Reborn From Oblivion by Christia Muray

Chapter 173

Nathalie made her way up the stairs and stood in front of Patrick, her voice steady but firm. "I've changed my name. I'm not Nellie anymore. I'm Nathalie."

Patrick reacted as if she'd slapped him. He lunged at her, his hands tightening around her neck in a fit of rage. "You've forgotten your own heritage. Nellie, if I'd known you'd turn out so rebellious, I'd have tossed you into a ditch the day you were born." Even as she struggled for air, Nathalie's pride remained unshaken. "You may as well finish me off now," she shot back defiantly.

Patrick's grip only tightened, but Nathalie didn't resist. She simply glared at him, eyes filled with a deep-seated resentment as if staring down a lifelong enemy.

Her icy stare unnerved Patrick, and just as she was on the brink of suffocation, he snapped back to his senses and let go. "Your mother's waiting for you in her room," he managed to say, breathless.

Nathalie didn't waste a word on him and headed straight for Miranda's room.

As Patrick watched his daughter walk away, he couldn't ignore the contradiction-she looked so frail, but her spirit was unyielding as iron. She'd said their bond was broken, and true to her word, she never called him "father" again.

could a daughter hold onto

door, lost in thought. Patrick and Miranda had once been estranged, with Patrick showing no interest in visiting Miranda or Nathalie for years.

and Miranda's voice beckoned

Miranda lying on the bed, looking frail and hollow-eyed. There

the scene you and your sister caused, it's humiliating for

face. "Patrick told me that you're terminally ill? Is it true?" Miranda was stunned into silence, her mouth opening and closing

made it

be seen it Miranda's appeal to family duty would

your father to stay and care for

"Since you're not on your deathbed,

Miranda sat there, speechless.

found it locked from the outside. That's when it hit her-she'd walked right