Forbidden Heat novel Chapter 273

“I’m hanging up,” Reiner stated passively.

“Don’t you want to know how she’s doing?” Edward asked.

“I’m sure she’s doing well and if she isn’t, you’ll take care of her, won’t you?” Reiner replied.

“I don’t know…she’s like a shadow of herself right now and she’s lost quite a bit of weight. Obviously, not healthy considering she was quite slim before…” Edward said, not hiding the concern in his voice.

“You should take her to see a doctor…” Reiner stated matter-of-factly.

“You’re leaving her to me now, are you?” Edward asked, not truly believing what he was hearing.

“Yeah…” Reiner said before disconnecting the call. He didn’t want to hear anymore, and he didn’t have anything more to say either.

Edward stared at the screen of his phone after the line got disconnected suddenly. He wanted to laugh and cry at the same time at how ridiculous this whole situation was. If he thought that he could help Natalia, he already would have. Why else would he bother making that call?

Let’s see if Reiner even gets the message…

“Why does he have to act so cold all the time?” Edward said before he started laughing a little.

…

It was early in the evening, and I was staring at the television blankly as I pretended to watch something to kill the time. Lucien was too busy with work to come home in time for dinner and that worked in my favor. Trying to fake an appetite when I had dinner with Lucien was a very difficult thing to do.

The last time that I had dinner with Lucien, I felt very pressured. I knew that Lucien meant well and wanted what he thought was best for me but in the end, I just couldn’t go ahead with his suggestions.

“You’re not eating enough. Is the food bad? Should I change the chef?” Lucien asked, his eyes narrowing at me.

I gulped as I felt his green eyes observing me intently. Living with Lucien meant that I couldn’t avoid having meals with him and that made hiding my lack of appetite from him impossible to do.

“The food tastes great. It’s not the chef’s fault,” I replied softly.

It goes without saying that if I’m unable to convince Lucien otherwise he would really go ahead and fire the poor chef. I can’t have the poor man and his entire team lose their jobs just because I didn’t have an appetite.

“Are you sure? I’ve been watching you for a while now and I’m sure that you’re eating a lot less than before. You’ve lost weight…” Lucien said sternly.

“Maybe I’m just trying to slim up a little…” I replied before smiling weakly at him.

“Is that so. What about the fact that you don’t seem so cheerful? I think you’ve been looking very down lately…” Lucien said as he laced the fingers of his hands together. His green eyes continued to watch me as if they wouldn’t let me hide away any secrets from him.

“I feel a little lost sometimes…you know, quarter-life crisis stuff, I guess,” I said with a shrug as I tried to keep the mood light. Not that I was anywhere near being successful.

“Well, let me know if there’s anything that I can help out with,” Lucien replied smoothly.

Yes, you can start off by asking fewer questions and perhaps taking your discerning eyes off me.

“Ok…” I mumbled.

“I was meaning to ask you this, but it has slipped my mind. Now that Reiner is no longer here, do you want a replacement?” Lucien asked, sounding very serious.