Filed to story: Healing My Disabled Husband Novel
Just then, Emanuel spoke up. “Ridge is going to propose,” he said.
“What?” Nathalie turned to look at Emanuel in disbelief. Today had already been too much for her; if things kept going this way, she might just lose it completely.
Ridge and Mia had been together since middle school. Both of them were outstanding students and even their teachers couldn’t do anything about it.
Ben wanted nothing more than to beat Ridge up every day, but Tilly was all for their relationship so there wasn’t much he could do except sulk in silence. Of course, that frustration eventually found its release on Tilly herself – as evidenced by the two more children they later had together.
Everyone knew how Ridge and Mia got together because they’d all seen it happen with their own eyes
– but proposing so soon after graduation?
The key question was: Why did Emanuel know about this when Nathalie – Ridge’s own sister – didn’t?
Nathalie was really angry now! She immediately took out her phone and called Ridge, but before anyone answered, Emanuel snatched the phone away from her and hung up.
Nathalie glared at him incredulously, “What are you doing?”
“Ridge doesn’t want me telling you,” replied Emanuel calmly.
Nathalie was speechless… and then hurt! Why? How come? What made him think he couldn’t tell her?
Emanuel didn’t seem to care how deeply his words cut into Nathalie’s heart as he continued speaking,
“Ridge said you and Rosemary knew about this proposal ??along with Mia.”
Nathalie was speechless.
Well if that was what he said, then there wasn’t much arguing against it…
But still…did she have no dignity left at all?
Nathalie looked at Emanuel and asked, “So you’re saying my sister doesn’t know either?”
“I’m not sure,” Emanuel replied. “It’s hard to say if the twin telepathy kicked in for her.”
Nathalie couldn’t help but laugh at Emanuel’s response. Even though Ridge and Rosemary were twins, as they grew older, their connection seemed to fade away. Of course, the main reason was that
Rosemary always caused trouble for Mia and didn’t want Ridge to succeed in winning her over.
As Ridge put it, if it weren’t for Rosemary getting in the way, he would have been with Mia since elementary school. But that was only when things were going smoothly.
If something happened though, they both had each other’s backs.
Thinking about Rosemary and Emanuel’s words earlier made Nathalie consider calling her sister but she ultimately decided against it.
Dismissing the thought from her mind, Nathalie turned back to Emanuel and said teasingly, “You’re really unreliable! My brother didn’t want you telling me anything yet here we are.”
Emanuel looked at Nathalie for a long moment before saying, “I won’t keep anything from you.”
Nathalie felt a sudden unease in her heart, but she tried to ignore it. She couldn’t help the fluttering feeling that came with it.
“Really?” Nathalie asked. “You don’t have anything else to hide from me?”
As soon as the words left her mouth, Nathalie regretted them. What was she doing? Wasn’t she just digging herself into a hole?
Sure enough, Emanuel replied with a simple “yes.”
Nathalie had no choice but to say, “If you tell me now, I’ll try not to be mad.”
“I’m not sure if you want to hear it,” Emanuel said.
Inwardly, Nathalie pleaded with him not to say anything. But outwardly she said, “I’m curious. You know
I am.”
“I like you,” Emanuel finally admitted.
Nathalie was speechless and wanted nothing more than to slap herself for starting this conversation in the first place.
What should she do now? She had suspected his feelings all along but didn’t know how to respond.
She bit down on her lip hard enough that it hurt and hoped it would calm her down. But then Emanuel’s hand gripped her chin and forced her mouth open.
“Don’t bite your lip,” he said softly.
Their eyes met and Nathalie couldn’t help noticing the loneliness in his gaze. Her heart skipped a beat as an unfamiliar feeling washed over her body and soul.
She didn’t know what this emotion was or what actions were appropriate anymore.
She suddenly felt a little aggrieved.
Finally, Nathalie found her voice and said to Emanuel, “You say you like me, but you’ve never given me a nice attitude.”
She shouldn’t have said that. The more she spoke, the more aggrieved she became.
Tears streamed down Nathalie’s face.
Emanuel furrowed his brow and looked bewildered.
He really didn’t know how to comfort Nathalie.
When he liked her, she was already a national sweetheart and a famous star in the eyes of many people.
At that time, Emanuel didn’t even know if his feelings were just idolizing or true love.
It took him five or six years to figure out that he had liked her since childhood.
But when it came to this aspect of life, he was quite slow. He didn’t even know how to get along with his own sister let alone someone he liked as much as Nathalie.
