The Imposter Bride (Natalia and Magnus)
Chapter 391

The chill in Natalia's heart was palpable as she tried to assuage Lexi's fears. "Lexi, you might have got this all wrong. Maybe when Cal spoke, he wasn't talking about your child. No, no, no, he would never do something like that."

But Lexi's gaze grew more desolate. "I told myself that, too. But the next day, I saw with my own eyes, from behind the curtains of the balcony, how Callum handed over Mason, my son, to Rita-then drove off with both of them. I called him in a panic, and he had the nerve to lie that he was taking Mason to a charity gala. When I asked about Rita, he claimed she was already locked up in the police station. He was lying!"

"What happened next?" Natalia could barely articulate her shock, and half-believed Lexi was spinning tales. "Lexi, could it be... could it be that you dreamed all this up? That none of it really happened?" Lexi let out a bitter laugh and pointed to a scar on her shin. "Natalia, see this scar? It's from when I fell off the balcony and broke my leg. How could a dream leave such a mark?"

Lexi sighed deeply. "Marrying Callum felt like a fairytale. Now I see it was never real. From the beginning, I was nothing more than an object for him, a way to sate his desires. There was never any love." Natalia's heart ached for her friend, offering words of comfort. "It's not like that, Lexi. Maybe there's been a misunderstanding. Like with me and Magnus-if I had taken the time to understand my heart, we wouldn't have had so many ups and downs."

Lexi nodded, her smile tinged with sorrow. "That's what I thought too. I waited through the night, in the agony of my broken leg, hoping Callum would come back and tell me himself whether he still loved me." Tears spilled from Lexi's eyes. "But what I got was a visit from Rita, furious. Callum didn't return with her. She dragged me to the basement, saying Callum had grown tired of me, but because of Mason, he had to endure. And today, she said, he took Mason for a paternity test, only to replace out the child wasn't his."

"What?! That's impossible!" Natalia was incredulous. "How could he not know if the child is his? Why the hell does he need a paternity test? I need to call Cal and give him a piece of my mind!"

As Natalia rose to replace her phone, Lexi's pale hand clutched her wrist. "Please, Natalia, let me keep some dignity."

Natalia sat down again, soothingly stroking Lexi's back. "There must be some mistake, Lexi. A phone call can clear this up, really."

Lexi shook her head. "It's no use. I also believed in Callum, even in the darkness of that basement. But what I never expected was to hear about Callum's engagement to another woman-not Rita." "Not Rita?"

Lexi confirmed with a nod. "When Rita threw the invitation in my face, I could see her tears. She admitted she knew she was never worthy of Callum but couldn't stand the thought of someone of my humble origins being with him. Honestly, Natalia, my heart was already numb when she said that. Callum never came for me. Whoever he marries doesn't matter to me anymore. Suddenly, I just wanted to go home, to see my parents."

Tears flowed down Natalia's cheeks, too. "Lexi, I believe Cal isn't that kind of person. He must have his reasons."

"It doesn't matter," Lexi whispered. "After enduring half a month in that dark cellar and listening to Rita gloat about Callum's upcoming wedding, I couldn't bear it. I thought I'd die there unseen, until Rita, claiming a shred of womanly compassion, blindfolded me and put me on a decrepit boat, saying she couldn't watch Callum imprison me until death."

With a hollow laugh, Lexi continued, "Can you believe it? At that moment, I thanked her. Though I wasn't sure what for. Was it to spare my life? I didn't know. Drifting through the night, blindfolded, all I could hear was the lapping of the waves. When I woke up, fishermen had rescued me."

Lexi's story was a stark reminder of how quickly life could turn, a fairytale marriage descending into a nightmare of betrayal and imprisonment. And through it all, the strength and resilience to face the truth and replace a way back home.

"So, how did you end up here after all that?" Natalia couldn't believe her ears. She hadn't seen Lexi for over a year, yet the tales unfolding before her were so fantastical. They bordered on the unbelievable. If she didn't know Lexi so well, she would have thought it was all a concoction of a wild imagination.

"Well, eventually, I made it back to Melfort, and that's when the pining for Mason started. I was worried sick about him. I was dying to sneak a peek just to ensure he was alright, but deep down, I was even more eager to replace out what was going on with Callum," Lexi recounted, her eyes gleaming with resolve. "So, I took another secret trip to England, disguised so well I was practically invisible, and then I just lingered outside the castle walls, watching, waiting."