Bonds

Chapter 13

“So,” Natalia drawled, stretching out the word like t a f y, “he dropped to one knee, right there in the middle of the street?” Her voice hold a mixture of amusement and disbelief, but underneath I could sense the genuine excitement bubbling up.

I couldn’t help but c r a c k a smile, twirling the simple pearl ring on my finger, “Exactly,” I confirmed, my voice tinged with disbelief. “The minute we were arguing about his sister being a grade one b**h, the next he’s proposing under the streetlights.”

Natalia leaned closer, her eyes sparkling with something akin to mischief. “So, you’re officially over Alex then? Like, completely wiped from your emotional hard drive?”

A groan escaped my lips. “Nat, can we please not go there? For one blissful hour, can just bask in the crazy, unexpected reality of my new fiancé without dissecting the Alex shaped elephant in the room?”

She squeezed my hand, her playful expression softening “Okay, okay, truce. But as your friend, I gotta do my due diligence. This Ivan guy seems…” she hesitated, searching for the right word, “perfect. Almost too good to be true,”

Panic fluttered in my stomach. It was exactly the thought that had been gnawing at me ever since the adrenaline of the proposal had faded, “I know but maybe this is my reward for all the s**t I’ve suffered,” forced a casual tone, but the tremor in my voice betrayed me.

Her gaze softened. “I’m not trying to paint him as a bad guy but I would be wrong if I didn’t speak my mind. Alex is the father of your children who doesn’t know he has children. You have a mating mark that van does not know about, not to mention he does not know that you were married to Alex, who is his crazy sister’s fiancé now. Wow, I just realized that that is a whole lot. Don’t even let me get s t a ed on your asshole father”

Her words were like an avalanche, burying me under the weight of unspoken truths. My heart hammered against my ribs, a frantic drumbeat echoing the chaos in my mind. Why couldn’t things ever be simple?

“Natalia, for goodness sake, we just had a moment,” I mumbled, burying my face in the pillow. The image of Ivan’s hopeful smile flashed before my eyes, and a pang of guilt stabbed at me. “He already asked if anything happened between us. I can’t just ruin everything now by confessing Ilied.”

But deep down, I knew Natalia was right. The longer I kept the truth hidden, the bigger the potential fallout. The thought of losing Ivan, of seeing his trust shatter, was a terrifying prospect. It felt like teetering on the edge of a cliff, one misstep away from freefall.

“It’s not just about ruining the moment, Maya,” Natalia’s voice softened, laced with genuine concern. “What about you? Can you live with this secret gnawing at you? What happens when he finds out on his own? How will that make you feel?”

A tear escaped, tracing a warm path down my cheek. The reality of the situation hit me like a tidal wave. I couldn’t keep hiding. The burden was already suffocating, and the longer I waited, the more painful the inevitable reveal would be.

Taking a deep, shaky breath, I met Natalia’s gaze. My voice trembled, but there was a newfound resolve in it. “You’re right,” i admitted, the words tasting bitter on my tongue. “I can’t do this anymore. I need to tell him everything. The truth, the whole messy truth.”

Natalia gave me a smile that was both sad and supportive. “It won’t be easy, Maya, but trust me, facing it head on is the only way to build a real future with him. A future built on honesty, not secrets.”

Her words resonated within me, offering a sliver of hope amidst the storm of fear.

“Mum?” Ivy’s little voice cut in as she came into the room, rubbing her eyes.

My hand instinctively reached out, and her tiny figure melted into my embrace, Ivy, with her sleep-mussed hair and the familiar scent of sunshine and bubblegum, instantly calmed the storm raging within me. “My little angel,” I whispered, pressing a kiss to her forehead.

Looking into her big, blue eyes, it felt like staring into a mirror reflecting Alex back at me. A pang off guilt pierced my heart, quickly followed by a wave of fierce protectiveness. Ivy was my haven, my anchor in the swirling sea of emotions. Her soft whisper, “Nathan… mean… sleep,” brought a chuckle to my lips. Unlike her, Nathan, was a whirlwind of boundless energy, currently terrorizing Nato, in some unknown corner of the house.

Chapter 13

gaze filled with warmth

with anusement. “Just happy you have

for now, just for a little while,

you can,” she said, her voice laced with empathy. “But now that you’re here, there’s something I

in my

would rather eat dirt that sit on your s s doing nothing so I already sent in your

gratitude battling within me. If I hadn’t already loved Natalia with the ferocity of a thousand suns, this act of unwavering support would have cemented her place forever in my heart. “Natalia, you

with genuine joy. “The best friend in the world, you mean?” she teased, nudging me playfully. “And if you want to

firm despite the tremor of anxiety

closer, I inhaled the sweet scent of her hair, her steady breaths a comforting rhythm against my pounding heart. This moment, this fragile peace with my daughter and my best friend, felt

the tranquility, yanking me back to the harsh reality of my situation.

“Ignore it,” Natalia whispered.

my head, a shaky

she declared playfully, but the concern in her

finished, the call had already ended. I let out a sigh of relief, only to be met with the insistent ringing again. My father rarely

the first time?” his voice

forcing a calm into

hear from

he barked. “Where have you been? Why weren’t you home last night? And what in the world is this I hear about you getting married on the street, with

managed to build. A guttural

me?” his voice, tinged with disbelief, finally

started, my voice low and dangerous, “I am a grown woman. You wanted me married to Ivan, and I am. I don’t owe you an explanation for

Natalia’s gaze, searching for strength and finding it reflected back in her unwavering support. Inhaling deeply, I pushed down the storm

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Chapter 13

to consume

specific reason you called?” I asked, hoping to cut through

voice, softer this time, almost hesitant and I instantly knew something

married on the streets, there was

an icy coldness spread

out, the admission laced with something rare for him-fear. “And I’m… I’m

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Chapter 14

but I know

signed.”

the spot, anger battling disbelief and a deep-seated hurt. “…I…