?”
“Since I heard the name Natalie Sparks.” Lucy answered truthfully, since the cat was out of the bag anyway. “That’s ten years ago. I’m sorry I kept this from you. Ava did some things…”
“She did some things alright. I don’t blame you for wanting revenge but why would you use her daughter? How would you feel if someone pretended to befriend me just so they would use me for revenge?”
Lucy took her hands. “I’m sorry. I didn’t want to hurt her. It just spiraled out of control.”
Her head was spinning but she didn’t want to break down. Not when Natalie needed a shoulder to lean on to process the twist that had become of her life. She looked into Lucy’s eyes for traces of any other lie. “Is there any other aunt, uncle or cousin I should know about?”
“Only my half brother Norman and your cousin Kara Williams.”
“What?” She screeched at the double explosion. “Norm is my uncle? Wait, that makes sense. He did say Ava Sparks is his sister. But Kara Williams is my cousin?! What else are you going to tell me? That Isabella Deandre is my grandmother?”
“Uhm, that would be your soon-to-be grandmother-in-law.”
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