Pampered by my Billionaire CEO Husband

A soft gasp escaped from my parted lips and it felt as though the world had stopped spinning.

The dark brown eyes and long dark hair... Natalie was almost like a reflection of myself. How did I not see it?

Shock engulfed me entirely in an instant and a tiny frown was etched between my brows as disbelief was written all over my face. I couldn’t believe what I was seeing even though the evidence was right in front of me. My hands continued to tremble and I kept my eyes fixated on the piece of paper I was holding, simply unable to tear my gaze away from it. My heart was pounding loudly against my chest and my head was spinning out of control.

I let the paper fall onto the table as I lifted my head to look at Natalie who was sitting across from me. Her eyes widened slightly with what seemed like surprise and and her lips were left agape like she didn’t know what to say. I could see the way the gears were shifting inside of her head as she struggled to come to terms with this new found reality. But even so, she maintained her calm demeanour as if she had seen this coming from a mile away.

This felt like a dream. I reached down to pinch myself in my arm and I was snapped back to reality as the pain shot through my body.

"This is real..." I murmured under my breath. "This is not a dream..."

Despite my soft voice, Natalie could still hear me clearly as we locked eyes this time.

"You are right, Aurelia. This is not a dream, this is real," she confirmed as she let out a breath. Her eyes were running wild with emotions as she looked at me, tears gleaming in her eyes under the soft yellow lights that lit up the cafe. Then, I watched as a single tear drop fell down her cheeks. "You... You are my daughter."

She reached out to try and hold onto my hand, but I pulled back, recoiling at her touch. I placed my hands on my lap as doubt began to creep into my mind despite everything. I thought I wanted this, so why wasn’t I excited or jumping for joy?

"I...I..." I stammered as my mind was still one big mess. A sour feeling shot right up my nose and tears started to fill the brim of my eyes. "How... Can I know that I can trust you?" I asked, my voice came out shaky as I spoke. 𝙧𝙚𝙚𝔀𝒆𝓫𝓷𝙤𝓿𝒆𝙡.𝒄𝙤𝓶

Her brows immediately furrowed together to form a tiny frown as the creases on her forehead deepened. "You know you can trust me... right? Why would I lie to you about this? There’s absolutely no reason for me to do that," she said, her tone filled with sincerity and she looked genuine but I couldn’t shake off that feeling.

"I... don’t know. But after everything that has happened between Evelyn and I, I don’t think I can trust anyone. How do I know if you are not up to something bad? Or what do you have planned this time? Is this all part of Evelyn’s plan?"

She let out a breath and leaned forward as she placed her hands on the edge of the table.

"I know you and Evelyn have your problems. I know you have the right to doubt us and not trust us," she began. "But the results are right there. If... You are worried that the results may have been forged for whatever reason. I will go with you to any hospital you pick, and we will do the maternity test right there."

Silence enveloped us for what seemed like an eternity before I finally broke the silence.

I looked up to meet her gaze.

"What about Evelyn?" I found myself asking and I watched as her face fell within the next second. "You said she is diagnosed with breast cancer. Are you going to take me back to the Lloyd’s mansion and kick her out? What should we do after finding out the truth? What’s going to change?"

She lowered her head and averted her eyes. Her mind was swirling with thoughts like a damn hurricane. I knew she couldn’t let go of Evelyn, afterall, she did raise her as her daughter for over 20 years, blood-related or not, the bond was undeniable no matter what anyone said.

"I’m not kicking Eve out," she mumbled under her breath. "She is also my daughter," she said, choking up on her words as the guilt began to settle in.

"I can’t do that, especially not right now when she needs me the most," she continued, her words filled with emotions as the thought of Evelyn in the hospital popped into her mind, reminding her of the cruel reality.

"I know you can’t let her go," I said as I was still struggling to process the truth. "So why don’t we pretend like this never happened? And I won’t tell anyone a single word about our meeting today."

She wiped the tears off her face and looked up to meet my eyes.

"No. I can’t do that. How can I find out that you are my daughter and pretend like nothing happened? I can’t."

"Then what should we do?"

***

We had just stepped out of the cafe when Natalie looked at me with a bittersweet smile plastered across her face, not saying a single word. Before I knew it, she had pulled me into a hug, her arms wrapped around me tightly as I stood there in shock.

"I’m sorry for how we treated you," she murmured next to my ear, her voice carrying a hint of guilt and regret. "I hope you can forgive us."

After a moment of hesitation, I finally reached up to hug her back but I didn’t answer her directly. "I... I need time to process this."

She pulled back from the hug and held onto my shoulders. "I understand," she said with a slight smile on her face.

It was at this moment when a familiar voice pierced through the air and reached my ears. My eyes quickly scanned the area and they landed on a pair of dark brown eyes.

"Aurelia!" My name left his lips and I watched as Xavier rushed over towards me, closing the distance between us in a few large strides.

"Xavier, what are you doing here? Aren’t you at a meeting?"

"It ended a while ago and I figured I could go down to the studio to meet you, but then I saw you here..." he explained as his voice trailed off and he turned to face Natalie this time. "What are you doing here with ... Natalie?" He asked, his voice laced with a hint of confusion and concern as his eyes darted between the two of us with a puzzled expression that masked his features.

"We were just –"

But that confused look that was etched onto his face quickly faded and was replaced with a pointed look when a thought popped into his mind. Almost immediately, his face darkened visibly and his eyes were narrowed into thin slits as he turned to glare at her. Interrupting me as the words barely left the tip of my tongue.

"What do you want with Aurelia?" He questioned, his tone carrying a sharp edge to it. "I saw the two of you talking, what did you tell her? Why were you hugging her?" He asked again, this time, the words that left his lips were dripping with accusation.

But Natalie’s gaze flickered over to look at me for a split second as if she was trying to signal me something before she turned back to look at him. The corners of her lips curled upwards into a slight smile as their gazes met.

"I just needed to tell her something and I hugged her goodbye. That’s all," she answered casually, avoiding the question entirely but he quickly caught on.

He leaned in closer as the frown that was resting between his brows deepened. "What is it?"

I reached out to wrap my fingers around his arm as I looked up at him to meet his eyes. "Xavier, let’s not talk about this here," I urged as my brows were knitted together and my voice was trembling ever so slightly.

His dark brown eyes were filled with concern and worry this time as he turned back to look at me, his dark eyes holding mine captive. "Did she threaten you? Is she making you leave me so that her daughter can get back with me?" He asked, his words piercing through the tension that was lingering in the air between us.

"Xavier, I can assure you that I would never do such a thing," Natalie chimed in with a serious expression that bored her face. "I would never try to get between you and Aurelia."

"Then what is it that you two were talking about?" He asked again through gritted teeth. "Why are you avoiding my question and acting suspicious?" He questioned, his tone laced with a hint of doubt as he looked at the both of us.

"Well..." She drawled as she struggled to find the right words to say. "I was... just..." she stammered anxiously, contemplating if she should tell him the truth.

I couldn’t hold it back anymore and impulse clouded my judgement. Within the next second I burst out yelling.

"I’m her daughter!"