Meeting The One For Me ( Nathan Franklin )
Chapter 3

Chapter 3

Audrey regained her composure and looked at Nathan steadily. Her eyes grew as cold as her heart.

“The thing I regret most is getting you out of that small town the Yeomans family is from! The seed of a rapist… Truly the filthiest and most despicable in the world! No wonder the Lambert family wants nothing to do with you,” Nathan spat.

Before he could finish his sentence, he was caught off guard by a fierce blow to his head. He staggered back into a tree trunk.

Audrey, half her face covered in blood, stood where Nathan had been a second before. Her hand trembled as she clutched a broken half of a brick.

Nathan was dazed. He stared at Audrey in disbelief. His vision in his right eye was a blur of red as

blood seeped into it.

Hugo and Amelia stood in the shallow pool, stunned. They couldn’t believe that Audrey had struck

Nathan.

With a pale face, Audrey forced herself to appear calm. She tossed the broken brick into the pool, then said hoarsely, “Nathan, we’re even now.”

Nathan’s mind flooded with blurry images.

Behind the sunset–tinged school building, a girl in a clean uniform pinned the blushing younger version of him against the wall. She smiled at him.

“Nathan, we’re even now!”

His heart raced, his breath quickened, and his nose filled with the pleasant scent of gardenias emanating from the girl.

Climbing roses bloomed on the walls, but they paled in comparison to her alluring, smiling face.

Nathan clutched his chest and shook his head to clear the vision. The comforting image vanished

without a trace.

“Are you alright, Nathan?” Amelia asked.

Nathan came back to reality. He touched his head, and his hand came away bloody. He cursed and looked up at Audrey.

“Nathan!” Amelia rushed to him, fearing he might retaliate.

Hugo rushed to Audrey, pulling her behind him protectively.

Weak and drained from her attack, Audrey stumbled backward as Hugo pulled her to him.

Suddenly, strong, well–defined hands gripped her shoulders, stabilizing her to prevent another fall. She turned around. Words of thanks caught in her throat as her lips trembled silently.

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Nathan, also half–covered in blood, hesitated. He reluctantly addressed the man, “Mr. Lambert,”

The man supporting Audrey, Ryan Lambert, was in his early thirties. His features were sharp, and he had a stern expression. He wore gold–rimmed glasses and a black cont over a neatly tailored dark gray suit, which gave him an imposing figure.

He was only four years older than Nathan, yet his reserved and mature presence was strikingly different from Nathan’s youthful vigor. He exuded the power of a grown man.

The slight resemblance between him and Audrey was obvious.

Ryan, examining Audrey’s head wound with pursed lips, swiftly undid his tie and wrapped it around his palm. Then he pressed it to Audrey’s bleeding forehead.

His deep eyes swept over Nathan. As he held Audrey, he turned and sald coldly, “Let’s go to the hospital!”

His assistant hurriedly opened the car door.

As Ryan pressed on Audrey’s wound and helped her into the car, Nathan took a few steps after them. He called out, “Mr. Lambert!”

Ryan glanced up as he stepped into the car. His indifferent gaze behind his gold–rimmed glasses sent chills down Nathan’s spine.

Audrey and Nathan were taken to the emergency room and treated separately for their injuries.

As the nurse prepared to clean Audrey’s wounds, she noticed her soaked white scarf and coat stained with blood. She advised, “You should take off your coat and scarf.”

Audrey paused, then asked politely, “Will it interfere with treating the wound?”

“It won’t affect the treatment, but aren’t you uncomfortable in wet clothes?” the nurse replied, pulling the treatment cart closer. “You should take them off.”

Audrey frowned, tugging at her scarf to cover her mouth and nose. She mumbled through the fabric, If it doesn’t affect the treatment, I’m fine like this.”

Ryan stood in the emergency treatment room with his hands in his pockets, frowning at Audrey. Deep and authoritative, his voice left no room for argument. He ordered, “Take off your scarf and coat.” Audrey remained silent momentarily before slowly unzipping her jacket and removing her scarf.

As the nurse moved to draw the curtain closed, Amelia and a bandaged Nathan, emerged from behind

1. it.

In a fleeting second, Nathan caught sight of the shocking bruises on Audrey’s jaw and neck. He wondered if his push caused such severe injuries.

Their eyes met briefly before the light blue curtain obscured their view. Nathan, visibly shaken, turned his gaze to Ryan’s tall and straight silhouette. He felt an inexplicable dread.

Chapter 3

Remembering Ryan’s relationship with Audrey and the look in his eyes when he carried her to the car, Nathan knew he had to explain the day’s events to Ryan.

Although Ryan was an adopted son of the Lambert family in Mythravia, he was now the public face of the family’s power. Many of the Franklin family’s projects relled on the Lamberts.

Nathan called out softly, “Mr. Lambert…”

Ryan turned around slowly. The hospital’s bright lights cast sharp lines on his handsome face.

Standing at an imposing six feet one inch, every movement exuded the unfathomable depth of someone in a position of power. He was intimidating even in silence.

His brow furrowed.

Nathan explained, “I didn’t mean for her to hit the decorations.”

Ryan’s eyes were deep. He responded, “At 16, you were in the hospital to protect Audrey. At 26, are you here because of a fight with someone else over her?”

Amelia stiffened at his words.

Nathan gripped Amelia’s hand tightly and pulled her behind him, taking a protective stance. “It’s my fault. It has nothing to do with anyone else.”

Amelia had already explained on the way to the hospital that Audrey hadn’t said anything else.

Ryan swept his gaze over Amelia and looked down at Nathan’s lowered head, before removing his glasses and cleaning them. “Who gave you the courage to lay a hand on her?”

Nathan clenched his teeth in silent humiliation.

Noticing Hugo return with clean clothes and shoes for Audrey and Nathan, Ryan chose not to say more. He put his glasses back on.

Amelia, uneasy in Ryan’s cold presence, hurriedly said to Hugo and Nathan, “I need to catch a flight. Please tell Audrey I had to leave.”

“I’ll take you,” Nathan said, holding Amelia’s hand reluctantly.

“You should go back too,” Ryan said to Hugo, who hesitated to leave. “Don’t make your sister worry. I’ll take care of Audrey.”

Thinking of his pregnant sister, Hugo finally nodded and handed the shopping bag to Ryan’s

assistant.

Audrey received six stitches and had to stay in the hospital overnight, just like Nathan.

She emerged from the restroom of the single patient room in her hospital gown, and found Ryan still there. He sat on the sofa, making a phone call.

Ferhaps due to the warmth of the hospital room, he had loosened his grey shirt’s buttons and casually rolled up his sleeves, revealing his forearms and a dark coffee–colored leather wristwatch on

Chapter 3

his well–defined wrist.

Catching sight of Audrey with a bandage wrapped around her head, Ryan said into the phone, “I’ll be back next Monday,” then hung up.

His deep gaze fell on the purple bruises on Audrey’s chin. “Come over and sit down.”