Natalie nodded. Her mother was right. But the situation was not optimistic. Charis was a cautious and cunning woman. She must have covered her tracks. Natalie really had no idea where to start.
After a while, Beal came back to Brandon. He had a general understanding of what was going on with Brandon now. He told Natalie, “Don’t worry. We will do everything we can to retrieve Brandon’s memory. I know several licensed brain specialists abroad. I’ll ask them to come tomorrow. The field of medicine has developed exponentially in recent years. I doubt there’s a problem they can’t fix.”
Natalie weakly smiled at him. “Thanks, Dad.” However, internally she sighed. It wasn’t as optimistic as her father. She had a bad feeling that Brandon’s memory loss was not as simple as it seemed. Brandon didn’t turn down Beal’s offer, not ruling out the possibility of recovering his memory. He nodded and said, “I will also go see a doctor and find a way to get my memory back.”
Previously, Brandon felt that with Charis’ help, he could recover his memories of the last two years. However, Natalie and Charis told him two very different stories. He wanted to know who was lying.
At the same time, he also had a question in his heart that needed answers: Did he really fall in love with Natalie?
Natalie spent the next few days recovering in the hospital. Every day, the nurses came to change the dressing on her wounds. She was often distracted, wondering how to deal with Charis. A cunning woman like Charis, who acted in secret and came from a prominent family, posed a significant challenge.
“What do you have in mind? Let’s eat breakfast first,” Brandon said, holding a takeout bag of food for breakfast in front of her. Now that they had cleared things up, they could get along. Their relationship seemed harmonious, but Natalie felt an insurmountable gap between them due to Brandon’s memory loss. She didn’t know how to face it now.
“Oh, I see. Thank you,” Natalie replied, accepting the food and starting to eat. The awkward silence filled the room. After what felt like an eternity, Brandon tried to break the ice.
“Does your back still hurt? I heard you whining last night,” Brandon asked. Natalie wiped her lips carefully, hiding her embarrassment. When she turned over in bed the previous night, she accidentally hit her back wounds, causing intense pain. She hadn’t realized she had moaned out loud.
“It’s much better, thanks for asking. Are you going to work today?” Natalie asked, hoping for some time away from Brandon. She didn’t want him to see how embarrassed she was, especially since she hadn’t washed her face in days and needed help to go to the bathroom.
“Don’t worry. I’ve already asked for permission. Watching over you is more important,” Brandon casually explained while cleaning the table. Maybe it was because he used to be affectionate with Natalie, or maybe it was because he appreciated her for saving his life. Brandon didn’t think too much about it; he genuinely wanted to take care of her.
Natalie chuckled, wrapping herself in the quilt and leaning against the headboard calmly. “Dad said he found you a good doctor. Is the treatment working?”
Brandon paused for a few seconds, then threw the garbage in the bin and took two pieces of paper to clean the table. He answered lightly, “I’ve had psychotherapy twice. It’s not that bad.” In truth, his situation didn’t look very promising. Every time the doctor asked him to remember the past, he experienced terrible headaches as if an invisible hand was pulling on the nerves of his brain. Natalie noticed the dark circles under his eyes, and he looked much more gaunt than before.
Worried, she asked, “Does the therapy include any medication? You seem a bit listless.”
“I’m fine. I was up late last night dealing with work,” Brandon replied, hiding the fact that he had severe headaches when trying to remember the past. He sighed wearily and changed the subject, “Did you know that nobody died in the fire?” Natalie nodded and turned on the TV with the remote without saying anything. “However, I heard that Charis got badly burned.”
“Is that so?” Natalie responded.
“The firefighters said she ran out of the burning house. Fortunately, she’s safe now.”
Even Natalie couldn’t help but admire Charis. This woman had guts. Brandon seemed visibly confused. “Charis didn’t go into the haunted house with us. How could she have been burned?” Truth be told, Natalie already knew the answer. The only possible reason why Charis risked going into the haunted house was that she came back to save Natalie and ended up meeting her instead of Brandon. Charis must have thought she could trap Natalie in a small room in the burning establishment, but their plan backfired, leading them both to a close brush with death.
Natalie had no evidence to prove her theory, and it wasn’t the right time to share her thoughts with Brandon. So she simply shook her head, and Brandon dropped the subject.
At noon, while Brandon went out to buy lunch, Natalie took the opportunity to call the White family’s men. “How’s it going?” she asked.
The man reported, “We caught the person who started the fire.”
Smiling coldly, Natalie ordered, “Get him out of here. We need to know the truth.”
The interrogation ended soon enough. Unfortunately, the Whites weren’t able to get any useful information from the man. What they did know was that the arsonist had only been in contact with his employer over the phone, and that the latter had used a voice-changing device. He had never seen the main mastermind in person. They had to admit that this person was meticulous in covering their tracks. They had used a burner phone and money transfer, which was done through a third party.
All this was not enough proof for Natalie to blame it on Charis. In fact, if Charis hadn’t appeared and tried to lock her in that small room, Natalie would have had nothing against her. However, she couldn’t just say that to Brandon because, at the end of the day, she still didn’t have evidence to support her accusation against Charis. Now her only chance to frame Charis resided in surveillance footage of the location. That was, of course, assuming they hadn’t been destroyed in the fire.
New Book: Beginning with a Daring Encounter
Celsie was tired of being labeled as an introvert, workaholic, and dull virgin by her friends. Determined to prove them wrong, she made a bet that she would do something daring on her 25th birthday. Now that the day had arrived, it was time to fulfill her promise. On her daring to-do list, there was one task: a one-night stand with someone.
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