Echoes of a Forsaken Heart novel Chapter 159

Ryan followed Natalia into the elevator and then came clean.

“I saw Hamilton downstairs just now, so I figured I'd come up with you. He's probably here to see you, right?”

Natalia paused for a second.

She hadn't noticed Hamilton.

But whether he came or not didn't really make much difference to her now.

“Does tea keep you up at night?” she asked directly.

It took Ryan a moment to catch on, but then he realized she truly didn't care anymore.

She was letting herself move on.

“Nope.” He looked at Natalia and chuckled. “You know your stuff about tea?”

Natalia nodded. “Took a class.”

Ryan's eyes twinkled. “Well then, you might be in for some trouble. My granddad's a real tea aficionado. Looks like we'll be calling on your expertise.”

Natalia laughed, “Alright, I'll have to show him my skills one of these days.”

They chatted and laughed as they stepped out of the elevator.

As soon as they did, the elevator next to them opened, too.

Hamilton's gaze landed on their smiling faces, and it felt like a punch to the gut.

Especially Ryan's smile—it just looked so off.

A grown man grinning like that—it was almost like he was selling himself short.

Natalia's stride faltered, and her brows furrowed.

“Mr. Fowler, is there something you need?”

Hamilton looked at Natalia, suddenly at a loss for words.

Need something?

Of course, he did.

He was there to keep an eye on Ryan, to make sure he didn't get any funny ideas.

But he didn't really have a leg to stand on for that now.

“I got a room here,” Hamilton said, his gloomy expression laced with a touch of nonchalant ease.

Natalia's brows furrowed deeply. “What?”

Hamilton let out a laugh. “After what happened to you last night, I couldn't just ignore it.”

Natalia hesitated, then fell silent.

She turned and unlocked her own door.

Ryan followed her in.

But as he started to close the door, Hamilton stopped him.

Ryan stood in the doorway, “Aren't you going back to your room, Mr. Fowler?”

Hamilton's eyes bore into Ryan. “Mr. Holzer, you were all about preserving Ms. Jenkins' reputation before, and now you're shamelessly entering her room in the middle of the night?”

Hamilton's words were harsh.

Ryan didn't take it to heart; he could understand Hamilton's mindset.

Seeing the woman you like getting close to another man—it's bound to sting.

He didn't mind letting Hamilton vent a bit.

Natalia's expression, however, turned sour.

“Ryan, just close the door!”

Ryan gave Hamilton a smile and unceremoniously shut the door in his face.

Hamilton stared at the door that had been closed right before his eyes, his face setting into a frosty mask.

A passing bellhop tentatively asked, “Sir, do you need an ashtray?”

Hamilton shot a glacial look his way.

The bellhop didn’t dare say another word and quickly scuttled off.

Inside the room.

Natalia went to boil some water, planning to make Ryan a cup of tea.

Ryan stopped her right away.

“What happened last night?”

Natalia hesitated. “Thalia showed up with a guy, trying to start trouble.”

Ryan's brows knitted together instantly. “How come you didn’t call me?”

“There wasn’t time.”

Last night, everything happened so fast—from Thalia showing up to Hamilton dealing with it—it was over in minutes.

Ryan still felt uneasy.

If there wasn’t time last night, what about today? He had been with Natalia all day, and she hadn’t mentioned a thing.

He was the one who had brought Natalia to this hotel, and while Natalia had a problem, he was clueless, but Hamilton knew all about it.

Yet, given the current nature of his relationship with Natalia, he couldn't really say anything.

“From now on, could you call me, no matter what it is?”

Natalia smiled and nodded.

Ryan balanced his approach, not pressing further, and they switched topics to some issues at the Foreign Office.

He didn't stay too long.

It was his oversight before.

Indeed, as Hamilton had pointed out, it was inappropriate for him to stay in Natalia's room so late at night.