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-"

much, then let it adorn your face forever.

that, Hamilton hung

disconnected call, her face twisting from hurt to

Hamilton

condemning her to live

because she inflicted it upon

it

It must be Natalia.

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

Natalia, he'd let her live with this disfigurement

her phone across the

darkened on witnessing the scene. She had overheard

when 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

was the Schafer family's prized jewel; he wouldn't let her future be marred by a

call after call, Patrick realized he had been naïve. Once doctors heard Eveleen's name, they recoiled as if warned off by a

with anger, and Eveleen sobbed

you

doing. I hope she

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

a brief pause,

the point. "Ms. Jenkins, I heard from Ronin that you won't

I won't be able to take

Jenkins, if you don't mind,

a moment of silence, Natalia agreed. She had given Mason her word, and it was only right to explain the situation

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

"Thank you, Mr. Joyner."

Jenkins, I still hope you'll consider

a courteous smile, Natalia replied, "I appreciate the opportunity, Mr. Joyner, but it seems I'm not

studied the woman before him, a contemporary of his son, yet markedly more composed than

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

gave a nod of

to get into the State Department at such a young age,

pleasantries for what they were and returned a few

Mason's tone

hope to entrust the Silkwood City branch 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 little

Natalia's brow furrowed slightly.