Echoes Of a Forsaken Heart

Chapter 285 Natalia froze in place, her smile fading as quickly as it appeared.

She reached for her phone on the nightstand, but it remained devoid of any messages.

Hamilton hadn't shown up, not even a text.

Maybe something cup with Eveleen again.

Natalia shook her head.

"It's not worth it anymore." Scarlett frowned at her.

"Natalia, raising a kid on your own is going to be tough." And it wouldn't be fair to the child either.

This child, unlike the last one, was conceived when Hamilton actually had feelings for Natalia.

They seemed so in love just a while ago.

Natalia's nose tingled.

"Scarlett, I can't do this." Scarlett was taken aback, only to hear Natalia say, "I'm scared. I'm scared this child will end up like the last one, unwanted by the Fowler family. They won't letkeep this child. I'm scared it'll end up just like my mom." Scarlett's heart ached.

"Alright, then we won't tell him. We'll leave this place. I'm going for a study program, cwith me. Once the baby is born and grown a bit, we can cback." Natalia held back tears, "I've decided to take that transfer." Trying to smile through her tears, she added, "I was going to turn it down because of Hamilton." Scarlett opened her mouth to speak but ended up embracing her instead.

"We don't need that jerk. When your baby is born, I'll help you raise them." Natalia laughed, "Okay." Hamilton saw Natalia's message the next day.

Eveleen's funeral had been chaotic with the Schafer family causing endless problems. The caretaker claimed she was just overwhelmed and pushed someone in frustration, but the Schafer family insisted Eveleen was murdered, pointing fingers at Natalia. Hamilton looked at a photo of Eveleen on the wall, his emotions a complex mix.

His memories of their childhood were limited, mostly painful, with "Evi" being a rare comfort amidst the suffering.

But he never imagined this would be their end.

Clutching a necklace, Hamilton eventually got back into his car.

"Have those people been interrogated yet?" he asked in a low voice.

Alden frowned, "They did have contact with grandfather's bodyguard and admitted he instructed them to come." A chill flashed through Hamilton's eyes.

"What about Mason and the Powell family?" "Mason had a few chess games with grandpa, always alone, while the Powell family, unusually quiet, didn't make a move." Hamilton's expression grew colder.

"There's no point in continuing with the NorthSuburb project. Also, tell the Ron Group's branch office to get out of Silkwood City!" Alden hurriedly agreed.

Hamilton, rubbing his temples, scrolled through his phone to contact Natalia but froze upon opening WhatsApp. He quickly tried calling her, only to find her phone was off.

A sense of dread filled him.

"Let's head back to the country now!" Upon returning, Hamilton went straight to Scarlett's, but no one answered. Next, he tried the hospital.

Scarlett, hearing Hamilton was looking for her, refused to see him.

Hamilton waited until Scarlett finished her shift to finally confront her.

"Where's Natalia?" Scarlett's eyes blazed with anger.

"Hamilton, where were you when you needed? Do you have any idea she waited for you all day at the cemetery?" Hamilton's face was etched with pain, "Where is she?" Scarlett sidestepped him, "I don't know, and even if I did, I wouldn't tell you. Hamilton, not everyone can wait forever." With that, Scarlett walked away, leaving Hamilton with a sinking heart.

He dialed Killian immediately.

"Where did Natalia go?" After a pause, Killian responded, "Ms. Jenkins hadstay away these past days, but I know she fainted at the cemetery and spent a day in the hospital. Then Dr. Scarlett dismissed me." Hamilton, frustrated, "And you just left?" "Sorry, Mr. Fowler," Killian replied.

Hamilton took a deep breath, "Find out her movements these last few days, see if she left Silkwood City." Killian hurried to comply.

Then, Hamilton called Caspian.

"Did Natalia go to Boria City recently?" Caspian hesitated.

"Are you still hung up on Eveleen?" Hamilton's voice was bitter, "Caspian, without her, I might have died in River State. You know my childhood..." Caspian was momentarily lost for words, knowing all too well the depth of Hamilton's troubled past. Westley, in his grand effort to brighten up his precious grandson's spirits, had invited several children from long-standing family friends to the Fowler residence.

And among them, he had stayed the longest.

Back then, Hamilton was only about six or seven years old, but he lacked the usual vibrancy of childhood.

He was solitary, odd, never smiling, nor engaging in play, and seldom spoke.

Mostly, he'd just sit alone in the yard, looking like someone unable to blend into the world around him.

Initially, it was thought to be just a quirk of his personality.

But later, it becapparent that it was not the case.

That incident, it's still crystal clear in his memory.

One summer noon, unable to nap, he decided to wander and found himself in Hamilton's yard.

The gate was unlocked, so he slipped inside.

There, he witnessed a scene he could never forget.

Hamilton, not even seven, was being smothered with a pillow by his own mother, who was holding it down firmly. "You're nothing but a mistake, you shouldn't even exist in this world, just die, just die!" Caspian couldn't fathom how a mother could do such a thing to her child.

Cruel, full of venom.

"You shouldn't exist in this world." What kind of destruction does such a sentence wreak on a child? He had only encountered such a scene once, but he had no idea how many times the young Hamilton had gone through it.

It was only after returning from River State that Hamilton gradually started cooperating with his therapist. How painful the therapy was, nobody knew.

To make him forget those painful memories, the therapist even resorted to electroshock therapy.

Eventually, those memories did fade.

But it seemed so did his will to live.

Until one day, when Caspian visited him again, he heard him say, "I have to go find Evi." But all he remembered was a name.

Evi.

Snapping back from his memories, Caspian asked quietly, "Not to doubt you, Hamilton, but are you sure Eveleen is the sperson fromet your childhood? She doesn't seem as warm as you described, more like she's shrouded in malice?" Hamilton offered a self-deprecating laugh, "Tellabout it, I hardly recognize her myself."

His grip on his phone tightened momentarily before he comfortingly added, "But she knows about my childhood in River State." Caspian paused. "You don't remember anything, how can you be sure what she's telling is true?"

Hamilton's gaze dropped to the raindrops on the ground, a hint of chill flashing in his eyes, "When Twent there, when I cback, how I was there, where I lived, where she lived, even the nand face of the nanny who took care ofthere - she knows it all." Caspian frowned, "Maybe I'm overthinking, but now what? Even if you find Natalia, Eveleen stands between you two."

"Not anymore, she's dead," Hamilton said, his face turning grim. AO M ridiculous thought flashed through his mind but was quickly suppressed. Impossible, how could it be? "Dead?" Caspian's voice was full of surprise.

Hamilton nodded, "Yeah." "And now?" "I just want to know where Natalia is." After a long pause, Caspian finally said, "Natalia's in Boria City, she's preparing for an overseas assignment." Hamilton's grip on his phone tightened again.

"An assignment?" "Yes, to Landeia, a three-year stint. If you want to keep her, you better hurry. Also," Caspian's voice grew heavy, "she's pregnant." Hamilton's mind went blank.

He swallowed hard, his voice shaky as he spoke.

"You have to hold her for me, Caspian, please keep her here, I'm on my way!" Caspian sighed.

"Her flight's tonight, I can't hold her. If you want to keep her, you have to come."