Filed to story: The Return Novel (Natalie & Bryce) PDF Read Online Free >>
CH 62
She was referring to Natalie’s grandma, of course. Then Rosemary lowered her voice and asked,
“Are you sure that old woman is alright?”
Cheryl said,
“Don’t worry, mom. She’s fine. She’s not going to die. She’s still too useful to us. I’ll make sure she stays okay.”
“That’s good. Please don’t make any more mistakes,”
Rosemary replied. As their voices faded away down the hallway, Natalie’s heart rate slowed a little.
It seemed that her grandmother was fine for now. As long as she attends the so-called birthday party next week, she should be able to help the old woman. She waited a while to confirm there was no one outside, then decided to leave. It was obviously not good to act rashly, so she would go home and wait, keeping an eye on the situation.
The house was now pitch black. Natalie felt nervous, fearing that the slightest sound would alert the sleeping household. She tried carefully inching down the stairs. She had almost made it to the bottom when she caught her toes in a rough patch of carpet and tripped. Natalie landed on the tiled floor at the bottom of the stairs, stifling a cry of pain that was close. Struggling to get up, she realized that she had cut her leg when she fell.
As she walked to the back door, she could feel blood seeping from the wound, and the skin around the cut was tender. Ignoring the pain, Natalie forced herself to walk outside, down the steps and across the yard. Then, once she was through the gate, she started limping towards her car. The two Claire family bodyguards were still there in the shadows. They watched and made sure that she made it to her car.
Once they were back in their own car, the bodyguards reported the situation to Bryce, who had returned from Los Angeles and was heading in a car towards the Claire family mansion. Natalie drove straight back to the mansion. The pain in her leg was gradually easing, but she went straight to her room to get her medical kit. As she sat on the bed, the light from Bryce’s car swung across the front of the house.
The wound looked bad, but it wasn’t actually very deep. Natalie sat on the sofa and disinfected the cut. It stung badly, and she bit her lip to suppress the pain. Just then, Bryce came in.
“What’s going on? That’s a nasty cut you have there,”
he said, moving closer and snatching away the antiseptic ointment. His face, unknown to him, was full of concern and worry.
Grace’s sudden appearance surprised Natalie.
“Why are you back already?”
she asked in confusion. He glanced at her but didn’t answer. Instead, he stretched out his hand and gently inspected Natalie’s injury.
“Lie down,”
Bryce ordered.
“There’s no need for that. It’s just a small cut, and I’ll be fine,”
Natalie replied, blushing. Bryce didn’t notice her embarrassment. He gently pushed her back under the sofa.
She could smell his scent. She felt a chill on her leg as Bryce applied the antiseptic. She could feel his cool fingers gently brushing against her bare skin, making her shiver.
“Ugh, this is too embarrassing,”
Natalie thought. Feeling pain and itchiness, she put her hand on Bryce’s hand and asked,
“Are you done bandaging?”
“I’m in pain,”
he said.
“I’m almost done.”
Just endure it for a moment longer,”
his voice was filled with a gentleness it didn’t normally have. He looked up at Natalie’s face and realized that he would very much like to kiss her. However, he concentrated on his job. He wrapped the last layer of bandage around her leg and said softly,
“There it’s done.”
Natalie hadn’t expected Bryce to make her blush so much just by bandaging her wound. She could only whisper,
“Ah, thank you,”
he said.
“Keep that dressing dry for the next few days, and please be careful when you go out in the future. Don’t be so rash.”
Natalie watched Bryce disappear towards his room. Her heart was beating fast. Was she going crazy? Why was she feeling such strange emotions for him? Ah, their relationship sometimes felt ridiculously complicated.
Natalie called out,
“Bryce, you haven’t told me why you came back so early from your trip.”
He paused.
“I felt like coming back, so I came back,”
he said casually. Natalie was exasperated by this answer but let it go. Bryce could be so opaque sometimes.