The Unwavering Heart That Broke (Nathalie and Lance) novel Chapter 543

Tears spilled down Nathalie's cheeks. She looked up at Lance, her voice shaking. "I know. I know I need to hold it together. But what about Damaris? I can't even stomach the thought of what Lawrence might do to her. She..."

Lance pulled her flush against his chest. Her tears felt like acid burning right through to his heart, twisting it with an unfamiliar ache.

"This is a hurdle she has to cross. She'll make it out safe," he murmured, stroking her back. Yet, deep within his dark eyes, there was only calculated detachment.

He had made his choice the moment the threat was issued.

Nothing in this world mattered more than Nathalie's safety.

Nathalie closed her eyes, burying her face against his collarbone as she let the tears flow. She was drowning in a suffocating wave of guilt and sorrow.

She felt entirely responsible for failing to protect Damaris.

"Nathalie."

Mrs. White hurried over, looking unusually disheveled. Her typically flawless makeup was smudged, and she looked drained of color.

Nathalie quickly wiped her eyes and stepped back. "Mrs. White."

"What exactly... is going on between Damaris and that man?" Mrs. White struggled to get the words out. She had clearly just finished sobbing, her eyes red and puffy from the horror of watching her daughter get abducted.

Nathalie took a deep breath before answering. "It was just an accident. Damaris never meant anything by it. It's Lawrence who's been obsessively hunting her down."

Fresh tears leaked from Mrs. White's eyes. "Is she going to survive this? How could she be so reckless? How did she end up tangling with a man like that? I told her to settle down! If she had just gotten married when I told her to, none of this would be happening..."

Even now, while her daughter's life hung in the balance, she couldn't stop placing the blame on Damaris.

Nathalie couldn't bite her tongue any longer. "She only went to that bar to blow off steam because she was drowning in stress. You relentlessly pushed her into blind dates without letting her breathe. I've always wanted to ask—why did you force so many men on her? She's your only daughter. She's not even twenty-five. Why were you so desperate to marry her off?"

"Care to fill me in on what exactly just went down in there?" Octavia asked.

"We'll brief you on the way," Lance interjected smoothly.

Octavia raised an eyebrow, popped open the rear doors, and slid into the driver's seat.

The ride was thick with tension. Lance gave Octavia a streamlined version of the catastrophe.

"Idiot!"

Octavia swore under her breath, aggressively chewing on her candy. "I am a brilliant, gorgeous woman. How on earth did I end up with such a moron for a brother? A fake wedding? Unbelievable! And Damaris... how could she be foolish enough to go along with it? That boy has ulterior motives written all over him!"

Only an older sister could see right through Bagot's hidden agenda so effortlessly.