298 Big plans (1)
Although she had discussed it with Desmond and she knew what to do, meeting Ava and Owen was not in the least bit pleasant. It was bearable, but that was only because they were in Owen’s ward with the nurse hovering around to check on him and give him another IV.
Visiting time was not due for another few hours but she relented when Ava made up a story about Natalie’s boss only letting her leave the office now.
Perhaps because she knew them, the nurse knew it was best not to make enemies out of the Sparks family, so she let Natalie stay, as long as she would leave if she was required to.
When the nurse left, Natalie looked like it was finally time for her slaughter. She had hoped she would have the chance to slip away without being blamed for not making an effort.
Owen held a hand out to her and when Natalie placed hers in his, he squeezed it. “I hate that you are caught up between Lucy and us. You are our only child.”
She nodded listlessly. They had always wanted other children and she was conciously aware of that, especially now that they thought being an adult would ease the blow of being insufficient in their eyes. At the same time, she knew this was the opening speech before they would urge her to get married for their benefit.
The thought of marriage gave her an idea. She held Owen’s hand in one of hers and took Ava’s in another. “I met someone.”
“Someone apart from that actor?” Ava immediately remarked. Natalie was yet to say a word when Owen glowered at his wife.
“Ava!”
.....
“What? She’s wasting her life away when…”
“I get discharged tomorrow. Why don’t you bring him home for dinner?” He said to Natalie, teasingly adding that he would like to see what it was about him that had his daughter so ensnared.
However, her plan to distract them until it was time for a doctor to check on Owen and she had to leave was not quite as successful as she had hoped. Time was dragging painfully slow and when she no longer had anything to talk about to keep their focus away from why they had called her over, she had to listen to them go on about Lucy.
Ava recounted the story of her birth and how she had grown up, making sure to paint Lucy as a bully along the way, and when she was done, she even confessed how she had impulsively decided her life would be better if Lucy did not exist.
“I was young, Natalie. I was stupid, I’ll admit that. But in the heat of the moment, nothing had ever felt so right. And I was pregnant.”
“With her fiancé’s child.” She gently reminded her.
As expected, that made Ava nearly lose her mind. “What the hell do you mean? She hated Owen. Owen hated her. They would rather kill each other than marry. I did her a favor by giving our father a reason to call off her wedding.”
It was harsh, but she was telling the truth—mostly. Natalie knew after the lengthy chat with Norman that it had been Lucy’s idea to bait Owen into taking interest in another woman, so she would escape and marry the love of her life.
To be fair, it would have all worked out perfectly in the end. Ava would have married Owen and Lucy would find her way to Theodore. Except, Ava had hated the fact that she only got to be with Owen because Lucy didn’t want him. She hated having her half sister’s leftovers as much as she hated her father and his new family.
Ava was determined to sway her daughter. “You know Lucy better than I do. She did seek you out after all, and everyone talks about her. She does not let go of grudges. The explosion does not even scratch the surface of the things she wants to do to us.” She squeezed her hand around Natalie’s. “She is going to kill us if you don’t help us.”
Natalie let out a sigh. “If I have a choice, I really don’t want to be her enemy. You are right, she is a dangerous woman. She can hurt you, but she can do the same thing to me. And do you know who would be the most hurt from it? Desmond.” She realized she had said the wrong thing as soon as her words were out. Her parents had a soft spot for Desmond. She knew that, so she had thought they would relent if she made this about them.
She didn’t need to think to realize she had given them a better way around their insane plot.
“You are close to Zaria, right?” Ava glanced at her husband and then at her, but Natalie wasn’t buying it. This was not about Zaria. Whatever she had thought about when Desmond was mentioned, she was not going to reveal it in fear that her daughter would sully her plans.
Since they no longer needed her, they pulled her into more small talk about missing her and hoping she could go back home for a few days once Owen was discharged.
She smiled, without promising anything, and fired off a text message to Zaria as soon as she was in the hospital hallway.
_____
Meanwhile, Zaria was having breakfast with Ximena in her office. She had not been able to eat anything this morning, and Ximena had brought a bunch of blueberry muffins and decaf coffee on her way to check on her.
“Don’t flatter yourself. I’m on my way to work. I randomly picked a few muffins on the way. I didn’t even know you like these.” She exaggeratedly rolled her eyes when Zaria grilled her about bringing her breakfast when she had to go to work.
Zaria laughed, relieved that she managed to swallow what she was chewing without choking thanks to Ximena’s insanity. “I guess you stumbled up here because you were looking for a place to sit down and eat your breakfast.”
“You know me all too well.” Ximena laughed and snorted. “Now that we are here, why don’t we talk about your wedding?” She brought up the topic Zaria had been putting off. “You have to decide, Zaria. Are you going to have it when you can still fit into a normal wedding dress, or do you want to wait for a year and have it when your body has restored its normal figure? Or better yet, do you want a maternity wedding dress? I swear, those are not very easy to pull off—if you can get the right measurement by the time you walk down the aisle, that is.”
Zaria grunted in distress. That was what she was most afraid of. What if she picked a gown and fit into it a week before her wedding, but it was too tight on the wedding day anyway? It would be a nightmare, and not many designers made adjustable wedding gowns. At least none that she knew of. Besides, who was to say that one that looked good with her stomach flat would still look as good when she was all swollen with a noticeable bump?
“I don’t want to wait for a year.” She ran a hand through her hair.
“Then decide on the major things while you still have the chance.”
Zaria’s phone chimed with a text message. She checked it and frowned at Natalie’s text message. The Sparks were up to something, and Natalie was asking her to be careful.
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