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 face forever. Don't waste medical

Hamilton

stared at the disconnected call, her face twisting from

was Hamilton playing

to live with this

she inflicted it

was it

It must be Natalia.

surely, he must suspect her involvement in the

he'd let her live with this disfigurement for

Eveleen hurled her phone across the

darkened on witnessing the scene. She had overheard

she muttered, shooting a disdainful glance at Patrick. "We should 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 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

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

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

with anger,

trying to drive you to your

wretch Natalia's doing. I hope she rots for

her apartment to drop things off at Scarlett's before heading to

brief pause, she

to the point. "Ms. Jenkins, I heard from Ronin that you won't be joining the Ron Group

won't be able

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

silence, Natalia agreed. She had given Mason her word, and it was

beneath the Ron Group's Silkwood City branch, where Mason was

"Thank you, Mr. Joyner."

"Ms. Jenkins, I still hope you'll consider joining the Ron

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

a contemporary of his son, yet

he inquired, "I heard from Ronin that you're aiming for a spot at the State Department?" Natalia nodded affirmatively, "It's a

a nod of

get into the State Department at such a young

what they were and returned a

Mason's tone shifted

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

Natalia's brow furrowed slightly.