Page 40 of Forbidden Fiancé

“It’s not your fault, Nat. My father never loved me, he never wanted me to be happy. He did whatever he could do to make sure I wasn’t. You’re just a long line in things that my father has tried to take away from me.”

“That isn’t true, Ethan. I might have been an absent father, but I always loved you and wanted what was best for you,” I said.

“Really? Did you want what was best for me when you took away my pet tiger when I was six?”

“Yes. The thing was going to get bigger and eat you. Plus, it was illegal to have.”

Ethan stammered and looked at me as if wasn’t understand what I was saying. “Oh, yeah, what about the time I wanted to get a car for my birthday and you wouldn’t let me? It wasn’t like you couldn’t afford it. You just didn’t want me to have it.”

“You were sixteen. You didn’t need to have a Lamborghini. You would have crashed it within days and could have killed someone. I offered to buy you another more appropriate car but you refused.”

“I wasn’t going to let you decide what I should have for my birthday. It wasn’t fair.”

“It was a gift I was giving you. I should most definitely have a say in what it was. Especially regarding your safety,” I said.

“Whatever. You’re just making excuses. And how about the time I told you I wanted to sail around the world and instead of buying me the boat I needed you bought the Destiny?”

“You had never sailed a day in your life, much less on your own. Again, you would have died. All of those decisions I made were with your best interest at heart. I only want what is best for you, son. Eventually, you will see you and Natalie were not meant to be.”

“Oh, so you’re saying I should be thanking you for sleeping with my fiancé? Is that it?” Ethan asked.

“Technically, I broke up with you before we left Miami. I gave you your ring back at the restaurant,” Natalie said.

“It was a mistake, one I let you rectify when you were on the Destiny with me. You said we were going to work things out. You said you wanted to be with me,” Ethan said.

I looked over at Natalie for confirmation. It didn’t sound like something she would say, but I wasn’t sure.

“No. I told you we were done but that we wouldn’t say anything to your parents until after we got back from the trip. You didn’t want your mother being upset about us breaking up,” Natalie said.

“We both knew we were going to get back together. It was just a matter of time. Time that was stolen from me by my father. Did you poison us? Was this your plan all along, make me so sick I couldn’t bed Natalie so you could instead?”

“I can’t believe you would even think such a thing. No. I have no idea what happened. I would never intentionally hurt you. I’m not trying to do it now.”

“Then why did you sleep with my fiancé? What other reason could you have then because you wanted to hurt me?”

“Because we love each other. We want to be together.” Natalie stood behind me and took my hand in hers. I squeezed it and nodded my agreement to Ethan.

He looked at us as if he was seeing us for the first time. His eyes darted to our hands and then how close we were and then back to our hands.

“No. He’s manipulating you. He’s using you. You can’t love him. You love me,” Ethan said, shaking his head.

“You don’t love her, Ethan,” I coaxed him.

“That isn’t the point. She loves me,” Ethan said.

I felt Natalie tensing up behind me and knew she understood what Ethan was saying. He didn’t disagree with me saying he didn’t love Natalie. He only wanted her to love him, even if he couldn’t reciprocate the feelings.

“That is exactly the point. She doesn’t love you and you don’t love her. Don’t you want her to find happiness with someone who does love her, who can treat her right? Don’t you deserve to find someone who loves you the way you should be?” I asked.

“You’re trying to manipulate me. You’re confusing me,” Ethan said and stepped away from us.

“No, Ethan. I want you to see what is right in front of you. I’m sorry, I didn’t want you to find out this way but we are in love. We’re going to get married,” Natalie said.

“Like hell you are,” he said.

“You can’t stop us. I would love to have your blessing. I would want you to come to the wedding and be a part of our lives,” I said.”

“That is never going to happen!” Ethan yelled.

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