Echoes Of a Forsaken Heart

Chapter 193 The heat from the hand gripping her wrist hadn't subsided.

Natalia couldn't help but notice that Hamilton's complexion had indeed worsened significantly.

"Natalia, I haven't eaten a thing all day!" Natalia paused briefly, "Mr. Fowler, there's no shortage of people willing to accompany you for a meal." With that, she shook off his grip and dialed a number, "Mr. Edric, let's switch up the restaurant. Alright, I'll meet you there." Chatting on the phone, Natalia strode towards the exit.

Hamilton followed with a grim expression.

"Natalia, I'm still under the weather here, don't you care even a little?" Natalia stopped in her tracks, "If you don't take care of your own health, why expect anyone else to fret over it?" Without looking back, she left.

Hamilton stood rooted to the spot, a mix of emotions churning within him.

Natalia was truly ruthless.

The words he once said to her, she was now throwing back at him, one by one.

Hamilton was about to follow when his phone suddenly rang.

Glancing at the screen, he answered.

"Bro, Grandpa pulled sstrings and sent Orpheus away." Hamilton's face darkened instantly.

"Who told him?" They had kept Orpheus's troubles hidden from Westley's circle. Even those aware of his whereabouts were few.

Alden sounded equally frustrated, "With the holiday buzz, loose lips are everywhere, someone must've let something slip." Hamilton's expression turned even more sour.

"I'm heading back now." At the Fowler Mansion...

No sooner had Hamilton entered than Alden approached him.

"Grandpa just threw a massive fit." Hamilton asked in a low voice, "Do you know where they sent him?" Alden shook his head, "Once they've sent him away, they're not likely to tell us where." Hamilton's face was a mask of stoicism as he made his way to the patriarch's room.

The butler rushed to intercept him, "Young Master Hamilton, the old man is in a fiery mood." Undeterred, Hamilton pushed open the door to Westley Fowler's room.

The moment the door swung open, an object hurtled towards him.

"You have the gall to show up?" Hamilton dodged the incoming projectile.

"What did you do with him?" Westley Fowler's eyes, ablaze with anger, landed on Hamilton, "Hamilton, he's your brother. How could you let a woman cause him to end up behind bars?" Hamilton sneered, "After he dared to abduct my woman, what's wrong with making him face jail time?" "Your woman? She's nothing but a plaything. I let it slide when you called off your engagement for that tramp, but now, for her, you turn against your own brother. Have you lost your mind?" Hamilton's face grew even darker, and after a while, he retorted, "I'm just following in your footsteps, and frankly, my tactics are nothing compared to what you did back in the day!" It was as if Westley had been stung by these words. Rising to his feet, he swung a heavy slap. "You insolent fool! Is that something you should say?" "Hamilton, letmake one thing clear. As long as I draw breath, I will not allow sibling rivalry to tear this family apart!" Hamilton laughed coldly, "Then letmake myself clear too. Don't letfind Orpheus. If I do, I'll take his life." Stepping out of Westley's room, Hamilton lit a cigarette at the doorway and took a drag before asking, "Who's been here yesterday and today?" The elderly butler pondered, "Quite a few visitors. President Joyner from the Ron Group dropped by this morning, and the youngest Henkel scion as well, along with Ms. Schafer." Hamilton's voice grew colder, "Eveleen was here?" The butler nodded.

A chill flickered in Hamilton's eyes.

"Alright, got it." After the butler left, Alden couldn't help but ask, "Bro, was it Eveleen?" The question felt redundant as soon as he asked. If not Eveleen, then who? Only Eveleen had interests tied with Orpheus now.

Hamilton remained silent, not uttering a word.

After a long pause, he finally said, "Start looking for him." Natalia only learned about Orpheus being pulled out that evening.

She listened in silence before finally speaking, "Then let's press charges for defamation and assault." Caspian agreed, then added, "Word has it that it was Westley's handiwork, not Hamilton's." Natalia replied without interest, "Whether it's related or not, Mr. Spiegel, you don't need to tell me." Caspian chuckled, "You really don't care?" "Mhm, I don't." Caspian spoke softly, "Don't worry, I'll avenge you in a couple of days." Natalia smiled, "Thank you, Mr. Spiegel." The defamation and assault cases against Eveleen began on the eighth day of the month.

