When She Rose From the Ashes

Chapter 398 A Heart Laid Bare

Beth fell silent, suddenly unsure what more to say.

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There were so many women who lost themselves to love. Natalie had once been the same- blinded by her devotion to Jensen, wasting five years of her life on foolish choices.

Beth had expected Natalie to mock her. Instead, she simply took the cigarette, tapped out the ash, and pressed it gently onto Beth’s bleeding arm.

That calm steadiness made Beth’s throat tighten.

“You don’t think I’m stupid?” she asked softly.

“Everyone’s stupid for love once,” Natalie replied. “I was. I paid a heavy price–nearly died in a fire because of it.”

Beth’s eyes

widened. She understood the weight behind those words.

“You’re… trying to comfort me?”

“No,” Natalie said evenly. “I’m just stating the truth.”

It surprised her, the steadiness in her own heart. She should have been terrified, waiting to be sold like an object. But the thought of Baron gave her an unexpected sense of warmth, of safety.

Beth studied her for a moment, then asked, “You sound like you’ve moved past foolish love. Have you found the real thing?”

everything he had to

with a tenderness

in Natalie’s eyes—it

onto this ship… if they don’t leave as

had planned to let Natalie cling to a false hope until the end, until the auction

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398 A Heart

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your life

gripped Natalie’s shoulders, forcing her to meet her eyes. “Do you understand? This is the

Natalie didn’t flinch.

along. She wasn’t a child–Beth’s reassurances had never truly fooled her. But

Natalie

still sit there

only smiled faintly. She shook out the last ashes, sprinkled them over Beth’s wound, then tore a strip from her shirt to bind

she sat back and met Beth’s gaze with quiet

what awaits me. But I

“Who? Jensen?”

After all, the desperate text

Natalie shook her head.

But the man

of the cabin, as though she could