[Would you really drop everything and come to me if I called you in the middle of the night? Don’t you think that’s crossing a line?] Eliana texted.
She had barely hit send when her phone lit up with Nathan’s name.
“Eliana, are you doubting my feelings for you?” Nathan asked, his voice low and serious.
“Let me say it again. If you need me, I’ll be there, no matter what time it is. Do you believe me now?”
A small smile tugged at Eliana’s lips. “Yeah, I heard you.”
Nathan let out a soft sigh, his voice gentle but earnest. “Eliana, don’t let that unhealthy marriage affect you too deeply.”
“Don’t start doubting how I feel about you just because someone else failed you, okay?”
As he spoke, his eyes were full of concern for her.
He knew from the investigation he’d had done that Eliana had been hurt a lot during her marriage to Logan.
But what he could uncover was only what people could see on the surface. Who knew how much more pain she had endured in the dark, things no one else could even imagine.
She’d spent six whole years living like that. No wonder she questioned everything now, no wonder she felt so unsafe.
Thinking about all this, Nathan’s voice grew even softer, his words earnest. “Eliana, you know, in ten years, I’ve never met anyone who makes my heart race the way you do. No one even comes close to you.”
‘I was willing to wait ten years for you, and you don’t even realize how incredible you are.”
“If you ever reach out to me when you need something, you have no idea how much that means to me.”
“You can call me anytime, really. Honestly, what scares me most is you not calling me at all.”
As Nathan spoke, his voice was gentle, overflowing with tender devotion and love.
Listening to him, Eliana felt as though winter suddenly didn’t seem so cold anymore.
She knew it was late, but she just couldn’t bring herself to hang up. She kept talking to him about anything and everything. not wanting the moment to end.
Nathan wished the conversation would never end, so of course, he wasn’t about to be the one to hang up first.
They talked for a long time, until Eliana dozed off mid–conversation on the couch. Nathan smiled softly and set his phone down.
He couldn’t bring himself to hang up just yet. Listening to her soft, even breathing on the other end filled him with a quiet kind of happiness he couldn’t quite put into words.
But after a while, he finally hung up.
Eliana was at Irene’s place and had already fallen asleep, Nathan had no idea how much battery her phone had left, and if they kept the call going, she might not be able to reach him if she needed to.
After weighing everything, he chose to hang up.
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Chapter 164
But just as he ended the call, before he could even set his phone down, it rang again.
He glanced at the caller ID, unease flickering across his face, but he answered immediately.
“Is something wrong?” Nathan asked, his voice tinged with worry the moment he picked up.
“No, no, everything’s fine with Jennifer,” the voice on the other end said.
Hearing that, Nathan finally relaxed a little. “So, what’s going on?”
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“I just haven’t seen you in a while and I was worried. Is everything okay with you back home?” Grace asked, her voice full of
concern.
But Nathan’s tone was flat. “Yeah, I’m fine.”
He and Grace had known each other for a long time, close to nine years.
When Jennifer was taking Nathan abroad, she suffered a huge shock on the way, and her emotions became unstable.
After they arrived overseas, they were constantly on the run, living in fear, and unable to get real help. Jennifer’s health declined rapidly.
That was the darkest period of Nathan’s life.
He was only eighteen, barely understood the world yet, but he had to take whatever jobs he could find just to support his mother.
Regular jobs didn’t pay enough, so he spent a long time fighting in illegal underground fight clubs. That was where he first met Grace.
Back then, Grace had entered the country without legal status. She had medical knowledge but couldn’t find legitimate work, so she survived by treating injured fighters for small amounts of cash.
Nathan was the first one she’d ever seen who got beaten black and blue but wouldn’t spend a dime on getting patched up.
At first, Grace found him deeply frustrating. He shoved her away every time and wouldn’t even let her bandage his wounds.
If everyone behaved like him, people like her would go broke in a place like this.
But sometimes, irritation is just the beginning of actually caring about someone,
After that, every time Grace went to the underground fight club, she found herself watching Nathan, whether she meant to
Dr not.
Later, there came a time when Nathan was beaten within an inch of his life. Grace kept telling him she didn’t want his money, and only then did he finally allow her to help him.
That was the first time she went home with Nathan, and it was then that she realized he had a mother who was no longer fully lucid.
He was throwing himself into those brutal underground fights, not caring if he lived or died, just to pay for his mom’s
treatment.
Back then, Nathan was only eighteen or nineteen, just a kid who was reckless and stubborn, but life had already beaten him. down so hard that he acted as if he had nothing left to lose.
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Chapter 164
Grace didn’t even know why. She couldn’t stop herself. She was hopelessly drawn to Nathan.
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Grace volunteered to take care of Jennifer herself, but worried that Nathan might refuse, so she downplayed it as just another job.
After all, he would have to pay someone anyway, so why not her? She would put far more heart into it than any outsider ever could.
After thinking it over, Nathan finally agreed.
With Grace looking after Jennifer, her condition stopped worsening. She even began to improve little by little.
She still wasn’t fully recovered, but she was far better than she had been before.
As time passed, Jennifer came to treat Grace as if she were her own daughter–in–law.
Perhaps in her eyes, only a daughter–in–law would be willing to care for her year after year, staying faithfully by her side.
Grace never once tried to set the record straight.
But Nathan always kept a clear boundary between them, making sure everything stayed strictly about money. He never allowed their relationship to grow any closer than that.
There was one time when Nathan sensed Grace was about to confess her feelings. He cut her off and told her about Eliana. He made it unmistakably clear that Eliana was the only woman he would ever love, now and forever.
After that, Grace never brought up her feelings again. Everything between them returned to how it had been at the beginning, as if nothing had ever changed.
Ever since Nathan moved back home, his weekly Friday calls with Grace were limited to checking in on his mother.
But this unexpected call from Grace had complicated what was meant to be a simple, straightforward arrangement between them.
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Sara Lili is a daring romance writer who turns icy landscapes into scenes of fiery passion. She loves crafting hot love stories while embracing the chill of Iceland’s breathtaking cold.
