A beacon of hope

As they approached each other, Natasha balled her fists as if ready to strike at any moment. The sight of him repulsed her to the point where her skin crawled. Memories of the previous day surged in her mind, and her eyes burned with rage, she never imagined crossing paths with him so soon.

"Natasha! What brings you here? Let me guess, you're already on the hunt for a new job?" Mervick asked in a snide tone as if they were on good terms.

"Do not speak my name with those lips tainted with deceit, you bastard!", Natasha retorted, her voice laced with sharpness and bitterness.

"Where is your little tramp? You know, You both make a perfect pair, two repulsive pieces of trash," Natasha's voice echoed through the hallway.

"Listen, Tasha, I understand that you are still upset about what you saw yesterday, but let's put the past behind us and move forward. Trust me, she means absolutely nothing to me, she forced herself on me," Mervick attempted to reason with her as he stepped forward to take her hands.

"You know I only want to be with you, I could never hurt you–" he began, but the moment he touched her hands, she pulled away angrily, as though his touch disgusted her to her core.

"Do not touch me! You despicable scumbag! Out of all the people, you chose my best friend to fuck, and you have the audacity to lie to me, that she seduced you?" she responded in a cold, venomous tone.

"Come on, Tasha! You cannot call off the engagement, we have come a long way. I mean, who else would want to marry you?" he grinned like something was supposed to be funny.

"What?" Natasha scoffed in disbelief that he showed no sign of remorse for hurting her. "You are a complete bastard, and you will rot in hell for all the pain you have caused me. Who will ever want to marry me now? You will see," she retorted in fury.

With that, she ripped off the engagement ring and hurled it at him. "I never want to lay eyes on your face again, you fucking bastard! Or I'll kill you" Natasha shouted in rage as she stormed out of the hallway.

She could not bear to spend one more minute in the presence of the man who had betrayed her, if not she was going to slam his head against the wall and she would feel no regret.

Natasha arrived at the hospital a few minutes later and paid the funds needed for her mother's transplant. As she waited anxiously with her aunt in the lobby for updates from the doctor, her aunt gently stroked her long, dark hair from behind.

"How did you manage to get the money for the surgery?" her aunt asked with genuine worry etched onto her face.

"Do not worry, Aunt. I took out a loan. I will pay it back," Natasha lied, unable to bring herself to reveal the truth of how she had obtained the money.

How could she even bring herself to say it? That she had married a stranger overnight and given two years of her life to stay with a man she had deceived?

"Oh, Tasha! You have done so much for your mother. I hope she gets better. Let's keep praying for her," her aunt hugged her tightly.

Her aunt's eyes darted to Natasha's bare finger, "Where's your ring?" she asked in surprise. She knew Natasha never went anywhere without it since Mervick proposed two months ago.

"I returned it to Mervick. We're done," Natasha responded coldly as she reflected on her encounter with him in the walkway earlier today.

"When? What happened?" her aunt gasped in shock.

"I don't want to talk about him right now, Aunt. Let's just focus on Mom," Natasha replied, avoiding her aunt's gaze to hide the anger in her eyes.

"Oh, my baby," her aunt embraced her once again, patting her back. Natasha clenched her fists, remembering how Mervick showed no remorse for what he did.

She had shed her last tears for that scumbag. He didn't deserve any more of her emotions. More than anything, she was determined to have revenge for everything he had put her through, for ruining her life.

The naive and timid Natasha was gone. Everyone who had taken her for granted and walked all over her would now witness a side of her they had never seen before.

After two hours of waiting anxiously, the doctor emerged from the surgery room and approached Natasha and her aunt. "Mrs. King's surgery was a success," the doctor announced with a smile.

A beacon of hope hung in the air as Natasha's tensed shoulders relaxed, her fears and burdens lifted. She let out a long sigh of relief.

As tears welled up in her eyes, a smile slowly crept onto Natasha's face. She embraced her aunt, overcome with emotion.

"Thank you so much, doctor," she expressed with tears rolling down her cheeks.

"Can we go see her now?" She asked, her impatience showing.

"Not yet, but you can when she is transferred to her room," the doctor replied, making his way to his office.

As Natasha waited for her mother to be transferred to her room, a wave of emotions washed over her. She was grateful to know that her mother's surgery was successful as that was all she had hoped for. But at the same time, she couldn't help but reflect on the documents she had signed earlier today and the actions she had taken to obtain the necessary funds for her mother's surgery. But it was too late for regrets now; the deed had been done, and she had to face the consequences head-on.

After an hour of waiting, she was finally able to see her mother, and seeing that she was recovering gave her the strength she needed for the new turn her life was about to take.

Natasha couldn't bring herself to reveal her actions to anyone as she didn't want to burden them with worry, she would bear the weight of her choices alone.