Cristian continued playing with her beautiful red hair, he'd stayed with her all night, never really sleeping, just in case she needed him. After last night he wasn't sure what she'd remembered or what effect it had had on her. So he wrapped an arm around her, hoping that she was okay.
"Cristian?" Natalie asked looking up at him.
"Yes?" he asked smoothing her hair away from her face.
"Thank you," she said taking his hand and entwining her fingers with his.
Cristian looked into her eyes. "Are you okay?"
The way he looked at her chased all of the shadows away, things that she was unable to face. "I remembered the accident, I'd never felt so scared...so alone."
"You aren't alone anymore you have me and your family loves you, everything is going to be okay, I promise."
Natalie sat upright . "What do you mean my family?"
"I-I meant the Davidsons, they think of you as family." Cristian prayed that he hadn't done something that would hurt her.
"No, that's not what you meant, don't lie to me Cristian."
He was silent.
"Have the Davidsons adopted me? Please, I need to know the truth, tell me."
"They didn't adopt you, Mrs. Davidson, Viki, is your biological mother."
Natalie got out of bed. "That's not true, Roxy Balsom is my mother, no one else."
"Natalie--,"
"No! You're lying!"
She barely remembered putting on her shoes, running downstairs and grabbing the first pair of car keys she could find, she ran outside and got in and drove away. She ignored Cristian running out of the front door and yelling for her stop, she had to find out the truth. How could she be someone elses daughter? How could she not have known?
She wasn't a Davidson, she was a Balsom. It was hard, not knowing who she had become over these last few years that she couldn't remember, but she knew who she had been before, there was no question about that. Cristian was wrong, he had to be. Finally she found a place where she might find answers, the Llanveiw public library.
She knew she looked ridiculous as she walked into the library wearing tennis shoes and pajama bottoms, but that was the last thing on her mind. She found a computer that cataloged newspaper articles. Typing in 'Victoria Davidson' brought her more results than she could count so she typed in 'Natalie Balsom' and got 20 results. She saw the first result and clicked on it. "Buchanan heiress found after 20 years". The article was short but it answered her question, she wasn't a Balsom, she had a family. It said that she'd been kidnapped shortly after birth and her DNA was a match to Victoria Buchanan Davidson. Natalie read the article twice, unable to believe that she had a family now. She sat there for a second talking it all in.Viki and Ben had been so nice to her and now she knew why. Maybe this was the best thing that had ever happened to her. Her life could be the way she had always dreamt of. She had to find out more so she clicked on the second link and her smile fell.
Atlantic City Vixen Terrorizes Buchanan Family
Todd Manning
Natalie Buchanan, formerly Natalie Balsom of Atlantic City, newest member of the Buchanan family, should crawl back into the trash pit she came from.
Natalie Balsom befriended former Buchanan daughter, Jessica Buchanan, while Natalie's and longtime boyfriend Seth Anderson seduced the Buchanan heiress, all in a twisted plan for revenge. All was revealed this past week. Looney-toon Allison Perkins kidnapped Natalie as a baby, replacing her with baby Jessica. How does matriarch Viki Buchanan Davidson feel about all of this?
"It is absolutely disgusting, I can't believe anyone could be as heartless and cruel as Natalie. No matter what any DNA results say Jessica will always be my daughter."
Natalie kept reading and it went on to say how she had moved into the Buchanan Mansion, Llainfair, flaunted her relationship with Seth in front of Jessica and demanded her inheritance. Her father, Clint Buchanan couldn't be reached for comment.
Natalie looked at the picture with the article, and it was her, with a satisfied smirk on her face.
She got up and ran to her car, she started the car and just drove. She had nowhere to go, no memory to guide her, she was on her own, just like always.
Natalie didn't know how she'd got there but she was at an old quarry, the one Cristian had taken her to the night before. She was freezing but she couldn't go back to Llanfair knowing what she had down, how everyone felt about her, she felt more alone than she could ever remember feeling, why had her life turned out so bad, why couldn't she be normal, like every other girl, it was so unfair. She sat down and wrapped her arms around herself, so she and Seth had been together? That was an odd thought, she'd never really had a boyfriend, she wondered how it had felt. The article had said her long time boyfriend, had she loved him? They must have broken up or he would have visited her by now. It didn't really matter if she remembered him or not anymore, nothing mattered. It started to snow and she looked up as it slowly floated around her, it was beautiful, and peaceful. She'd never really noticed how the snow floated as it came down. She closed her eyes, she had no where to go so she leaned back against the rock, maybe it would be better if she just drifted, like a snowflake.