The Double Life of My Billionaire Husband – Episode 24
“Your mother’s account has been paid in full,” the coordinator said. Natalie opened her eyes but did not understand the sentence. Full payment belonged to another reality, one where promises were kept before desperation became necessary. “That can’t be right. I only made a partial payment yesterday.”
The coordinator checked the record again. Treatment, medication, and the remaining hospital balance had all been covered. No warning flag remained on the account, and no interruption was expected. The next appointment was already authorized, along with medication Natalie had been afraid to discuss because of its cost. Natalie sank onto a stool as strength left her knees.
“Who paid it?” Her gaze found Sebastian. He looked concerned, but not surprised enough.
“The payment is listed under George Quinn,” the coordinator replied. “Would you like a receipt sent to your email?” Natalie managed to say yes before ending the call.
For a moment she held the silent phone against her ear. George had delayed, ignored her calls, and allowed Lauren to humiliate her. Still, the name on the record was his. As a child, Natalie had invented excuses each time he failed to visit, believing disappointment hurt less if she could give it a respectable reason. The hospital record offered another reason to believe he cared, and she accepted it before suspicion could intervene. Relief surged so powerfully that it swept doubt aside and brought tears to her eyes.
“He did it,” she whispered. “My father actually paid.” The words felt strange after so many broken promises, but repeating them made them easier to accept. She pictured George authorizing the transfer in private, perhaps ashamed that Lauren had forced Natalie to plead for help in the first place.
Sebastian had wanted to erase the terror from her face. He had not anticipated the fragile hope that would replace it. Natalie looked like a daughter discovering she had not been entirely abandoned, and telling her the truth now would destroy that comfort along with his disguise.
“I’m glad your mother is safe,” he said. The statement avoided agreement, but Natalie heard confirmation because she wanted it. Sebastian had negotiated billion-dollar deals without flinching, yet this small omission made it difficult to meet his wife’s eyes.
She laughed through tears and covered her mouth. Months of invoices, deadlines, and whispered negotiations vanished from her immediate future. Her mother could continue treatment without knowing how close everything had come to collapse. Natalie imagined telling her that George had finally done something decent, then decided against it; renewed hope in him could become another injury. Even Daniel’s loan could be repaid as soon as Natalie found work instead of disappearing into the next medical bill.
Natalie threw her arms around Sebastian before self-consciousness could stop her. He caught her, surprised by the force of the embrace. The contact was more intimate than anything they had shared since the wedding, born not from obligation but from relief she trusted him enough to reveal. “Thank you,” she said against his shoulder.
“I didn’t—” Sebastian began, then fell silent. Denial would require an explanation, and confession would reveal far more than a hospital payment. He settled one hand carefully against her back. “You don’t have to thank me.”
“Not for the bill.” Natalie drew away, though her hands remained on his arms. “For making me tell you. For not letting me pretend I could carry it alone.” The gratitude he deserved hurt worse than the gratitude he had redirected to George.
She immediately called the hospital ward and spoke with her mother. The older woman’s voice sounded stronger, and they discussed the next stage of treatment without circling around money. Natalie promised to visit that afternoon. Hope made plans where fear had permitted only calculations.
Sebastian returned to the study and called Daniel. “Why does the hospital reveal the payer’s name?”
“Because you told me to use George Quinn’s account reference,” Daniel answered. “There was no discreet way to make it look like his payment while hiding that it looked like his payment.” His patience thinned. “You could simply tell your wife you helped her.”
Sebastian looked through the glass door. Natalie was writing a thank-you message to the father who had sold her into marriage and then failed to honor the price. “Not until the acquisition closes.”
“The final board authorization is tomorrow,” Daniel said. “After that, B.M. controls the Quinn company. Whatever story you’ve built ends with it.”
Sebastian knew Daniel was right. Once George lost control, the Quinns would search for the person responsible. Natalie would learn that her supposedly penniless husband owned the corporation where she had sought work and had quietly dismantled her father’s power. She might also assume the marriage itself had been another move in the acquisition. Every delayed truth increased the damage of its arrival.
Natalie appeared in the doorway wearing her coat. “I’m going to see Mom, and then I want to thank my father in person.” Sebastian’s expression tightened. “You don’t owe George gratitude for doing what he promised.”
“Maybe not, but I need him to know it mattered.” She mistook Sebastian’s objection for protectiveness and kissed his cheek before leaving. The elevator doors closed on her smile. Sebastian reached for his phone to stop the visit, but Natalie was already descending toward the family who had not paid a cent—and toward the lie he had placed in George Quinn’s name.
