Chapter 7
Natalie let out a sharp, bitter laugh. So this was how far Clarissa would go, twisting black into white.
Before she could speak, Clarissa’s eyes welled with tears. She sniffled softly, curling into a pitiful figure like she’d just been cruelly bullied.
“That’s enough, Natalie.”
One of the dancers stepped forward, placing a protective arm around Clarissa’s shoulder, scolding
in a low voice.
“You’re the daughter of a high–ranking officer. Bullying an orphan–don’t you feel even a shred of
shame?”
“She already lost her parents and her fiancé to you. And now you’re swaggering in like you’re some
kind of victim?”
Natalie’s face turned pale. These were the people she used to spend every day with laughing,
rehearsing, helping one another through injuries and stress. And now, every single one of them stood firmly behind Clarissa.
“I didn’t take anything from her,” Natalie’s voice trembled but steady. “It was her mother who
switched us at birth. The parents she had–they were mine to begin with.”
“And the engagement with the Gabriel family? That was mine too
Before she could finish, a box came crashing toward her.
It was the suitcase she’d left behind before the hospital–hurled across the room, its contents
scattered like trash.
Natalie looked up in stunned silence, just as another colleague shouted:
“Save it. Take your things and get the hell out!”
“Yeah, we don’t want you here!”
She crouched down, hands shaking as she gathered her clothes and personal items, only to realize
many of them had been slashed with scissors–ruined.
Around her, the people she’d once stayed up all night choreographing with… the ones she’d skipped meals for just to buy them new ballet shoes… the ones she’d gone out of her way to vouch for to help
them stay in the troupe…
Now, they all stood between her and Clarissa, cold eyes full of disgust.
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Natalie’s heart plunged into an icy void.
Of course when even your own parents and husband won’t stand by you, what hope is there for anyone else?
She finished packing in silence, stood up, and faced Clarissa.
“Take everything else I don’t care anymore. I’m not going to fight for what you’ve stolen.”
“But that costume-” she said firmly, pointing. “That dance dress means everything. Give it back.”
Clarissa’s eyes brimmed with tears, as if Natalie had physically struck her.
“Over a dress? You’d really make me strip it off in public? Do you have no compassion left?”
Compassion?
What kind of compassion was she asking for? The kind Clarissa had when she broke her legs? Or
when she slept with her husband and bore his child?
Natalie didn’t bother answering. There was no point.
She simply replied, cold and absolute, “Yes.”
“Enough!”
A sharp voice rang out from the doorway.
Colton stormed in, striding to Clarissa’s side like a knight in shining armor.
He positioned himself squarely in front of her, shielding her as if from an attacker.
“Natalie, it’s just a damn costume. You want a new one? I’ll buy you a hundred.”
“But making Clarissa take it off in front of everyone? That’s too much.”
A lump rose in Natalie’s throat.
That costume–she’d worn it while dancing for Colton. He knew exactly how much it meant to her.
Knew the story behind every stitch, every thread… and still, he handed it to Clarissa without a second thought.
No not just the dress.
The Capitol Ballet Company. The lead role.
Every part of it that once belonged to her–now handed over to Clarissa, the very person who had
destroyed her life, without a second thought.
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Maybe he’d already forgotten everything they’d shared.
Maybe he’d never been the man who once said he loved her, that he’d protect her.
Natalie spoke, her voice hoarse:
“I just wanted what belonged to me.”
“I stepped away from the company–she took my place. I gave up my role–she put on my
“Is it really that easy, just to take what’s not yours?”
dress.”
Colton met her gaze and, for a moment, something flickered in his chest–guilt, maybe. But he shut
it down fast.
“The doctor said you needed bed rest. Why aren’t you in the hospital? What are you doing causing a scene here?” he barked.
Natalie stared at him, her expression unreadable.
“The doctor cleared me last Monday. Told me I could be discharged and go home.”
And none of them–not him, not her so–called family–had cared enough to show up.
Colton froze. He opened his mouth, but no words came.
Just then, Clarissa cried out, clutching her side.
“Ouch! There’s something sharp inside the costume!”
A dancer reached behind her and pulled out a thick, rusted needle–its tip stained with blood.
Colton’s expression darkened. He grabbed the needle and turned furiously toward Natalie.
“What the hell is this?!”
Natalie didn’t flinch.
“How should I know? Maybe you should ask her.”
“You’re seriously going to deny it?” he snarled. “The proof is right here. You’re just jealous
Clarissa took your place, so now you stoop to something this vile?”
“Apologize to her. Let’s end this now.”
Natalie shook her head, pale but firm.
“What did I do wrong that I need to apologize for? No–I won’t.”
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Others joined in, voices full of false outrage.
“Captain, you didn’t see it–Natalie was completely out of line just now.‘
“She made Clarissa take off the dress and shouted that her husband, her parents–everything-
should’ve been hers.”
“She even called her a homewrecker.”
“So this is what it means to be the daughter of a high–ranking officer? You just get to bully people?”
Colton stood there, eyes growing colder with every word. When he looked at Natalie again, there was no warmth left–only disappointment.
“You used to be kind, gentle. What happened to you, Natalie?”
J
She stared at the sea of people spitting lies, one after another. There was nothing left in her to fight
with.
Was she the one who’d changed? No.
It was Colton who had changed.
“Think whatever you want, Colton Blackwood.”
“Because no matter what I say–you were never going to believe me anyway.”
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