Chapter 1051 Not As Fragile As You Think
Barnaby continued murmuring those words until he finally closed his eyes and died. Jerome then walked over to Natalie and pulled her into his arms.
His adjutant and subordinates were still around, but he was hugging her as if they were the only two people around. “Natalie, are you okay?”
Natalie was still in a daze, but she noticed that Jerome was hugging her a little too tightly. “I’m fine, Jerome.” Natalie pushed his chest and tried to move away from his hug. “I’m not as fragile as you think I am.”
“Did you not know how dangerous that was earlier?” Jerome asked sternly. “My subordinates told me you offered to take the original hostage’s place!”
Jerome rarely spoke with Natalie in such a vicious tone. In a way, that was his first time.
However, Natalie did not get angry with him for that. Instead, she answered calmly, “His original hostage was a pregnant woman who has shown initial signs of miscarriage. If she had remained as his hostage, she and her baby might have died. Moreover, I knew that you’d assign a sniper to the matter. As long as I go along with the guy’s plan, I’ll eventually be rescued.”
Jerome stared at Natalie.
There was no trace of anxiety on her face at all.
Natalie then turned to the body on the ground and said wistfully, “Jerome, he’s dead now. Can you give me his ashes? I want to pass them to his wife.”
Jerome frowned. “Do you find me cruel for killing him?”
“No.” Natalie shook her head. “You’ve only carried out your duty, and I’m only feeling a little remorseful. I thought I’d be able to change his mind, but it seemed that he was a stubborn man. I’ve done what was necessary, and so did you.”
Jerome understood what Natalie meant, and he soon brought Natalie away from the scene.
Jerome’s adjutant had wanted to offer to escort her away, but a look from Jerome stopped him.
After one week, Natalie and Jerome were together in a car again.
Natalie sat in the front passenger seat and watched as everything outside the car rushed past her.
Jerome glanced at her side profile and said self-deprecatingly, “I thought I was the one who knew you best in the world, but now I realize that I only know you well as a child. I’m suddenly regretting listening to my father and going to the army to train. If I had stayed by your side instead of going back to Loang, maybe you wouldn’t have needed to suffer that much, and we would have—”
Jerome was about to continue, but Natalie cut him off, “Jerome, I’ve told you before that we’re only like siblings. We used to spend every waking moment together, but I’ve never developed any romantic feelings for you.”
They used to be glued to each other’s sides, but that never made Natalie grow any romantic feelings for him. It would only be the same now.
Jerome could only chuckle bitterly at Natalie’s words.
“My apologies. I was rude,” Jerome said a beat later. “You clarified things with me the other time, but I didn’t want to accept reality.”
While the two talked, they arrived at Natalie’s place.
Just as Jerome was about to say something else, Natalie apathetically bid him farewell and left.
There was nothing he wanted that she could give him, so she would rather not give him anything at all.
Before he gave up on her, she was not going to give him any ambiguous signs that might lead to a misunderstanding.
When Natalie reached the entrance of her house, Emma opened the door.
Upon seeing the blood splatter on Natalie’s clothes, Emma asked nervously, “Ms. Nichols, are you all right?”
“It’s not my blood. Don’t worry.” Natalie made a hushing gesture. “Softer, please. I’ll get changed first. Otherwise, the kids will be even more worried if they see me like this.”
Emma understood Natalie’s concern, so she quickly nodded. “I understand, Ms. Nichols.”
