The Year She Stopped Being Crazy for Him novel Chapter 360

Natalie's eyelashes fluttered. She had genuinely believed that even if Jude found out Cora was dead, he wouldn't care in the slightest.

Clearly, she was wrong. Perhaps there had been some lingering affection after all. "Cora said that if I ever noticed you mistreating Mia, I should step in and take care of her. She also said she wished Mia was hers alone. If she was, she would have divorced you ages ago and raised her as a single mother. The only reason your marriage lasted as long as it did was because of your daughter."

Dead silence fell over the line.

Natalie glanced at her screen, half-suspecting he had hung up, before his gravelly voice broke through again. "What else?"

She thought for a moment before adding, "She actually knew you were planning to leave all your assets to Gardenia. If you really feel even an ounce of guilt toward her, the least you could do is leave something for your own daughter."

On the other end, Jude was sitting in a restaurant with Mia. Hearing Natalie's words, it felt as though thousands of ants were gnawing at his heart, a wave of hollow, agonizing grief rising in his chest.

He downed a massive gulp of ice water, but it did nothing to ease the suffocating tightness in his lungs.

Looking up, he saw Mia's red, swollen eyes. She was blankly stabbing at her practically untouched steak, looking utterly lost, like a child who had her entire world ripped away.

And he was so incredibly useless he didn't even know how to comfort a crying child.

He had stayed by her side all day. Not only hadn't she smiled once, but what terrified him most was that she refused to eat.

If she kept this up, she was going to get seriously sick.

Desperate, Jude asked, "What do I do if she refuses to eat?"

"Give her the phone," Natalie instructed.

"It's Natalie." Jude handed the phone over, making sure to gently prompt her.

Against all odds, the little girl who had just been sitting in a miserable daze instantly crumpled the second she heard that name, bursting into heart-wrenching sobs. "Natalie—"

"Mia."

"Natalie, can you please come keep me company? Wahhh... I miss my mommy! I miss you!" She was sobbing so hard her entire face flushed crimson, the veins in her neck bulging, her thick eyelashes soaked with tears.

Every single night, her mommy used to hold her, play with her, and talk to her before bed. Now, it was all just gone.

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