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-"

you love scars that much, then let it

that, Hamilton

the disconnected call, her face

was Hamilton

to live

she inflicted it

it

It must be Natalia.

scar was self-inflicted, then surely, he

her live with this disfigurement

hurled her phone

scene. She

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 he'd swallowed bile. "What's the rush? It's just a plastic surgeon. If Hamilton can find one, can't

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 marred

he made 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.

with anger, and Eveleen

Hamilton trying to drive you to

doing. I

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

brief pause, she answered

Ronin that you won't be

it. "Unfortunately, I won't be able to take the position, Mr.

Jenkins, if you don't mind, perhaps we could meet to discuss

her word, and it

where Mason was overseeing the

"Thank you, Mr. Joyner."

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

it seems I'm not meant to be part of the Ron Group

his son, yet markedly more composed than his

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

a nod

the State Department at such a young

pleasantries for what they were and returned a

tone shifted

who says joining the 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 State Department, you

Natalia's brow furrowed slightly.