When She Rose From the Ashes

Chapter 41 A New Face

He remembered how, even in the middle of surgery, Natalie had murmured Jensen’s name over and over again. The thought made his chest blaze with fury, and the temperature in the room seemed to plummet.

Natalie noticed the shift immediately and rushed to explain. “That’s not what I meant. I-”

“Enough,” Baron interrupted. “Whatever you meant to say, whatever you think you’re feeling-let it go. If you want to fully recover, it’ll take a long time. Rest and surgery. I’ve already contacted Witch Doctor. Once your body’s stable, he’ll perform the skin grafts. Your face might not look the same afterward. But if you want it to, Witch Doctor might be able to restore it.”

Natalie paused.

She raised a hand instinctively, trying to touch her face-but she stopped halfway and let it drop again.

Her skin couldn’t handle the pressure. Even a light touch could cause damage.

What is she now, really?

A monster? A child would cry just looking at her.

If she’d survived, it was only because of Baron.

She owed him her life.

But since the fire hadn’t killed her, she wasn’t going to let what Sharon and Jensen did slide.

The old Natalie was gone. Whether her face could be restored or not didn’t matter anymore.

“Baron, I want a new face.”

Before she turned eighteen, she was the misidentified daughter of the Summers family. After that, she was the gilded canary Jensen kept under lock and key.

for support-and even sacrificed everything for him-in the public eye, she

at twenty-three severed her from Jensen forever-and left scars she

on, she would belong to no one

in her eyes and finally relaxed a

is long and grueling. Are

say that, but right now it’s all I have to offer. Witch Doctor never helps anyone without a price.

rules Witch Doctor lived

“We’ll deal with that later. First, focus on healing for the

“Okay.”

1/3

Natalie nodded.

and rest. That’s what you need right now. If the

She shook her head.

I want to remember this pain.

eyes were steely. But when she looked at Baron again, there

made you something to thank you. It might be the last

He froze.

it was just something she’d said in passing. Now it turned out

you make

strange anticipation bloomed in his chest-mixed with a flicker of joy he didn’t quite know how to

A gift?

years since anyone had given him

was different from the things

was something Natalie had created herself-just for

gaze was so clear, so focused, that Natalie felt like she was staring into the

couldn’t help but smile a little, even though it hurt. There