The Imposter Bride (Natalia and Magnus) novel 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 find 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 find her phone, Lexi's pale hand clutched her wrist. "Please, Natalia, let me keep some dignity."