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 adorn

that, Hamilton hung

disconnected call, her face twisting from hurt to

Hamilton

to

she inflicted

it

It must be Natalia.

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

he'd let her

Eveleen hurled her phone across the

expression darkened on witnessing the scene. She had overheard the entire

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,

Eveleen was the Schafer family's prized

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 non grata in the cosmetic surgery

turned pale with anger, and Eveleen sobbed

trying to drive you to your

all that wretch Natalia's doing. I

Natalia had left her apartment to drop things off at Scarlett's before heading to the

brief pause, she answered the

Ronin that you won't be joining the Ron Group

I won't be able to take the position,

you

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

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

"Thank you, Mr. Joyner."

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

it seems I'm not meant to be part

a contemporary of his son, yet markedly more composed than his

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

a nod of

into the State Department at such a young age, Ms. Jenkins. You're going

pleasantries for what they were and returned a few of her

tone shifted

if you're with the State Department, you

Natalia's brow furrowed slightly.