When She Rose From the Ashes (Natalie and Jensen) novel Chapter 144

r 144 The Name That Wouldn’t Die

Chapter 144 The Name That Wouldn’t Die

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Hansel blinked at the glowing screen. “But isn’t Sunny the designer you already know, Mr. Luke? If she posted a message, why don’t you just call her directly?”

“She is Natalie!” Jensen’s eyes burned with a feverish light. “Natalie isn’t dead. She’s alive!”

His intensity made Hansel uneasy. “Mr. Luke, maybe the account was hacked. Miss Natalie really did die that night.”

He wanted to add more–that the fire had left nothing, no trace of escape, only remains. But Jensen wasn’t listening.

“I don’t care! Trace the IP. Wherever that login came from, that’s where she is!”

Hansel sighed, helpless. “Alright. I’ll start the search.” He slipped out, leaving Jensen alone with the bandaged stump of his finger.

Jensen stared down at it, laughing and crying in turns. “Natalie… you hate me enough to take a piece of me, but you’re still here.”

Across town, Sharon saw the same update and froze.

“No. No, that slut can’t be alive. Impossible! This isn’t her–it’s Jensen, it has to be!” She paced like a caged animal, clutching her phone as if she could crush the tweet out of existence.

Mrs. Summers, overhearing, stiffened. “Natalie… you’re saying Natalie is alive? Is it true?”

“False!” Sharon exploded. She lunged at her mother, fisting her collar and yanking her close. “You still think of her, don’t you? The day you let me whip her, she learned to hate you! And you dare dream of fixing things now? Foolish old woman!”

Mrs. Summers wheezed, wracked with coughs. Her health had been failing, weakness dragging her lower each day. Sharon’s impatience had only grown crueler. If she was treated like this now, while she could still walk, what would happen once she was bedridden?

Her thoughts drifted back to Natalie.

Quiet, obedient Natalie, who had always brought back gifts after competitions, never forgetting her parents. Sharon had never once done the same. Sharon only demanded, never

gave.

Mrs. Summers had once comforted herself with the thought: at least Sharon is mine by blood. But as she stared at Sharon’s twisted face, she ached for the girl they had cast out.

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14:25 Thu, Sep 25

Chapter 144 The Name That Wouldn’t Die

69

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Natalie was gone, or so she thought. The regret gnawed at her daily. Yet now–news she might still be alive stirred a fragile hope.

If Natalie still breathed, she and her husband would not face old age alone. After all, they had raised her for eighteen years.

Mrs. Summers resolved to investigate in secret, when Sharon wasn’t watching.

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