When Isabelle left her hospital room accompanied by Seth, Naomi appeared from behind the corner she was hiding in.

She watched the backs of the two as they left, unaware that she had been at the door while they talked, and she had heard everything.

Isabelle was pregnant with Jacob's child? Naomi clenched her teeth and huffed. She was going to do everything she could to make sure that her adoptive sister left the city as soon as she could. Before Jacob woke up, and before Isabelle found out Jacob was actually Logan Larson.

Naomi wasn't going to let her win this time. She was the one who was supposed to marry Jacob in the first place. And now that she knew his real worth, she wasn't going to let her stupid adoptive sister keep him. If Jacob woke up and found out about the baby...

She shook her head. That couldn't happen. She wanted Isabelle out of his life completely. When he woke up, she would be nowhere to be found. Once Naomi let him know that his wife had eloped with another man, it would be game over.

Turning away, she headed towards the VIP hospital wing where she knew she would replace Jacob Garcia.

Since that day she had discovered that her sister's husband was actually a billionaire and not the poor man he presented himself to be, she had been looking for a way to get close to him.

But it was as if all of a sudden, he had disappeared into thin air. He hadn't even made any threats to her parents concerning their deception. They had been apprehensive for days, with Francis even trying to have a meeting with the Garcia family to apologise. But they had informed him that Jacob was on important business abroad, and they could meet when he got back.

Naomi had begun working on replaceing the exact whereabouts of Jacob. That was when one of her rich friends mentioned that the owner of the Larson Group was in an accident, but the company was keeping it under wraps. She had received that information the previous night.

When she woke up in the morning, she headed to the Larson hospital to see for herself. Running into Isabelle had been total coincidence, and she felt that luck was on her side.

Now that she knew Isabelle had been planning to quit her job and leave the city, she was going to make sure that she stuck to her plan.

When Naomi got off the elevator on the VIP wing, she noticed that the nurses' station was empty, and she walked right past it as quickly as she could. She came across one of the private wards, but the name on the door wasn't Jacob's.

She hurried to the other one, but before she could check, one of the doors opened and a nurse appeared. Naomi was barely able to duck into a hallway branching off the main corridor before the woman saw her. She pressed her back to the wall and remained still. There were two voices, a man and a woman. If she remained still and didn't make a sound, they would walk right past her.

"I expect Mr. Garcia will wake up very soon," the man said. "Keep me informed about any changes, Melinda. As soon as they happen. His vitals are stable, and his scans look good. I want to keep it that way." "Of course, doctor."

The two walked past and didn't notice her. She didn't have time to think. Before they got to the nurses' station and the nurse got behind the desk which would allow her to see down the hallway, Naomi slipped out of her heeled shoes and tiptoed out of her hiding place.

She hurried to the door the two had appeared from and turned the handle. It gave, and she opened it quickly and slipped into the room. She closed the door quietly and stood there, holding her breath and listening. Nothing. They hadn't seen her.

Sighing, she finally took a look towards the bed in the room.

Lying there was Jacob Garcia.

All hers for the taking.

***

That evening, Isabelle made her way to the apartment building where she and Jacob had lived. She was extremely nervous, but there was no going back.

She had already withdrawn her resignation notice. The only thing that remained was to see Jacob, finally apologise to his face, and then let him know they were going to be parents.

She had spent the entire day preparing herself for his reaction. That didn't make her any less apprehensive.

She had brought her key, but when she got to the door, she rang the bell and waited. It went unanswered, so she tried again. When it still went unanswered, she realised he probably wasn't home yet. Inserting her key into the lock-half expecting it not to work-she opened the door and slipped inside.

She exchanged her shoes for slippers at the entrance and then walked into the living room. The place was quiet. And stuffy. She called out his name, but there was no answer. She frowned when she noticed a film of dust on the dining table. Running her finger on it, it came away dirty.

She walked into the kitchen. She gasped when she saw that the dirty dishes were as they had been the last time she had seen them.

That morning, after spending a good

portion of it in bed, they had to hurry through breakfast and leave for work. They hadn't had time to clean the dishes, so they had postponed the task for when they got back in the evening. But by evening, everything had changed. She had come back to the house to get her stuff and left as quickly as possible.

She was surprised to see that Jacob hadn't cleaned the dishes yet. Why? The dust buildup in the living room... Had he not been back to the apartment at all?

Swallowing, she went to the bedrooms. First she went into hers. It was exactly like she had left it when she came to get her clothes. She turned to his. It looked the way it had that morning. She checked his closet, and his clothes were still there.

A sick feeling rose in her stomach. Why hadn't he been back? Was he so mad at her that he didn't want to come back to the place they had lived together? But wouldn't he at least take some of his clothes? What if something bad... No. She shook her head and got rid of that thought. He was okay. She understood him not wanting to be in this space.

She herself had wanted to run away from the city because of what she had done. How much more would he, who was hurt by her deception, want to stay away from any reminder of her?

She dabbed at a stray tear and walked out of his room and back to the kitchen. Placing her bag on the table, she removed her jacket and rolled her blouse sleeves. She could at least clean the dishes while she was here. Later, she would try to call him.

She was almost done with the dishes when her phone pinged with a new message. She dried her hands on a towel and reached for it.

She was surprised to see it was a

message from Naomi. Her sister hadn't tried contacting her since the day Ruth passed. Isabelle also hadn't heard from her adoptive parents. She knew that if Jacob

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went after them for lying to him, they would look for her. From their silence, she had decided that Jacob hadn't sought them out yet. Content

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Her heart hammered as she unlocked her phone to check Naomi's text. Had Jacob finally contacted the Cruzes?

The moment she opened Noami's message, her heart skipped a beat.

She staggered backwards, reaching back into the counter for support. Her mouth went dry while her eyes watered as she looked at the picture her sister had sent her.

It was a picture of Naomi and Jacob. They were lying together in what looked like a hotel bed. Naomi's fingers were splayed under her chin, a diamond ring on her ring finger.

Isabelle's diamond ring.

Another message arrived, appearing below the picture.

'Deal sealed. He was meant to be mine from the beginning, and now I get to keep him. The Garcias and Cruzes are now finally one family, as it was meant to be. Let me show you how to keep a man, sis. Ciao See you never.

P.S.: Mum wants you to drop our family name. You were never part of our family, and you'll never be.'

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