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-"

scars that much, then let it

Hamilton hung

call, her face twisting from hurt to a seething

Hamilton

to

inflicted it

it because of

It must be Natalia.

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

Natalia, he'd let her live with

her phone across the

the scene. She had

have ended Natalia 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

his connections within the medical community. Eveleen was the Schafer

call after call, Patrick realized he had been naïve. Once doctors heard Eveleen's name, they recoiled as if warned off by a higher power. In mere hours, Eveleen had become persona

turned pale with anger, and Eveleen

trying to drive you

doing.

apartment to drop things off at Scarlett's before

pause, she

"Ms. Jenkins, I heard from Ronin

"Unfortunately, I won't be able to take

Jenkins, if you don't mind, perhaps

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

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

"Thank you, Mr. Joyner."

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

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

contemporary of his son, yet markedly

gaze flickered before he inquired, "I heard from Ronin that you're aiming for a spot at the State

gave a nod of

State Department at such a young age, Ms.

for what they were and returned a few

Mason's tone

State Department precludes you from joining the Ron Group? Ms. Jenkins, I'll say it again, I still hope to entrust the Silkwood City branch to you. Even if you're with the

Natalia's brow furrowed slightly.