Echoes of a Forsaken Heart novel 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 same way. 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 drama, 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 came naturally. 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 loved me for 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 like me again?"

"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 from me that 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 help me with today's issue, I'll be grateful. If not, I can't complain. You should go. I'm tired."