All Chapters of The rebirth of Natasha Berlin : Chapter 31 - Chapter 40

Chapter Thirty-Two.SebastianIf someone had told me a month ago that I would willingly spend an entire Saturday wandering through cafés, bookstores, crowded markets, and public squares...I would have questioned their sanity.Yet here I was.Still following Natasha.The city had begun to glow beneath the soft orange light of the setting sun as we left the market, our hands occupied with far more shopping bags than either of us had intended to buy.Natasha looked unusually pleased with herself."I hope you've learned something today.""I have."She turned toward me with a victorious smile."Oh?""I should never allow you to plan my weekends."She laughed, the sound carrying easily over the evening crowd."Too late.""I've noticed.""You survived.""Barely.""You danced.""I was forced.""You smiled.""I was manipulated.""You laughed.""...That was unfortunate."She nudged my arm playfully."No."She smiled."That was progress."I looked ahead without answering.Perhaps...She was rig

Chapter Thirty-Four.NatashaThe drive back to the apartment was unusually quiet.Not the uncomfortable kind of silence that demanded to be filled, but the kind that lingered after words had already done their job. The city lights streaked past the windows in blurred ribbons of gold and white, while the faint hum of the engine became the only sound between us.I rested my elbow against the window and watched the buildings disappear one after another.Mrs. Laurent's words refused to leave my mind."The way you look at one another."Then my mother's voice followed."The way you instinctively take care of each other."I let out a slow breath.If only they knew.Everything they had seen...Every smile.Every shared glance.Every quiet gesture.It had all started because of a contract.So why did it no longer feel like one?"You've been quiet."Sebastian's calm voice pulled me from my thoughts.I turned my head slightly."So have you.""I asked first."A small smile tugged at my lips."I w

Chapter Thirty-Six.NatashaTuesday arrived far sooner than I wanted.The moment I opened my eyes, I knew today would be exhausting.Some mornings carried an unexplainable heaviness, as though the day itself was warning you to prepare for what lay ahead.This was one of those mornings.I stared at the ceiling for several seconds before reaching for my phone on the bedside table.8:02 a.m.A message from my lawyer was already waiting.Mr. Hayes: I'll meet you at Blackwood Café at 2:30 p.m. Mr. Duncan Hayes has confirmed his attendance.I read the message twice before locking my phone again.So...He was actually coming.I wasn't sure whether to be relieved or annoyed.Probably both.With a sigh, I pushed myself out of bed and made my way toward the kitchen. The apartment was unusually quiet. For a moment, I assumed Sebastian had already left for Laurent Holdings, but the rich aroma of freshly brewed coffee drifting through the hallway told me otherwise.When I stepped into the kitchen,

Chapter Thirty-Eight.SebastianThe boardroom was unusually quiet as the meeting came to an end.One by one, the executives gathered their documents and laptops before leaving, offering Sebastian polite nods as they filed out. Ordinarily, he would have remained behind to review the quarterly reports or discuss the next acquisition with Marcus. It had become a routine so familiar that no one questioned it anymore.Today, however, his attention had wandered more than once.He had caught himself staring out the floor-to-ceiling windows instead of the presentation on the screen. Numbers that usually demanded his full concentration had become little more than meaningless figures. Every time his mind drifted, it returned to the same place.Natasha.She was meeting Duncan this afternoon.Sebastian had trusted her decision without argument. He respected the fact that she wanted to face the past on her own terms, but respect did little to silence the uneasy feeling that had settled in his ches

Chapter FortyNatashaThe following morning began more quietly than I expected.For the first time in weeks, I woke before my alarm, and for several minutes, I simply lay there staring at the ceiling. Yesterday's meeting with Duncan kept returning to my mind—the way he had refused to sign the divorce papers, the strange fear that had crossed his face, and the phone calls he had ignored while sitting across from me.Something about it still bothered me.Not because Duncan had refused to cooperate. I had already learned that expecting anything reasonable from him was a waste of energy. What unsettled me was how different he had seemed. Duncan had always been confident, sometimes to the point of arrogance. He had never been the kind of man who allowed anyone to see him afraid.Yet yesterday, I had seen fear in his eyes, I rolled onto my side and sighed. Perhaps I was thinking too much about it, That had become a habit lately.I pushed the covers aside and headed toward the bathroom, dete