Especially since Emanuel hardly had any chance to spend time with Nathalie. He had no idea how to face her, which led him helplessly watching as Nathalie became increasingly afraid of him.
Emanuel’s fingers were still pinching Nathalie’s chin. She was in pain, but she wasn’t sure if it was from biting her own lip or from Emanuel’s grip on her chin. Either way, it hurt a lot and she felt very upset.
Tears streamed down Nathalie’s face as she cried. Despite the pain and sadness, she looked beautiful when crying. Her tears fell like pearls, one after another without any snot or messiness.
Many directors loved to cast Nathalie in crying scenes because of how stunningly beautiful she looked while doing so. There was even a Twitter poll for the most desired female celebrity to see cry and
Nathalie had millions more votes than second place.
As each tear fell down her face, it felt like they were hitting Emanuel’s heart directly. His gaze grew dimmer as he struggled with conflicting emotions – wanting to continue touching her but also feeling guilty for causing her distress.
Finally, Emanuel withdrew his hand and turned away from Nathalie saying, “I’m sorry for making things difficult for you.”
Nathalie heard his apology but only cried harder at the thought of him leaving her alone. She grabbed onto his arm and wiped away tears with his sleeve while continuing to cry uncontrollably.
Despite not having any snot or messiness on her face, Nathalie couldn’t seem to stop crying no matter how much she tried wiping away the tears with Emanuel’s sleeve.
Emanuel felt terrible about what he had done to make Nathalie cry so much, yet he couldn’t help but want to look into her eyes while watching every tear fall down those beautiful cheeks of hers.
He even entertained dangerous thoughts that maybe he wanted Nathalie crying because of him rather than anything else going on in their lives at that moment.
Thankfully though, Emanuel remained rational enough not act upon those thoughts nor did he move his hand away from hers.
Finally tired of crying, Nathalie switched positions and rubbed against Emanuel’s sleeve.
To this end, Emanuel’s entire sleeve was wet by her.
He was wearing a black shirt, but there were no traces of it.
Nathalie still raised her chin and said, “It’s what you deserve, for letting you bully me.”
Emanuel didn’t speak, because he didn’t know how to coax Nathalie.
Nathalie didn’t speak either;she was thinking about a question: Emanuel liked her, what about her?
She never thought about it.
She only had a crush on a boy in kindergarten, giving him her beloved cake. However, that despicable guy smashed it on the ground and she never liked boys again. It seemed like her subconscious told her that boys were not good and would disappoint girls’ feelings.
Now, Emanuel opened up his emotions to Nathalie. She didn’t know how to face it. However, Nathalie couldn’t say nothing either. After pondering for a moment, she turned around and looked at Emanuel saying, “Your feelings came too suddenly for me. I haven’t thought about it or realized my own feelings towards you yet. Also, I don’t have any intention of dating right now since I’m in the entertainment industry which isn’t suitable for dating openly without being criticized by others.”
“I can’t tell people that I’m going to school when actually going out on dates with someone because they will criticize me endlessly,” she continued.
“So please give me some time to think about this carefully and when I figure things out, I’ll let you know.”
Nathalie said she would think about it, and for Emanuel, that was already enough to make him happy.
For years, when Emanuel realized his feelings for Nathalie were love, he spent every day building himself up mentally. He knew he might be rejected and that they could never be together.
Now, Nathalie’s response wasn’t a yes, but it made Emanuel feel like his world had become colorful again.
Emanuel didn’t want to pressure Nathalie or use emotional blackmail on her. He said, “Take your time.
I’m not in a hurry.”
Nathalie tilted her head mischievously at him and said, “If you say so, I might think you don’t like me anymore.”
Emanuel was speechless and angry with himself for being so clumsy with words. He should have told
Nathalie directly that he loved her more than she could ever imagine after all these years.
But his mouth seemed sealed shut; the words wouldn’t come out no matter how hard he tried.
Although they hadn’t interacted much over the years and Nathalie had grown increasingly wary of him,
Emanuel’s personality was well-known to her.
She knew what kind of person he was: someone who didn’t speak flowery language or sweet-talk people into liking them. So when Emanuel finally confessed his feelings today, it probably took all of his strength.
Nathalie decided to be magnanimous about it. She told him, “I won’t keep you waiting too long. I’ll tell you within a week.”
Emanuel’s heart felt as if it had been squeezed tight. He didn’t want Nathalie to decide too quickly. A
week felt like an execution sentence hanging over his head. His lips moved, but no words came out in the end.