Echoes Of a Forsaken Heart

Chapter 198 "Yes." Natalia didn't shy away from the truth any longer.

Inside, Hamilton felt a sudden weight crushing his chest, making it hard to breathe. He had never imagined that Natalia had harbored feelings for him for a decade! He had even felt bouts of unexplained jealousy over someone he thought was just a figment of his imagination. How ridiculous that he had been jealous of himself for so long! "Why didn't you tell me?" Natalia chuckled, "Because there was no need, Hamilton. I knew you didn't feel the sway. Why would I tell you? To make myself look even more pathetic? Or to give you free rein to trample all over my feelings? No, Hamilton, I would have rather kept it simply as a transaction between us." "Of course, now there's not even a transaction." "Natalia!" Hamilton's eyes were bloodshot, her every word piercing his heart like a knife. It hurt so much it felt like his heart was shrinking. "You did like me!" After a moment's silence, surrounded by onlookers eager for , Natalia didn't want to entangle with Hamilton over these matters here. She just turned and entered the hospital room. Hamilton followed closely, as if missing a single step would mean losing her. "Hamilton." It wasn't until they were inside the room that she spoke again. "I'll admit it, I did have feelings for you." Natalia's admission cnaturally. But only she knew how much it still bled her heart to bring up these feelings. "You were my teenage dream. To get close to you, I crushed my own dignity into the dust. I was relentless, wanting just a glimmer of response from you. Sadly, in the end, I got nothing." As she spoke, tears threatened to spill from her eyes. With a bitter laugh and moisture in her gaze, she continued, "So, I don't like you anymore. I can't. That affection has faded over time, Hamilton. I truly don't have feelings for you anymore, and that's precisely why I fought so hard to leave you." Hamilton's initial excitement at learning of Natalia's feelings had turned to a heart sinking into an icy abyss. He had never felt such pain before. Not just emotionally, but physically, as if every nerve in his body ached.

Natalia was being cruel. In just a few minutes, she had shattered his seemingly invincible heart into a thousand pieces. He could hardly bear to think how she must have felt when he had treated her so carelessly.

"Natalia, but you lovedfor ten years!" Hamilton couldn't believe she didn't love him now. How could a decade of feelings just vanish? Through her tears, Natalia forced a smile, "Yes, ten years. But you know better than anyone what I went through while with you. I wanted that child, not just because it might have been my only chance to have one, but because it was yours. Yet despite all my efforts, I couldn't save it. Losing the child meant losing half of my heart." "Then, your repeated neglect, your favoritism... You knew I was suffering, yet you did nothing. Eveleen was your darling, the one you had to care for. But Hamilton, I'm human too. I have feelings. I felt sadness, disappointment. How many disappointments did I accumulate? So why should I still hold any affection for you?" After speaking her piece, Natalia met Hamilton's pained gaze. She had never imagined being with him could be this agonizing.

"What if I want to start over? Can you find it in your heart to likeagain?" "It's impossible, Hamilton. You don't go back to old pastures. Sometimes, when it's over, it's just over." Hamilton choked up, "Have you really moved on fromthat easily? Natalia! Even a dog you've had for ten years is hard to part with!" Natalia snorted, "At least a dog I've had for ten years would know to protect me!" She didn't want to talk anymore. Rehashing the past felt like living through it all over again. As much as she had loved him, she had felt just as humiliated. Now, airing it all out felt like trampling her own dignity once more. Yet, strangely, speaking out seemed to bring her relief. That hopeless love seemed something she could finally let go of.

"If Mr. Fowler is willing to helpwith today's issue, I'll be grateful. If not, I can't complain. You should go. I'm tired." Hamilton left, a mixture of anger and pain. She had discarded him so easily. Without even considering his feelings. Picking up his phone, he called Alden.

"Those who caused trouble at the hospital, distributing flyers, spreading rumors online-sue those who need suing, interrogate those who need questioning. I don't want to hear another word about Natalia being a homewrecker, online or on the streets." He paused before continuing, "That letter you wrote me... Can I see it?" Natalia looked down, "It's gone. I burned it." Hamilton's face darkened. "Natalia! You burned it?" "Yes," she confirmed, and it was true. She had burned it that very night, wanting to leave no trace of Hamilton in her life.

Hamilton's expression cracked. He was finally understanding the agony of yearning for something unreachable.

"You're cruel." With those three words, he left. Outside, Scarlett and Elliott stepped back as the door opened. Hamilton saw them but didn't look back. His tall frseemed weighed down by an invisible burden. Alone in the room, Natalia felt an inexplicable sting in her eyes. Back in his car, the nearly six-foot-three man felt a tinge of self-pity. She had thrown him away so easily, without a second thought for his feelings.

Alden paused for a second before hurriedly responding. "Bro, Lucinda and Patrick are camping out at the office entrance." Hamilton's face instantly darkened. "Tell them to beat it!" With that, Hamilton hung up the phone, revved up his car, and sped off to the office. No sooner had he parked than Lucinda and Patrick approached him.

"Mr. Fowler, please, you've got to help Eveleen. If she really gets locked up, it'll kill her!" Hamilton let out a derisive snort, "Did she ever consider the consequences of her actions on others?"

Lucinda's face turned ashen. "Mr.

Fowler, Eveleen just fell too hard for hard for you, and you wouldn't give her a second chance. She had no choice.

Are you really ready to throw away all those years just like that?" Lucinda's words hit a raw nerve. Hamilton's face turned stone cold, "What's that? Others can ditch me, but I'm not allowed to return the favor?" Without another word, his face set in a grim line, he strode past them. "Don't botheragain. I'm done with Eveleen's mess!" Lucinda burst into tears at his words. But Hamilton didn't even glance back. After a long night of questioning, the fans finally cracked one by one. "It was Eveleen's agent who leaked the information." Hamilton reviewed the statements with a steely expression. Was Eveleen really not involved? Forget Natalia; even he was starting to doubt.

Alden broke the silence, "What do we do now?"

Hamilton's gaze dropped, a frosty aura enveloping him. "Handle the agent directly, as for Eveleen, cancel her contract with Ivy Gemstone, e and retract all investments made to the Schafer family. Issue a statement clarifying that I have never had anything to do with Eveleen. And there's no need for a psychiatric evaluation-send her straight to the psych ward. She can reflect there." Alden was taken aback. Had something set his brother off? But he didn't hesitate, quickly agreeing and setting off to take care of it.

After wrapping up the loose ends, om Hamilton went to see Natalia. He didn't expect to arrive at the hospital only to overhear Debby saying. "Ms. Jenkins seems to be planning on transferring her mother to Boria City."