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-"

let it adorn your face forever. Don't waste medical

Hamilton hung

her face twisting from

Hamilton

he condemning her to live

because she inflicted it

was it

It must be Natalia.

Hamilton had discovered the scar was self-inflicted, then surely, he must suspect

let her

hurled her phone across the

the scene. She had overheard the entire

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 daughter could not reach. It left him feeling as though he'd swallowed bile. "What's the rush? It's just a plastic surgeon. If Hamilton can

he dialed out, confident in his connections within the medical community. Eveleen was the Schafer family's prized jewel;

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 a

turned pale with anger, and Eveleen

Hamilton trying to drive you

all that wretch Natalia's doing. I hope she rots

to drop things off at Scarlett's before

a brief pause, she answered

Ronin that you won't

won't be able to take the position,

with seriousness. "Ms. Jenkins, if you don't mind, perhaps

moment of silence, Natalia agreed. She had given Mason her word, and

Silkwood City branch, where Mason was overseeing the setup. Upon seeing Natalia, Mason

"Thank you, Mr. Joyner."

Mason didn't waste time. "Ms. Jenkins, I still

opportunity, Mr. Joyner, but it seems I'm not meant

before him, a contemporary of his son, yet markedly more

Ronin that you're aiming for a spot at the State Department?" Natalia nodded

a nod

at

they were and returned

Mason's tone

to you. Even if you're with the State Department, you just need to strategize for me a bit, and delegate the rest to Ronin. A

Natalia's brow furrowed slightly.