Caspian had intended to keep the proceedings private.

Given Eveleen's celebrity status, the potential reach was too broad.

Although Natalia was the victim, terms like 'miscarriage' and 'kept woman' would inevitably tarnish her reputation once publicized.

However, Natalia insisted on a public trial.

She wanted Eveleen utterly disgraced.

Still, under Caspian's insistence, she did not appear in court.

But even without attending, she sat in the lounge, watching the entire trial unfold.

The gallery was mostly filled with reporters, naturally including Eveleen's fans.

Patrick and Lucinda were there, with Hamilton seated across from them.

He had choping to see Natalia.

Yet to his surprise, she didn't appear in court.

Natalia's gaze lingered on Hamilton for a second before moving away.

The defamation trial was anything but smooth.

Caspian produced a series of screenshots from the internet, chronicling the vitriol that had been thrown at Natalia in a digital witch-hunt.

But Eveleen, true to form, didn't miss a beat in shifting the blonto Giselle Lynd.

And Giselle, for her part, didn't try to duck. She owned up to it right there.

She even apologized to Natalia on the spot.

The defense attorney couldn't help but smirk, his excitement barely contained as he eyed Caspian. To him, this wasn't just a lawsuit, it was argolden ticket to fand fortune. If he could beat Caspian in this case, he'd be strutting through the halls of justice like a rock star. It wasn't just the lawyer either. Patrick and Lucinda, sitting nearby, weren't wearing their usual masks of tension. All that changed when Caspian played an aurecording.

"Natalia, how did you like being cyber-bullied last time?" The moment Eveleen's voice rang out, the room tensed. Even Eveleen went pale.

Then cNatalia's voice: "Eveleen, it was really you, wasn't it?" "So what if it was? What are you going to do about it?"

The recording stopped abruptly, and the journalists in the audience started buzzing with excitement. Was m Eveleen really the puppet master bax behind the cyber onslaught? Eveleen's lawyer's face twisted in novelenglish.net! Read the latest panic. The content is on chapter there! "Mr. Spiegel, you're aware that a recording cannot be admitted as evidence. Besides, my client never explicitly admits to orchestrating the cyber-bullying here." Caspian, emanating an aura of control in the courtroom, retorted, "True, a recording isn't enough. But a witness is." The attorney was taken aback, just as Caspian called a witness.

The witness was none other than the sales clerk from the boutique where Natalia had confronted Eveleen.

Eveleen's face twisted at the sight; she hadn't expected Caspian to dig this deep.

Caspian cut to the chase, "Did you witness Ms. Jenkins striking Ms. Schafer?" The clerk nodded, "Yes, I did." "And why did Ms. Jenkins strike Ms. Schafer?"

The clerk hesitated, "Well, Ms.

Schafer was insisting that Ms. Jenkins help select a birthday gift for Mr. Fowler. Then she said Ms. m Jenkins wasn't classy enough to attend Mr. Fowler's birthday party. After smore words, Ms. Schafer insulted Ms. Jenkins's mother. That's when Ms. Jenkins lashed out. After Ms. Jenkins left, Ms. Schafer askedspecifically for the CCTV footage of her getting hit, saying it would cin handy." "Shut your mouth!" Eveleen roared as the clerk finished.

The clerk shrank back, "I'm only telling the truth. I still have the surveillance video from my shop. I can produce it at any tif needed." "Shut up, just shut up!" Eveleen's outbursts echoed twice more, turning the courtroom into a cauldron of chaos.

The judge and jury struggled to restore order.

And then, the door to the anteroom swung open.

Hamilton stood at the threshold, his gaze finding Natalia's.

Their eyes met, and for a moment, he was torn between anger and compassion.

He felt a pang for the humiliation she'd had to swallow alone.

And he was furious she'd suffered in silence, never confiding in him.

"Why didn't you tellwhat happened at the time?" he asked.

Natalia's gaze settled on him, and it took her a long while to muster a wry smile.

"Would it have made a difference?" she replied.