Lydia gave Natalie a massage with essential oils. Natalie had to admit that the oils here were truly
excellent. All her weariness of the journey disappeared once it was used on her.
Natalie fell asleep while Lydia was giving her a massage.
Just as Lydia was thinking about how to turn Natalie over, the wooden door of the room creaked open.
Lydia looked towards the door and saw Cedric wearing a casual gray lounge outfit!
Cedric gestured for silence, but Lydia's heart tightened. Just as she was about to say something, Irwin
appeared at the door and gestured at her.
Lydia was reluctant, but she respectfully left.
In the room, only Natalie and Cedric remained.
Natalie lay peacefully on the bed, her hair falling softly over her shoulders. With her eyes closed and
her curled eyelashes, she looked so beautiful, like an angel!
During this time, Irwin had been very attentive to her. Although she had been taking traditional
medicine all along, her dainty face had regained some meat.
Girls were afraid of getting fat. But because she was petite, she wouldn't look good if she were too thin.
Cedric gently traced her face. At that moment, his eyes were full of indulgence, tenderness, and an
unprecedented bitterness.
"Mmm..." Natalie shifted, seeming uncomfortable sleeping like that. Cedric gently adjusted her.
But because she was too exhausted, Natalie didn't even have the strength to open her eyes. Feeling
comfortable after being properly placed, she fell into a deep sleep again.
He watched her sleep peacefully, and the indulgence in the man's eyes grew even stronger.
He placed a light kiss on her forehead.
At this moment, it seemed like this warmth was thoroughly engraved into his heart. It was as if he
wanted to carve her face forever in his memory.
"No... no..."
Follow on NovᴇlEnglish.nᴇtIt was unclear what she was dreaming about, but she kept murmuring the same thing in her sleep. In
this world, there were too many things she didn't want.
Cedric sat by the bedside the entire night!
He etched every one of Natalie's movements into his memory.
He... wanted to be by her side!
However, he didn't know when they had lost their way forward. It seemed like he had severed all the
paths with his own hands!
Being well and safe on their own seemed like... their only path.
But in reality, even that path wasn't available to them.
How much resentment was there in Natalie's heart?
He... knew!
"In the future, I won't be in your life," Cedric said hoarsely when the sky outside gradually brightened.
She no longer liked him.
She would never like him again!
So, if he didn't exist in her life, perhaps that would be the best path for her.
That would be the best redemption.
Would she be a bit more relieved without him?
However...!
When he thought about how Natalie would never exist in his life again, Cedric felt an excruciating pain.
It was as if someone had torn his heart apart.
Finally, when Natalie turned over, Cedric got up and left.
Irwin was waiting for him outside, still in the same attire as last night.
He sat on the wicker chair on the wooden platform. The ashtray on the wicker table was full of cigarette
butts.
It was evident that he had sat here all night.
Cedric was silent as he approached Irwin and sat down in the chair opposite him.
"Cigarette."
The next moment, Irwin threw the cigarette he had just taken out at Cedric, who caught it accurately!
Then Irwin threw the lighter, and the sound of the lighter clicking filled the air.
Cedric lit a cigarette and took two deep drags. It was as if he couldn't suppress the heaviness in his
chest.
He said, "You should smoke less from now on. Your liver hasn't been too good for over a decade."
Irwin was silent.
Over a decade!
Yes, it had been over a decade since that incident!
And Cedric and Natalie's relationship had lasted ten years.
Irwin took a deep breath. "She was only sixteen when she met you, right?" Cedric was silent.
Sixteen years old!?
That was right.
That year, Natalie was only sixteen!
Cedric had never seen such a weary look in a sixteen-year-old girl.
She bore a close resemblance to Blair, yet... they were entirely different kinds of people.
One had been seemingly raised like a princess! Like an angel in the sky, she enjoyed unparalleled
glory, making it unbearable for anyone to witness her fall.
Meanwhile, Natalie gave off the feeling as if she had endured hardships in purgatory.
Yes!
Wasn't Natalie the one who endured hardships?
At such a young age, she had lost her parents. She was left alone and had no one else in her life.
At a young age, she had bid farewell to all her loved ones.
After a short pause, Irwin continued, "It seems like she started having good days after meeting you!"
Follow on Novᴇl-Onlinᴇ.cᴏmIn the past, Irwin hadn't thought much of Natalie. But he knew her inside out. Isabella had always been
hysterical, saying that Natalie inherited all her father's property because her mother left everything to
her. Isabella said that even her portion had been given to Natalie.
However, in reality...
Did Natalie really spend all that money herself?
She had never seen such a naive woman. Clearly, she had nothing. Even in the world, she was alone.
Yet, she would regularly donate a portion of her living expenses to charity every month! The remaining
part, although carefully budgeted, was barely enough for her expenses.
If the school needed additional fees sometimes, she would have only bread for her meals for almost
half a month to make up for it.
Thinking about all these things, bitterness filled Cedric's eyes. "Where did she have good days
following me?"
These words, spoken at this moment, were filled with such pain!
Once...!
After Natalie married him, he also once believed that it was the best outcome for her, even until the
end!
Even when she couldn't see, Cedric was convinced that he was giving Natalie the best days of her life.
Little did he know...!
He overlooked a serious issue, which was...
What did Natalie want? Were the expectations of the Johnson family really what she desired? Their
constant exclusion, was that really what she... wanted?
No, it wasn't!
It was only recently that Cedric thoroughly understood that Natalie had never been truly comfortable by
his side.
"The best days she had with me were probably those seven years," he said.
Even though afterward, their relationship became unbearable...
But it must be said that during those seven years of their romance, Cedric did protect Natalie very well.