Chapter 16
Chapter 16
Jonas didn’t move, his sharp gaze trailing from the soft loaf cradled in her delicate hand to her slender, flawless arm. It lingered for a moment before sliding up to her beautiful neck, and finally to her face, glowing faintly under the warm firelight.
Natalie had been on edge. Feeling his scrutiny, she immediately plastered on a smile, though it was so stiff and forced that it might as well have been drawn with chalk.
Jonas narrowed his eyes in disdain and looked away, his disinterest practically palpable.
Natalie held the bread aloft, her arm trembling slightly from the effort. Jonas neither accepted nor refused, leaving her no choice but to wait. Her wide, pleading eyes were locked on him. “Please take the bread. It’s for you,” she said softly.
He remained silent, his indifference like a wall.
Her arm began to shake more noticeably, the dull ache in her shoulder from the earlier car crash flaring up again.
Finally, with a dejected sigh, she lowered her head and mumbled, “If you don’t want it, that’s fine…”
She started to pull her hand back when Jonas’s voice sliced through the quiet. “Using my things to butter me up? Clever.”
Natalie froze, her body stiffening. An idea flickered in her mind, and her eyes darted quickly before she bowed her head again. With nimble fingers, she tore open the bread’s packaging and held it out once more. “Do you want it now?”
Jonas, seated with his legs casually spread on the mat, towered over Natalie, who looked so small crouched in front of him.
Her pretty face was tilted upward, her doe eyes wide and imploring. She reminded him of a stray puppy begging its owner for attention, utterly pitiful yet endearingly persistent.
‘Natalie’s laying it on thick,‘ he mused, suspicion flickering in his mind. ‘She’s definitely after something. Let’s see what her next move is.‘
With an air of reluctant charity, he reached out and took the bread. He glanced at the bread–its sweetness practically radiated from it, far from appetizing. Still, he took a small bite, chewing with obvious disinterest.
His eyes drifted back to Natalie, waiting silently. He thought she was up to something, and he was more than willing to let her play her hand.
Natalie noticed Jonas’s gaze on her and instinctively lifted the corners of her soft, rosy lips. Her eyes curved slightly, radiating an aura of innocence and purity that seemed to light up her entire face.
‘So this is what she looks like when she genuinely smiles,‘ Jonas thought, his mind pausing on the image. ‘Innocent, sweet, and utterly harmless. Is she trying to pull some kind of honey trap on me?‘
He leaned back slightly, waiting for whatever follow–up move she had in mind. But to his surprise, Natalie suddenly stood up, her small frame practically springing into motion.
“Take your time and enjoy it,” she said lightly, and with that, she turned and walked back to Myla’s side, crouching down again without a backward glance.
Jonas was momentarily speechless. ‘What the hell? Was she trying to make a point, or is this some NPC–style side quest she thinks she’s fulfilling?”
Meanwhile, Natalie’s mood had shifted entirely once she returned to Myla.
Her little gesture toward Jonas wasn’t just on a whim. It was a calculated test. Natalie’s godmother’s older son had a similarly prickly personality–quick with biting remarks and impossible to please.
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Chapter 16
But Natalie had witnessed more than once how that same boy would beat the living daylights out of anyone who dared badmouth her behind her back. Beneath his sharp tongue was a heart far softer than he’d ever admit.
“This guy might be unpleasant,’ she mused, glancing briefly back at Jonas, ‘but at least he didn’t throw the bread on the ground or chuck it at my face. He’s not that difficult.
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The small experiment had eased her anxiety just a bit. ‘If I can stay out of his way and avoid causing any trouble, maybe- just maybe–he’ll actually take me to the Northern District.
But that brief glimmer of hope was fleeting. As soon as her mind wandered back to her family, a heavy cloud settled over her again. ‘I disappeared without a word. Grandpa and my godmother’s family must be frantic.
‘Especially her son… He’s always been so protective of me since we were little. Even when I scraped my knee, he’d rush to help, as if it were the end of the world. If he knows I’m missing…
Her chest tightened painfully. ‘With his health already so fragile, he’s going to be heartbroken!
Natalie’s throat felt tight, her emotions threatening to spill over, but she forced herself to focus. She turned to Myla with a soft, hesitant voice. “Ms. Carr, how many days will it take for us to reach the Northern District?”
The question lingered in the air as Natalie’s heart raced with unease. She couldn’t help but silently pray that the journey wouldn’t be too long.
No matter how hard she tried to win over Jonas with gestures of goodwill, his mercurial temperament and tendency to see her as some kind of infiltrator left her on edge. She couldn’t shake the fear that if the trip stretched on, something could go
wrong.
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