Echoes of a Forsaken Heart novel Chapter 4

Natalia forced a silent but bitter smile. The guy was a real bastard, but she knew he'd never be without an heir.

With all the women in his orbit, could any of them fail to give him a child?-

Scarlett cursed under her breath, feeling a bit better after letting off some steam, and then got down to business.

"So, you don't want this baby, right? Should I just go ahead and schedule the operation after your check-up tomorrow?"

Natalia caressed her belly, swallowing the pain in her heart, and replied softly, "Yes."

As her voice faded, a tear rolled down from the corner of her eye. In the end, she was the one who should apologize this child. But without a legitimate claim, she had nothing to offer her baby, and how could she dare keep it? She was just an ordinary woman from an ordinary family. She couldn't let her child be marked as a bastard for life.

Hamilton would never give her a title. He wouldn't give her any chance to tie him down.

Nor affection, love, family, or children.

He wouldn't give any of it.

Natalia closed her eyes and wiped away her tears.

The night was quiet and long, and her sleep was restless. She seemed to have a dream.

In the dream, she was back in her childhood. As a child, she and her mother had been through tough times, and the longest they ever stayed in one place was a small fishing village by the riverbank.

It was there that Natalia first met Hamilton. As a child, Hamilton didn't have his current brooding look. His features were so delicate that he seemed almost like a doll.

Later, Natalia learned that he had been there to recuperate from an illness. Recovery must have been rough for him because he often sat by the riverbank alone, wiping away tears.

Every time Natalia saw him, she'd offer him a lollipop to cheer him up. He ignored her at first.

But later on, he would secretly perch on her garden wall and call her “Evi.”

Eventually, it seemed his health improved, and he was whisked away by a group of people. Before he left, he promised he would come find her. But Natalia never saw him again.

Their reunion ten years later was accidental.

On her seventeenth birthday, her half-sister claimed she'd lost a bracelet on the beach and asked Natalia to look for it. On the beach, Natalia recognized Hamilton at first glance.

At nineteen, the boy had shed his childishness but carried an air of melancholy. When she spotted him, he was slowly walking into the cold, tumultuous sea.

Without a second thought, she ran and grabbed him.

The boy turned around, his eyes filled with a cold and ruthless edge that didn’t match his age.

Natalia instinctively stepped back in fear.

He scoffed and walked back into the sea.

"Dying is the easiest thing in the world, you coward!" Natalia yelled at him with all her might.

The boy stopped in his tracks. But just then, a wave suddenly hit, and Natalia's slight figure was engulfed by the sea. She couldn't remember what it felt like, only the terror of flailing and not being able to grab onto anything.

As her consciousness blurred, a pair of hands suddenly wrapped around her waist. The waves churned, and her body bobbed up and down. Through the haze, she thought she saw the boy's pallid, icy face.

She wasn't sure how he managed to drag her ashore amid those massive waves.

All she remembered was waking up to his cold face and colder words.

"If you can't even fend for yourself, it’s none of your business worrying about someone else."

With that, he turned and walked away.

"Hamilton!" she cried out in the dream.

Waking up, the dream shattered.

Opening her eyes, she found her phone ringing.

It was Scarlett.

"I've arranged the surgery. Don't eat or drink anything before you come."

Natalia gathered her emotions before responding, feeling a sense of heaviness in her heart.

This was her child with Hamilton. The man she'd been pining for all these years. But she understood the baby couldn't stay. Not out of fear of discovery, but because the longer she waited, the harder it would be to let go.

Natalia quickly got ready and left the hotel. But she stopped short at the hotel entrance at the sight of that all-too-familiar car.

She wasn't surprised Hamilton had found her.

In Silkwood City, it’s far too easy if he wanted to find someone.

What puzzled her was why he'd bother to look for her at all. After the clear-cut conversation last night, why come find her today? And she really didn't want to see Hamilton now.

The resolve she'd finally found was fragile, and she feared she'd crumble in his presence.

Natalia considered fleeing. But Hamilton had already stepped out of his car.

The man approached with measured steps, his voice laced with barely concealed anger.

"Are you done playing games?" Hamilton stopped in front of her, his expression blank, looking down on her.

"I'm not playing." Natalia didn't meet his gaze.

Hamilton's eyes darkened. "So, you're serious about running off with Victor? When did that start?"

Natalia's lips twitched slightly. "You're mistaken. I'm leaving because I want to, not because of anyone else."

"Reason?"

Finally, Natalia looked up to meet his gaze. "I want to get married, Mr. Fowler."

Hamilton's eyes narrowed. "Seriously?"

"Yes, seriously. I'm already twenty-seven now."

Hamilton's hand brushed her face, his eyes flashing dangerously.

"Got someone in mind?"

Natalia paused for a moment.

"Not yet. But whether I do or not, I need to quit the game first."

"Have earned enough money?" Hamilton raised an eyebrow at her.

Natalia gave a wry smile. Being with him for the money was always the most shameful secret she harbored, and yet he reminded her time and again.

It took all her strength not to break down in front of this man, and she managed a weak smile. "No. But if earning money conflicts with marriage, I prioritize marriage."

Hamilton's expression darkened.

"Ready to let me go?"

"What’s the difference if I'm not? Will you marry me, Mr. Fowler? Marry me and have kids with me, will you?" Natalia stared at him directly.

She thought, if he would just say 'yes', even a distant, uncertain 'yes', she'd truly be trapped by this man forever.

But Hamilton remained silent, his increasingly cold demeanor clearly stating his answer. He stepped back, looking Natalia up and down.

"Ms. Jenkins, I always thought you were smart."

Natalia's heart ached sharply at his words. She understood what Hamilton meant. Any wise woman wouldn't go looking for trouble like this.

In the past, she wouldn't have either. But fate had thrown a curveball—she was pregnant now.

Natalia met Hamilton's gaze, "Sorry, Mr. Fowler, I'm just an ordinary person."

"If that's the case, I won't insist," Hamilton said before turning to leave.

Once the silhouette of his car had disappeared, Natalia hailed a cab on the roadside with a pale face.

Scarlett was already waiting for her at the hospital. "Let's go, we'll start with the ultrasound."

Natalia followed Scarlett into the sonogram room.

Coming out, Scarlett's expression wasn't too bright.

"What's wrong?" Natalia suddenly had a bad feeling.

Scarlett frowned as she spoke. "Didn't you always have painful periods?"

"Yes." Natalia tensed up.

The time she fell overboard at seventeen happened to be during her menstrual period. The winter sea was bitterly cold, and she had suffered bellyaches for days after that. And since then, her periods were excruciating.

"Natalia, your body isn't suitable for an abortion."

Natalia's fingers clenched tightly. She looked at Scarlett, asking after a long pause, "Why?"

Scarlett met her eyes, "If you go through with this, you might never be able to have children again."

The color drained from Natalia's face. Her grip on the ultrasound report tightened.

"Is there something wrong with my body?"

Scarlett nodded, "Let's put it this way, the fact that you got pregnant this time was like hitting a one in a million chance. Your uterine lining is much thinner than normal."

After a pause, she added, "I think you should reconsider it."

Natalia's hand instinctively covered her lower abdomen. Her mind was a tangled mess now. She had been determined to terminate the pregnancy. But the thought that she might never have a child again made her heart waver.

This child could be her only chance at motherhood.

After a moment of silence, she pushed down the ache in her heart and said, "Alright, I'll rethink about it."

Scarlett looked at her, "Is there really no chance between you and that man?"

Natalia gave a wry smile, as if the bitterness was about to spill from her lips.

"No."