The Unwavering Heart That Broke (Nathalie and Lance) novel Chapter 196

She was silent. The only sound was her shaky, uneven breathing.

Daniel flung the whip aside and said, voice low and grim, “Take her to the hospital.”

The bodyguards stepped forward, pulled Nathalie upright, and dragged her away.

She didn’t even have the energy to fight back. Every tiny movement sent sharp pain tearing through her back.

By the time she was in the car, her head was spinning and the world felt tilted.

Meanwhile, the bodyguards who had been secretly watching all this couldn’t believe what they’d seen. Their eyes went wide as they hurried to call Lance.

***

Inside the hospital, the smell of disinfectant was everywhere.

Daniel pushed open the door to the room. Felice was lying in bed, and Camilla sat beside her, peeling an apple.

Felice looked up, surprised. “Dad? It’s so late. Why are you here?”

Daniel’s face was unreadable. “I brought Nathalie to apologize.”

Felice froze, then rushed to say, “That’s really not necessary. I know she didn’t mean it. I’m okay…”

She stopped short when she saw Nathalie being dragged in by the bodyguards.

Felice’s eyes widened and she started to get up. “Nathalie…”

Camilla gasped, dropping the apple to the floor. She hurried over and grabbed Nathalie, looking her over, worry written all over her face. “What happened to you?”

Then she saw the welts and bruises on Nathalie’s back. Camilla’s head snapped toward Daniel, her voice shaky and furious. “Did you… did you hit Nathalie?”

Daniel sat down, expression cold. “She was disobedient. She deserved some consequences.”

Camilla’s heart broke right there. “How could you lay a hand on your own child? Why couldn’t you just talk to her?”

Nathalie ignored her father completely. She inched her way to the side of the bed, stopping twice to grit her teeth against the pain in her back.

Finally, she made it. She looked down at Felice, pale lips pulled into a strange smile.

“So you want an apology?” Her voice sounded flat, almost amused.

Suddenly, she grabbed the knife that Camilla had left on the table beside the bed.

Then she lunged, driving the knife straight toward Felice’s chest.

Screams and cries shot through the room.

Felice’s eyes flew open with shock, but there was something wild in the way she stared back. She barely tried to get out of the way.

Just as Nathalie’s knife was about to make contact, a hand shot out and grabbed her wrist.

It was large and warm, steady as steel. Nathalie’s hand shook and, finally, the knife slipped from her grasp, hitting the floor with a loud clang.