Married To My Billionaire Stepbrother

Chapter 249: You Were Always Right

There was a silence on Natalie’s end, but she wasn’t as shocked as she might have expected.

Since Justin had entered her life, and said those bitter and hurting words about her gratitude toward Ivan, she had already started to doubt her assumptions.

But she needed to hear it from Ivan himself.

"Why didn’t you correct me back then?" Natalie asked.

"Back then, I didn’t give it much thought and left it. I assumed it meant you were probably in love with me and held on to the thought of coming back to me one day, which must be the reason for what you claim as your strength," Ivan answered.

"As you weren’t the one who messaged me and became my strength, then there’s no reason for me to feel any gratitude toward you or indebted to you," Natalie said coldly, her tone and eyes devoid of emotion, as though she were speaking to a stranger. "If you had said it was you, I might have considered listening to your request. But now, there’s no need."

Just as she was about to hang up, she heard him say, "Don’t you want to know why I agreed to marry you?"

"Because I was a slaving cow meant to turn your company profitable," Natalie said, her voice icy.

"No. There’s something you still don’t know, but you should," Ivan said. "The people you trusted aren’t what you think they are. You don’t know how they’ve been deceiving you."

are you talking about?" she asked, her tone laced with

agree to what I’ve asked about my mother.

as cold as her earlier tone, as though

family. For that, you owe me, but I never asked you for anything in return. Today, I’m asking you—what you owe me, you have to repay by granting my mother’s freedom. I give you my word, just this once. If something like this happens again from

After this matter, what we owed each other is settled, and

that mean you agree?"

hung up the

quietly in bed, her gaze

his laptop aside and walked over to her. He gently took the phone from her hand and placed it on the side

looked up at him, her eyes carrying a tinge of sadness. "You were always right. I invested my gratitude and time

you know the truth, you’re free from that

even when I felt something was off—that

not a loser, Natalie. You were incredibly strong. Despite having nothing, you still tried to repay the gratitude you thought you owed. It’s unfortunate that the person wasn’t deserving, but that doesn’t make you a loser. The more I get to know you, the more I realize you’re the most

heavy praise," Natalie

holding her tightly. "I will always treasure you. All I ask is that you trust

in response before asking softly, "But then, who was the

that out too," Justin assured her. Then, in a firm yet gentle