Echoes Of a Forsaken Heart

Chapter 165

Hamilton picked up the call with unusual haste.

He sat on the couch, his face clouded with brooding shadows.

The housekeeper approached with a cotton swab soaked in antiseptic.

"Mr. Fowler, perhaps you should tend to that bite before it gets worse."

Blood still stained Hamilton's arm from where Natalia had sunk her teeth into him.

He glanced at the wound with detached indifference and muttered, "Leave it."

It was a mark from Natalia, a debt he intended to repay in kind.

Eveleen, on the other end of the line, overheard the housekeeper and felt a surge of hope.

Was Hamilton's injury the reason he hadn't shown up?

"Hamilton, are you hurt? Is that why you didn't come? I'll wait for you, we can postpone the surgery until you're better."

Hamilton took a drag from a freshly lit cigarette before replying, "No need to wait. The surgery's off."

Eveleen's heart skipped a beat, panic rising in her voice.

"Hamilton, you promised you wouldn't abandon me! You can't go back on your word!"

A scoff escaped Hamilton's lips.

"Eveleen, I did promise to help you with the surgery, and I said I wouldn't leave a scar. But if you're the artist behind your own scars, then it's a different story altogether." Eveleen choked up, her anxiety intensifying.

"What do you mean, Hamilton? How could I have done this to myself? I'm not crazy."

Silence was his only response, and in those moments of quiet, Eveleen's panic soared.

"Hamilton, I-"

Before she could finish, Hamilton cut in, "How many times have I warned you, Eveleen? Do you take my words for wind?"

"I didn't, Hamilton, I really didn't-"

love scars that much, then let it adorn your

that, Hamilton

stared at the disconnected call, her face twisting from hurt to

Hamilton

he condemning her to

because she inflicted it upon

was it

It must be Natalia.

then surely, he must suspect her

he'd let her live with this disfigurement for

Eveleen hurled her phone across

darkened on witnessing the scene.

we had the chance! Instead, you insisted on letting her change her name. Look where that's gotten us-stuck with a ticking time bomb!" Patrick's face matched Lucinda's in its grimness. Never had he imagined Hamilton would actually fall for Natalia, the daughter he'd cast aside, now climbing to heights his own pampered

as he dialed out, confident in his connections within the medical community. Eveleen was the Schafer family's prized jewel; he wouldn't let her future be

name, they recoiled as if warned off by a higher power. In mere hours, Eveleen had become persona non grata in the cosmetic surgery world. Patrick returned with

with anger, and Eveleen

trying to drive you

that wretch Natalia's doing.

things off at Scarlett's before heading to the hospital. Her phone rang unexpectedly-it

pause, she

heard from Ronin that you won't be joining the Ron Group

confirmed it. "Unfortunately, I won't be able

seriousness. "Ms. Jenkins, if you don't mind, perhaps we could meet to discuss

Mason her word, and it was only right

arranged to meet at a coffee shop beneath the Ron Group's Silkwood City branch, where Mason was overseeing the setup. Upon seeing Natalia, Mason nodded slightly. "Ms.

"Thank you, Mr. Joyner."

didn't waste time. "Ms. Jenkins, I still hope you'll

courteous smile, Natalia replied, "I appreciate the opportunity, Mr. Joyner, but it seems I'm not meant to be part of the Ron Group

contemporary of his son, yet markedly more composed than

before he inquired, "I heard from Ronin that you're aiming for a spot

a nod

into the State Department at such a young age, Ms. Jenkins.

recognized the pleasantries for what they were and returned a few of

Mason's tone shifted

it again, I still hope to entrust the Silkwood City branch to you. Even if you're with

Natalia's brow furrowed slightly.