Chapter 111 The Confrontation


    Chapter 111 The Confrontation


    Baron finallyid everything bare.


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    Finn’s face twisted. He wanted to argue, but no words came. His petty schemes were nothing in front of Baron’s insight.


    Suddenly, Finn let out augh–ugly, broken, more painful than tears.


    “Mr. Gunn, you can read everyone’s heart… but can you read Natalie’s? That woman wasted five years of her life on a piece of trash like Jensen. She’s nothing but a whore! You could have any woman you want–why her?”


    The words had barely left his mouth before Baron’s fist smashed across his face.


    Just as he reeled back, ready to spew more venom, a hoarse voice cut through the air.


    “Stop!”


    Baron froze. He turned to see Natalie, supported by a nurse, staggering out. <fn5824> This text is hosted at find[f]ovel</fn5824>


    “You shouldn’t be out here,” he said at once, leaving Finn to rush to her side. His arm slipped around her carefully, recing the nurse’s support. “With burns like yours, an infection could kill you.”


    Every step sent waves of agony tearing through Natalie’s body, but she still lifted her toward Finn.


    gaze


    From the moment she’d opened her eyes after the fire, she had sensed his hatred. She hadn’t known why–until now.


    He and Phantom.


    So that was the reason.


    Her chest tightened with guilt for the woman who had died, but when she met Finn’s eyes, zing with hate, there wasn’t a flicker of fear in her own.


    “Finn. You hate me because of Phantom, don’t you?”


    “Yes! You’re a curse! If not for you, my Phantom would still be alive!”


    “No,” Natalie said steadily. “Even without me, Phantom would have died. Because of you.”


    Chapter 111 The Confrontation


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    She didn’t deny that Phantom had died protecting her, that Phantom had given her the chance to escape. She would never forget that debt. But Finn’s betrayal had sealed Phantom’s fate long


    before.


    Her words nearly sent Finn into a frenzy.


    “What nonsense are you spouting?!”


    “I’m not spouting nonsense,” Natalie replied coldly. “From the day you betrayed Baron, Phantom’s death was inevitable. You couldn’t protect her.”


    The words cut deeper than any de.


    “You’re lying! If Mr. Gunn hadn’t sent her to protect you, she would have lived!”


    Natalie’s gaze sharpened. “Really? Then why couldn’t you even protect your own parents?”


    The blownded true. Finn’s chest heaved, breath ragged, but no words came to refute her.


    Natalie’s voice was cold. “You hate your parents, don’t you? They lost you as a child through their carelessness. That resentment has never left you, no matter how much sess you’ve achieved. You crave their love, yet despise them for their neglect. That’s why you kept them a secret from Baron. Because you never forgave them.”


    Finn flinched but didn’t deny it.


    Natalie knew she was right.


    “If your mother hadn’t been ill, maybe you wouldn’t have cared at all, would you? But because she was sick, you gave yourself a reason to stay close. Deep down, what you wanted most was to hear them say ‘I’m sorry‘-sorry for losing you. But your mother was too far gone to say it, and your father, desperate and selfish, saw you only as a lifeline for money. He could never give you


    what you wanted. Isn’t that the truth?<b>” </b>


    Finn’s eyes burned red again. He turned his head away, refusing to answer.


    Natalie sighed. “That’s why you were torn apart inside–love tangled with hate, never knowing what to do. And that’s why they could use them to control you. By the time you realized your hesitation had left them in their hands, you were already filled with regret. You wanted to save them, but you couldn’t admit them as your parents. So you acted alone.”


    Her


    gaze hardened.


    “But how could you fight against people who had nned this from the start? The moment you agreed to do ‘one thing‘ for them, your life was no longer yours. Phantom became their


    Chapter 111 The Confrontation


    pawn. And you, trapped in their game, had no strength left to protect her.”


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    Her voice faltered as she thought of Phantom–silent, withdrawn, with a face that never smiled. She had once thought it was simply hardship that had made her that way.


    Now she understood.


    Her voice faltered as she thought of Phantom–silent, withdrawn, with a face that never smiled. She had once thought it was simply hardship that had made her that way.


    Now she understood.


    Phantom had been drowning in pain all along.