Lahat ng Kabanata ng Opening My Eyes to Reality: Kabanata 331 - Kabanata 340

Rowan froze, his eyes darkening even more at that moment. A few seconds later, he snapped to his senses. "Natalie, I don't want you to go. Can't you stay here with me?"He wanted to fight for more time with her. He didn't want her to leave.Natalie was oblivious to his panic and uneasiness. She had her own concerns. He didn't love her, and she'd only get hurt if they went on like this.She'd had a taste of the heartbreak and pain that came with love, and she didn't want to go through those again. As such, she wanted to pull herself out of this swamp before she sank deeper.Natalie wanted to nip things in the bud before any real damage was done.She forced herself to ignore Rowan's broken gaze, worried it would weaken her resolve. "I have to go, Rowan. I don't belong in Velmont."Rowan was silent for a long while. When Natalie met his gaze again, he leaned forward and kissed her on the lips.Reluctance and longing drowned him like a tidal wave. His kiss was feral, demanding, and

Natalie looked toward the sound of Jason's voice, but it was too dark for her to make out his silhouette. She heard him draw closer, and soon, he sat beside her and grazed her cheek with his fingers.She turned away from him reproachfully. "Don't touch me with your filthy hand."The look in her eyes was not unfamiliar to Jason. He'd seen her regard him with the same scorn and contempt back in the day, like he was no better than a disgusting street rat that she'd loathe to look at.But he was a different person now. He was no longer the same man who'd hurt her. He was the supposed heir to the Mattel family. He would soon be known as Dexia's most prestigious man, so why was she still looking at him like that?Jason's rage was a burning, living thing inside him. He tried his hardest to restrain his emotions."You don't want my hand touching you, huh? You prefer Rowan's, is that it?" He lay on his side, tucking close to Natalie and wrapping an arm around her waist. "Natalie, do you ha

Surprise flickered across Jason's face. It was obvious he hadn't expected Natalie to guess his identity.When Jason didn't respond, Natalie's heart sank. The answer was clear in the silence. Lorcan, Aaron, Jason—the names sounded similar in retrospect, and even "Aaron Jespier" was an anagram of "Jason Pereira". She should've pieced it together sooner.Ashen-faced, Natalie clenched her fists and strained against the shackles, which rattled. "I'm guessing you orchestrated our first meeting on the plane, too?"After a moment of silence, Jason recovered his composure. A meaningful, wicked smile curved his lips. "You know me best, Natalie. You still recognize me despite all the work I have done on my face. Doesn't that mean you still care about me? You still love me."If Natalie had loathed and reproached him before, she was disgusted and aggrieved by him, not to mention furious with him. The universe was so unfair for letting a vicious, unscrupulous scumbag like him be the immediate he

Landon knew Natalie's flight itinerary. Logically, she should have arrived in Grendale earlier on, so why hadn't she? Nonetheless, he comforted Susan, "Calm down, Ms. Watson. I'll have someone track down Ms. Sutton's whereabouts. I'll call you with any updates."Susan replied, "Okay, I'll wait for your call, then."Landon hurriedly hung up, his stomach knotting. He was beyond distressed. Rowan was on the verge of death, and Natalie had apparently gone missing.Looking grave, he stopped beside Magnus and said quietly, "Natalie's gone missing. I'll look into this while you keep an eye on things here. Keep me posted."Magnus' eyes widened. "Natalie's missing?""Yes," Landon confirmed with a nod. "Her mother called me earlier. Mr. Mattel's unconscious now. What will we tell him if something happens to Natalie?"Landon and Magnus knew how much Natalie meant to Rowan. She was his whole heart, and anyone who wanted to touch her could dream on.Magnus replied, "Got it. I'll hold down

Natalie was silent for a moment, pondering her answer. She said blandly, "Rowan helped me a lot back when we were in Grendale. We gradually spent more time together, so perhaps I was fond of him at some point, but I certainly didn't love him."Besides, he promised me a billion dollars, an estate villa, land, and a yacht. It's hard not to be tempted by such a lucrative offer, so I agreed to marry him. But I did a lot of thinking today. He's a dying man. He and I won't have a future together."If that's the case, I won't go beyond my feelings for him and say I love him. I won't allow myself to wade into love's treacherous waters again and repeat old mistakes."You keep asking me to forgive you, Jason, but you weren't the one who got hurt. Naturally, you could have a fresh start without even batting an eye. But the hurt I felt was no less than having a thousand ants tear my heart apart with their pincers."Even thinking about it now makes my skin crawl, and I end up losing sleep over