The Billionaire's Rental Wife Is A Hot Shot

While things got settled for Zevian and Evelyn, it wasn’t the same for Natalie and Dominic. They both patiently waited as Jonathan tried to handle the things at the station with the officers.

"Dad will be able to get her out of it," Natalie murmured, looking at their daughter inside the room, standing quietly beside Jonathan Reign.

Dominic nodded with a small sigh, blaming himself for the mess. His mother Sabrina had only gotten worse after Evelyn’s confrontation, unable to accept that she was the reason behind her own daughter’s death. She must have instigated Emily, using the kid to quench her thirst.

"Who the fuck gave her the gun?" Natalie couldn’t stop herself from grumbling, as this was just beyond crazy. If it was her mother-in-law, then Dominic needed to do something quick and get her to a mental asylum.

Dominic remained silent, confirming her intuitions were quite on the spot. Sabrina had a licensed gun for a few years, and his assistant already confirmed it belonged to her.

Natalie wanted to yell but only heaved a long sigh. Clenching her fists, she murmured, "Take her to a therapist or some professional." 𝐟𝗿𝐞𝚎𝚠𝐞𝚋𝕟𝐨𝚟𝐞𝕝.𝕔𝕠𝚖

"I am planning to move with her to Aracamia next month after Katie’s anniversary," Dominic replied, having made arrangements.

Natalie felt her heart heavy at the mention of country Aracamia, memories from the past gushing in her mind. It was Dominic’s father’s birthplace, and they had stayed there in their early years of marriage when he was dealing with...

Her thoughts were interrupted when Jonathan walked out, a grim expression on his face. "I don’t want this kind of nonsense again. Get it sorted," He firmly said to Dominic, hinting that they were able to handle it well.

"And you," Turning to Emily, Jonathan continued, "act according to your age. Just because I have helped you out doesn’t mean I forgive you, Emily. You will receive punishments accordingly, and trust me it would be worse than sending you away to a boarding school."

Emily flinched at her grandfather’s scolding, her eyes fixed on the ground. He was the one who had sent her to the boarding school last year even against her parent’s wish, mainly because of how violent she had turned in the past few years. And now, she seemed to have only pissed him more.

When both the father and daughter duo didn’t reply, Jonathan let out a hot breath. Looking at his daughter, he murmured, "Let’s sort things out at the mansion."

Natalie nodded with a small smile, sensing he was not letting her be alone with them after what her daughter showed she was capable of doing to anyone. Jonathan and his team walked, and she asked them to follow out.

A row of three cars immediately parked in front of the gate at Jonathan’s arrival and he gestured for Natalie to enter the middle one. Turning to his assistant, he said, "Get them to the mansion." Before entering the car.

Emily felt tears forming in the corner of her eyes as her grandfather intentionally made them take a different car, clearly stating that they were nothing more than strangers now and it irked her even more.

Dominic sighed out loud, having been used to such treatment from Jonathan. At first, he would get pissed at it, and hate Natalie more but now he felt like he deserved all of it, though he realized it quite too late.

Placing a hand over his daughter’s shoulder, he murmured, "Let’s go."

It took almost an hour to reach the mansion where Rosalind was already pacing back and forth in the lavish, dimly lit hall.

"What happened?" She asked, hurrying to her husband as soon as they entered the building.

"Handled for now," Jonathan replied grimly, and turning to Natalie, he said, "Use my study. There’s divorce papers too on my desk."

Natalie nodded and gestured for her daughter and Dominic to follow them, having some serious family discussion about their future.

Emily couldn’t stop her tears when even her grandmother started looking at her angrily, their treatment harsher than she had expected when picking up that gun from her grandmother’s hands.

Once they were inside the study. Natalie felt her heart ramming against her chest wildly. For god’s sake, she had finally decided to stand up for herself but it just felt so nerve-racking and harder than she had imagined it to be.

"N-need water?" She asked, walking to the small seating arrangement made in the large study room. Her father usually had important but private talks with his staff and businessmen here so it was bigger compared to the one she and Zevian had for themselves.

"No, thanks," Dominic murmured, and Natalie gestured for them to sit on the brown leather sofa. They both settled down and she took the chair adjacent to them.

Emily felt the silence between them was suffocating, something that had always been there between her parents, but it was thicker this time. "I am sorry," she finally said, letting her ego aside now that it was just her parents.

Natalie sighed again, the fifth time in a row and she cursed herself for doing it. Their family has always been so wrecked that it only got harder to sit and talk like now.

"We have made our decision, Lily," Dominic spoke, knowing Natalie could never put herself to go through this topic. "It’s best for everyone. We are not good for each other and will only continue to suffer more being in this marriage." He confessed, his words sincere but filled with a tinge of sadness.

