Chapter 488
"Let's deal with this later," Oliver said, locking eyes with Natalie. His words may have seemed abrupt, but after more than a year together, Natalie understood his meaning.
He wanted to take care of her issues first.
"Oliver, can you find me a therapist?" Natalie openly shared her feelings of helplessness.
"Natalie, would you eat properly if I promised to get a divorce?"
Suffering from anorexia, Oliver had sought the help of countless therapists, but he personally detested the feeling of his mind being probed. This was something many people commonly find uncomfortable going through.
It takes courage just to talk about mental illness. Oliver wished the problem were his own to bear.
"Hmm?" Natalie widened her eyes in surprise.
He covered her eyes with his hand, dreading the possibility of seeing joy in her clear eyes.
Oliver knelt, drawing Natalie into his embrace with one arm, hugging her tighter and tighter. At times, it felt like both his hands were clutching her, yet he feared his injured hand might stain her with blood.
He wanted to fuse her into his being, his soul, to never let go—for her to never be able to leave him. But he couldn't stand to see her body continue to waste away.
"Natalie, if I promised… to get a divorce, would you start eating well?" Only Oliver knew how excruciating it was for him to utter the word again.
He promised softly, with a suppressed ache in his voice, "Once you're healthy again, I'll let you go."
Oliver didn't go to the office that afternoon.
From the balcony on the second floor overlooking the garden, Natalie saw him sitting distantly on a bench, where he remained for a very long time.
She didn't know where he went afterward. One could only speculate that he likely took refuge in his study to continue smoking, as she didn't see him at all for the rest of the afternoon.
The servants brought Natalie snacks and juice several times, along with the nutritional broth that came at the designated time.
After sending the servants away, Natalie took a sip of the broth. Alone and queasy, she couldn't stop herself from vomiting everything in her mouth right then and there.
Natalie felt as if a lump in her throat was finally yanked out, but the position was festering, every breeze carrying a bone-chilling sting.
The housemaid, upon collecting the dishes, smiled with relief to see the soup bowl nearly emptied. She failed to notice the remnants of soup lingering in the drain not far away.
The conversations between Oliver and Natalie in the privacy of their room were theirs alone, unheard by any third party.
The servant merely observed that the master seemed to be leaving for work earlier these days, a good half-hour ahead of schedule, and arriving home between nine and ten in the evening, long after the lady of the house had retired to bed.
"...It seems Natalie has indeed eaten. She didn't head straight for the bathroom after having a meal, and now she's out soaking up the sun in the garden," they noted.
Log in with Google Account
Chapters
Favorite
Settings
