Chapter 318
Arianna could only step back and keep following, helpless to do anything else.
By the time they were halfway up the stairs, almost three hours had dragged by. Natalie looked pale as a ghost, her face so white it was scary.
Arianna couldn’t take it anymore. She pleaded, voice trembling with tears, “Natalie, please, let’s stop. Alexander is just putting you through hell. You’re going to break down if you keep this up p>
Natalie didn’t say a word. She just kept going, crawling up the steps on her knees, one slow, painful inch at a time.
Her knees were raw and aching, sweat dripping from her forehead and running down her cheeks. Still, she refused to stop. In her heart, she prayed quietly, hoping that maybe, if she suffered enough, her lost child would find a better home in the next life.
Time kept ticking by. Natalie grew slower, her breath coming in harsh, shallow gasps. She was running on empty. The old injury on her left leg had started to swell again.
At last, she reached the top. Her clothes were drenched with sweat, her pants ripped at the knees, exposing skin that was red and swollen.
When she looked up, she saw the Cloud-Kissing Pagoda’s grand hall right in front of her, and Alexander was there too, standing at the entrance, his expression cold as ice.
Their eyes met for a single heartbeat before Alexander turned to Aaron Lee and said something quietly.
Aaron hurried over to Natalie, stopping in front of her. He looked uncomfortable, even a little guilty, but he still delivered the message. “Ms. Watson, Mr. Ramirez wants you to… keep kneeling… all the way up to the altar p>
There was still a stretch of ground between her and the hall, and the path was nothing but dirt and sharp stones.
Arianna finally lost it. “Alexander Ramirez is out of his mind!” she shouted. “He made her kneel up nine hundred ninety-nine steps and now wants her to keep going? Does he want her dead p>
She rushed to Natalie and tried to pull her up. “Natalie, forget it. We’re done. You’ve already done enough. Please stop hurting yourself p>
But this wasn’t just Alexander’s punishment. It was Natalie’s too. She couldn’t let go of the baby she’d lost. No matter what anyone said, she couldn’t forgive herself.
Natalie pulled her hand away. Her body swayed, but she pushed Arianna back, her voice just a hoarse whisper. “It’s just one last step p>
She stared at the hall and kept moving forward, knees scraping over the rough ground, every inch feeling like she was kneeling on broken glass. The pain stabbed deep, but she didn’t stop.
Out of the corner of her eye, she could see Alexander, standing there, perfectly still.
Natalie clenched her jaw and kept her gaze straight ahead, ignoring everything else er vision started to
blu a ringing filled her ears, ane
world seemed to tilt and spin.
Halfway to the altar, her body finally gave up. The ground tilted beneath her, and
everything went black. She collapsed.
“Natalie!” Arianna screamed behind her.
Natalie fell into a
deep dream. She
was a little girl again, maybe seven or eight years old. Her mom sat with her, building Lego towers. Her dad worked nearby, and her grandma rocked gently in a chair smiling at them. The rıghtful source is.net
It felt so warm. So safe.
But then, suddenly, they were all gone.
Now she was wearing a wedding dress. Alexander stood in front of her, holding her hand, slipping a ring onto her finger.
Natalie shook her head. “No I don’t want this I can’t go through this again p>
But Alexander wouldn’t let go. He gripped her hand tighter, promising, “Natalie Watson, I’ll make you happy for the rest of your life p>
“No, no p>
Natalie’s eyes snapped open. The sharp scent of disinfectant hit her nose.
She turned her head and saw Alexander standing by the window, just a few steps away.