"But you guys promised to at least try for me," Emily grumbled, tears trickling down her face. Last year, when Natalie had decided to divorce, she had stopped her again, begging and crying just like she did after her aunt Katherine’s death, trying everything to keep her parents together, but it seemed to have not worked in the end.

"We did and it didn’t work out," Natalie expressed, her voice full of pain. "Things will never be the same between us and if you still selfishly want us to stay together, then fine, we will suffer more for you."

Emily felt her tears trickling down, her mouth open but no words could confront her mother. True, she had been selfish, very cruel to them but she had her reason which no one ever tried to understand.

Dominic rubbed Emily’s back and murmured, "We can’t be together, Lily. Not after what your grandmother made Zevian go through because of Katherine. She messed up everything between the two families and it’s impossible to fix it again."

"What did she even do?" Emily grumbled, tears gushing out of her eyes. Sniffling, she continued in a shaky voice, "All she wanted was for them to stay together, to not divorce just like me."

That’s what even Dominic thought all this while, being blinded by her grief and sorrows that he never doubted her until Evelyn opened the blindfold for him.

"She tried to murder them, Emily." Natalie broke out, feeling this would go in circles again like in the past. Wiping her tears, she continued, "Just like you tried to kill Evelyn a few hours ago, your grandmother scrammed their car’s brakes and played with their lives."

Emily’s mouth opened in shock, her tears dripping down her chubby cheeks. "N-no... Grandma isn’t that cruel."

"Well, she is! And also the main culprit behind your aunt’s death." Natalie grumbled, having wanted to release these emotions ever since the revelation.

Emily shook her head, unable to digest it. Her breaths started to get heavy, and Dominic filled a glass of water with her. Natalie bit her lower lip as Dominic tried to calm down their daughter, guilty for venting in front of the poor child. After all, she was still twelve, and her dear aunt’s death was still a trigger point for her.

"What’s wrong?" Rosalind entered just then, unable to hold herself though Jonathan tried to stop her. She quickly rushed to Emily who pounced into her arms and cried out loud, causing Rosalind to panic and look at Natalie.

"I told the truth," Natalie confessed, biting her lower lip.

Rosalind heaved a sigh and patted Emily’s back, knowing the girl loved Katherine so much. It was also the reason she hated Zevian and stopped talking to him after the accident.

"I will take her out," Rosalind murmured, sensing the couple needed to have their confrontations.

Natalie nodded and Rosalind slowly helped Emily out, leaving them alone.

Silence filled the room again, both lost in their dump of thoughts. Natalie took a deep breath and walked to the desk, picking up the divorce paper from it.

Natalie sat back down after retrieving the papers, her fingers trembling as she placed them in front of Dominic. The air felt unbearably heavy, and she could hear her heartbeat in the silence that followed.

She shifted in her seat and, with a shaking hand, slid the papers towards Dominic. "I already signed them. You should too so we can process it early."

Her gaze flickered from the papers to Dominic’s face, searching for any sign of hesitation, any glimmer of guilt that might suggest he’d reconsider. But Dominic remained stoic, his expression unreadable. He took the pen, and quickly signed it, causing her brain to curse herself, Natalie blamed her heart, foolishly believing that maybe, just maybe, he might look at her and ask if they could fix things.

"We will co-parent Emily," Natalie whispered, her voice barely containing the storm of emotions raging within her. She swallowed hard, fighting back the tears that threatened to spill.

She expected some acknowledgment, some agreement from Dominic. But instead, he shook his head, his jaw tightening.

"No," he said firmly, surprising her. "You should take her custody."

Natalie scoffed at his words, her anger barely contained. "So you’re running away from facing the problems again? Leaving everything for me to handle? Seriously, Dominic?"

When he didn’t respond, she continued, "Answer me, Dominic. Does she mean nothing to you just like me? I know you never loved or cared about me, but Lily-"

"I don’t want her custody because I don’t have much time, Natalie!" Dominic snapped, his voice louder than usual.

Natalie’s eyes widened, and her heart seemed to stop for a second. "What?" she asked in a breathless whisper as if she had misheard him.

Dominic looked away, standing up from the chair, but Natalie was faster. She grabbed his hand, her grip tight, her voice pleading now. "Dominic, what’s wrong?"

Dominic closed his eyes for a long moment as if gathering the strength to say the words he had been holding back. When he finally opened them, there was no trace of the calm, distant man he had become. Instead, there was raw fear and sorrow in his gaze.

"The tumor in my brain," Dominic said slowly, his voice thick with emotion. "It has returned. And..." His voice cracked, "It’s bigger than last time."