The Unwavering Heart That Broke (Nathalie and Lance) novel Chapter 727

Chapter 727

Chapter 727

She had chosen the latter.

He had trusted her to raise Jasper. He assumed that since she carried the boy for nine months and he was Jackson’s flesh and blood, she would naturally love him.

He never, in his wildest nightmares, imagined she would turn the boy into a pawn to manipulate everyone around her.

Lance’s mind raced. Before Jasper was even a year old, he was constantly coming down random fevers and strange rashes…

Were any of those actually real?

Even though Lance had seen the absolute worst of humanity, hearing his mother confirm th depths of Felice’s depravity sent a sickening chill down his spine.

Madonna seemed to realize the exact same thing. Her voice broke with a heavy sob. “It’s all my fault. If I hadn’t left the country, if I had just kept him with me, he never would have suffered like this.”

She loathed herself. The regret was eating her alive.

But back then, she had been drowning in grief. Losing her brilliant eldest son had shattered her. Desperate to escape the suffocating pain, she had joined Doctors Without Borders.

She had convinced herself that saving lives across the globe-saving other people’s childrer and parents-would somehow honor him.

If she could just save one person, she could spare another family the hell she was enduring.

She had been entirely consumed by her own mourning, completely abandoning her duty to protect Jackson’s only child.

She was practically drowning in guilt.

Unable to hold back her tears, Madonna buried her face in her hands, weeping bitterly through her fingers.

If Jackson knew how his son had been tortured by his own mother, it would have destroyed

him.

Mother and son sat in profound, heavy silence, both consumed by their own devastating

realizations.

Night fell, casting a gloomy, oppressive shadow over the estate.

Stepping out of the matriarch’s room, Nathalie saw Madonna helping Lance into the elevator.

She took the stairs and arrived just as the doors parted.

حيد

10:20

“You two go get some rest,” Madonna told her, wiping her eyes. I’m going to stay with Ja

tonight.”

Nathalie walked over and linked her arm through Lance’s

She could practically feel the dark, suffocating wave of despair radiating off him.

Back in the master bedroom, he remained entirely mute. Even after she helped him into 1 bathroom, he didn’t ask her to stay.

Nathalie turned and left, her heart heavy with conflicting emotions.

Hearing what Jasper endured would rattle anyone to their core.

And that was only what the little boy remembered.

What about the things he was too young to recall?

How much worse had it been?

It was too horrifying to even imagine.

Nathalie showered in the guest room. When she returned, Lance was sitting on the edge o

the bed.

His hair was soaking wet, and the bandages over his eyes were damp, clinging to his skin.

Frowning, she grabbed a towel, carefully peeled away the wet gauze, dried his face, and applied fresh ointment.

“I failed as an uncle.”

His voice shattered the silence, raw and brutally hollow.

Nathalie paused with the ointment, pressing her lips tightly together.

Had he really failed?

Every time Felice called, no matter what monumental crisis Lance was dealing with, he dropped it all for Jasper.

He had dedicated an immense amount of his life to being there for the boy. He had done everything an uncle could possibly do.

It had literally cost him his marriage.

Nathalie couldn’t bring herself to judge him. Unable to speak anyway, she simply chose to stay silent.

Chapter 728