The Unwavering Heart That Broke (Nathalie and Lance) novel Chapter 223

Nathalie felt that suffocating grip around her neck all over again. She reached up, fingertips brushing her skin, lost for a moment in a haze. Looking at the man in front of her, so composed and commanding, all she felt was a deep, aching sadness swelling in her chest.

She couldn’t fight anymore. There was nothing left in her. All she could do was trail behind him, shoulders slumped. Every effort she’d made before this just felt pitiful, like struggling for air at the end of something hopeless. Thinking about it almost made her want to laugh at herself. How ridiculous.

Her eyes stayed lowered, lashes trembling with each shaky breath. Inside the elevator, she pressed herself into the corner, looking like she’d been caught in a storm that never ended, damp from head to toe, shadow and heaviness stuck to her skin.

Lance glanced over at her and his eyebrows pulled together, his whole presence growing colder and heavier. The elevator doors finally opened. He stepped out and Nathalie just followed, numb and silent.

She unlocked her room with her fingerprint. Right then, Lance’s phone started ringing. He fished it out of his pocket and put it to his ear.

“Yeah?”

They were close enough that Nathalie could catch bits of the voice—definitely Madonna, sounding frantic about something.

“Alright, I’m coming,” Lance said. He hung up, looked right at Nathalie.

The second she realized he was about to leave, some of that darkness slipped away. There was a hint of light in her eyes again. It was so obvious she just didn’t want to be near him.

Lance clenched his phone, his voice even and distant. “I’ll have the hotel bring you dinner. Don’t order anything yourself.”

“Okay.” That was all Nathalie said.

He turned toward the elevator. Before stepping away, his gaze lingered on her. “Nathalie, don’t you have anything you want to say to me?”

Her answer was the door slamming shut in his face.

Lance’s expression clouded over, the storm building beneath his calm exterior, but the elevator arrived and he walked away before it could break.

***

“I want Mommy,” Jasper sniffled. “Lance, do you not like me anymore?”

He’d obviously heard something somewhere, and now he couldn’t stop crying.

“I like you,” Lance said softly, running his hand through Jasper’s hair. “Your mom’s not feeling well right now, that’s why you’re here with Grandma. Don’t you like having Grandma here?”

Jasper nodded, voice small. “I do. But I love Mommy more.” He was relentless, still reaching out for the parent he missed.

Madonna stood by, her eyes troubled. She couldn’t stand Felice, but that didn’t change the fact that Felice was Jasper’s mother. The poor kid had already lost his dad. He couldn’t lose his mom too. It was just too heartbreaking.

She sighed. “Maybe Felice should move into The Adams Estate. That way, we can all be there for Jasper.”

Lance nodded. “Alright.” There was no argument, no hesitation.