When She Rose From the Ashes (Natalie and Jensen) novel Chapter 449

Chapter 449 A Hug Twenty Years Late

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Now, Natalie only wanted to tell herself. Natalie, you’re amazing; you deserve every beautiful thing in this world.

After Waylon finished his call, he turned to see Natalie eating chips, tears streaming down her face. For some reason, his own eyes began to sting.

The Stone family had enough wealth to rival nations, and yet his daughter had grown up without ever tasting a bag of chips. How could a father’s heart not break over that?

Waylon clamped a hand over his mouth as tears spilled down his cheeks, unstoppable.

“My dear… have some yogurt. It’s supposed to be really good; Susie loves this brand.”

He placed the bottle in front of Natalie, his voice cracking beyond repair.

“My dear, I’m so sorry. If I had been more careful twenty years ago, you wouldn’t have had to suffer like this. If I had found you sooner, brought you home sooner… maybe you wouldn’t have endured all this pain. This is my fault–all my fault.”

Waylon wept like a child. In front of his daughter, all pretense of dignity and pride as a father crumbled.

He didn’t deserve them anyway.

Seeing him like that made Natalie’s heart ache.

“Dad, please don’t. You were kept in the dark; it’s not your fault.”

“I failed as a father… and as a husband,” he choked out.

Waylon pulled Natalie into his arms, wishing time could turn back; wishing he could give her everything she had been denied.

Natalie’s throat tightened.

She had never been the kind of woman who cried easily–the Summers parents had taught her that tears were useless. If she must cry, they’d said, she should cry in front of men to make them pity her.

But Natalie had never believed in using tears to keep a man.

Now, however, her tears flowed freely, uncontrollably.

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18:23 Tue, Oct 14

Chapter 449 A Hug Twenty Years Late

She hadn’t meant to cry. She’d only wanted to have a quiet talk with her father.

“Dad-”

Natalie collapsed into Waylon’s embrace, sobbing like a little girl.

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Years of loneliness, of suppression, of being unseen and unloved–all the pain she had carried alone–finally lifted. She wasn’t an orphan. She was loved. Her parents and brother cared deeply for her.

That crushing sense of abandonment she had carried for so long seemed to dissolve; a soft, glowing warmth wrapped around her, enclosing her like a shield.

Father and daughter held each other and wept until they had no tears left.

When Flynn came out and saw them, his chest tightened. He didn’t approach—he simply stood there in silence, watching, listening. But when he saw Natalie eating chips, heard her recount her childhood, his own tears began to fall.

After crying, Natalie felt lighter–though a little embarrassed too.

“Dad, I…”

“Go wash your face. And listen–if you want these snacks, I’ll buy them for you every day. If that’s not enough, I’ll buy you an entire supermarket; you can take whatever you want whenever you want. My daughter never has to settle for less again.”

Waylon’s words made Natalie’s eyes redden once more.

“Okay.”

She stood quickly, only to find Flynn standing in the doorway, his eyes rimmed red, filled with guilt, regret, and an unmistakable tenderness.

Suddenly, she felt self–conscious for crying so hard.

“Flynn.”

She greeted him softly, then hurried off to the bathroom.

Waylon still couldn’t calm down.

When Flynn walked over, Waylon said quietly, “Once the Summers family’s empire collapses and their parents are taken into custody, whatever they did to your sister–make them pay for it and suffer the consequences.”

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Chapter 449 A Hug Twenty Years Late

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“I understand, dad. I’ll never forget what they did.” Flynn’s jaw tightened as he spoke, his voice low and bitter.

The Summers family was supposed to be a prestigious family; a bag of chips was nothing to them. And yet, how had they treated Natalie?

If that cruelty had been part of their so–called family tradition, maybe it could be explained- but no. After Sharon returned, the Summers parents had practically worshiped her. They’d have plucked the moon from the sky if she’d asked, even abandoning the daughter they’d raised for eighteen years just to please Sharon.

Flynn didn’t believe for a second that the Summers parents hadn’t known the truth about the switched children. Not for one second.

And Waylon clearly thought the same.

The two Stone men sat deep in thought, neither noticing the bedroom door upstairs opening just a crack.

Ruby stood there, having seen and heard everything Natalie had said and done. She clamped a trembling hand over her mouth before sinking to the floor, her sobs silent and raw.

Then, trembling, she slapped herself hard–once, twice, again and again. It was me. It was my fault. I didn’t protect my child. I let my daughter suffer for more than twenty years because of me.