Chapter 11%
“Shut up!” Christoph’s roar sliced through the chaos, cutting Jill off mid–rant.
Startled, Jill took a step back–but her bitterness flared right back up, louder than ever.
“Chris, don’t let that woman fool you! Gina’s just trying to destroy our family!”
“She couldn’t even give you a child and I was supposed to just sit back and watch the Raders line end with you? You think she’s innocent? She’s a snake who only cares about what’s between a man’s legs!”
Christoph stared at his mother–at the hate twisted in her face–and something inside him clicked.
His voice dropped, low and dangerous. “You knew.“&
Jill hesitated.
Christoph’s breath caught. “You knew about me and Natalie. You knew all along.“”
Her eyes darted, her silence more damning than anything she could’ve said. He took a shaky step back, like the air had been knocked from his lungs.
“So it was you, mother…” he whispered. “You’re the reason Gina agreed to that ridiculous arrangement. You pushed her into
it.”
Jill straightened her spine, completely unrepentant.
“What was I supposed to do? She loved you so much–if she truly cared, she should’ve wanted you to have an heir! You and Natalie were already in love. I was just helping everyone get what they wanted.”
Christoph’s eyes filled with disbelief.
“No,” he said, shaking his head. “That’s not love. That was control. And manipulation.”
Then, out of nowhere, his voice cracked. “I don’t love Natalie. I never did. The only person I ever loved was Gina.”
Natalie froze, as if slapped across the face. “W–What? Chris… You said I was the one you loved. That what we had was real!”
Christoph turned on her like a storm. His gaze was ice, his voice laced with loathing. “Love? You want to talk about love? You wormed your way into my life, playing the victim, manipulating me at every turn. You drove a wedge between me and my wife -my Gina.”
Natalie’s voice shook with fury, “I manipulated you? I ‘seduced‘ you?“”
Natalie let out a shrill, hysterical laugh that echoed through the room like a warning siren.
“Christoph, don’t you dare play the victim!” she screamed. “Who was it that secretly took nude photos of me? Who groped me at your brother’s funeral? Who said Gina wasn’t even worth a strand of my hair?”
Her words sliced through the air like broken glass–and cut straight into Christoph’s soul. His knees buckled and he collapsed to the floor like the weight of it all had finally crushed him.”
The journalists went wild. Flashbulbs burst like fireworks, capturing his fall from grace in high definition. Every snap of the camera seemed to echo louder than the last.
Sensing the disaster spiraling, Jill rushed to his side and grabbed his arm.
“Chris! This isn’t the time to fall apart! You need to take Natalie and leave the country–wait this out until it blows over-“}
Christoph yanked his arm away from her grasp, his voice hoarse with exhaustion and rage.”
“Mom, when are you going to stop lying to yourself?” He turned to face the cameras, his eyes red and glassy.
“Gina… I’m sorry. I know it’s too late, but I need you to hear this–I never wanted to divorce you.“\
Before he could say more, Natalie lunged at him in a frenzy. “You can’t do this to me!” she shrieked.
He shoved her off without hesitation. She stumbled and hit the floor hard, her hair disheveled, her makeup smeared–reduced in an instant from polished socialite to a tragic spectacle.
Christoph didn’t spare her a glance. His eyes stayed locked on the camera lens as if it were the only line left to me.”
“Gina, I was wrong. I was so wrong. But I’m going to find you, no matter where you are. I’m not giving up on us.“”
He pushed through the throng of reporters, ignoring the shouting, the flashing lights, the chaos behind him. He was done hiding. And he was finally chasing after the only woman he’d ever truly loved.”
Jin’s voice cracked through the chaos behind him. “Chris! Where are you going?“”
Christoph didn’t even glance back. “To find the only woman I’ve ever truly loved.“”
Half a world away, in the quiet stillness of a snowy Swiss village, I sat with a glass of red wine, watching the viral clip of Christoph kneeling before the cameras, confessing everything.”
His tear–streaked face. His broken voice. His downfall, broadcast for the world to see.”
I had imagined this moment countless times. Yet, now that it had come–him and Natalie publicly ruined, their lies stripped
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apartment in Lucerne, looking nothing like the man who
the weight of his choices had finally caught up to him.”
“Gina…” he whispered, like my name was a prayer and a curse all at once.
I turned on my heel, ready to walk away. But he grabbed my wrist–then immediately let go, afraid to touch me. Instead, he dropped to his knees right there on the snowy cobblestone path with a heavy thud.”
- Husband after Marving Another Woman
