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

that, Hamilton hung

call, her face twisting from hurt to a

Hamilton playing

to live

because she inflicted

was it because of

It must be Natalia.

discovered the scar was self-inflicted, then surely, he must suspect her involvement in the

Natalia, he'd let her live with this disfigurement

her phone

scene. She had overheard the entire

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

the medical community. Eveleen was the Schafer family's prized jewel; he wouldn't let her future be

been naïve. Once doctors heard Eveleen's name, they recoiled as if warned off by a higher

pale with anger, and

drive you to your grave?" Lucinda

all that wretch Natalia's doing. I

drop things off at Scarlett's before

brief pause, she answered

straight to the point. "Ms. Jenkins, I heard from 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 was only

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."

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

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

contemporary of his son, yet markedly more composed than

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

gave a nod of

State Department at such a young age, Ms.

recognized the pleasantries for what they were and returned a few

tone shifted

to you. Even if you're with the State Department, you just need to strategize for me a bit, and delegate the

Natalia's brow furrowed slightly.