The Heiress Nobody Saw Coming (Natalie and Marcus) novel Chapter 275

After Marcus thanked her, he averted his gaze. Had Natalie observed closely, she might have seen the slight tremor in his fingers.

Growing up, Marcus never met his parents. Whenever he inquired about them, Charles would simply pat his head and assure him that they were traveling and would return with gifts.

There was a time when he nearly drowned in the sea. Following his rescue, he pleaded with Charles, yearning to meet his parents, but his desire remained unfulfilled.

Charles did bring Sophia to his home and allowed her to spend the night. However, the following day, he had her return to the Sinclair residence.

Following this, Sophia and Marcus developed a friendship. Marcus visited the Sinclair residence multiple times. Aware that Sophia's circumstances there weren't favorable, he began to offer her protection occasionally.

The Sinclairs were known for currying favor with the influential. When Ivan realized his daughter had formed a friendship with the eldest son of the Holden family, he no longer dared to openly target the mother-daughter duo.

Over the years, Marcus would occasionally visit the Sinclair residence and invite Sophia out for gatherings or meals. His aim was to signal to the Sinclairs that Sophia was under his protection.

Since childhood, Sophia was promised in marriage to Sky Walker from the Walker family. As a result, Marcus only saw her as his savior and never had any romantic feelings for her. Sophia felt the same way, and their friendship remained completely platonic.

Throughout the years, Sophia never asked about Marcus' relationship with his parents and wasn't as daring as Natalie to confront Charles about it. Natalie was the first person to defend him regarding his parents, even though he had previously treated her poorly.

"Marcus, are you feeling down?" Natalie gently asked while they exited the dining room together. "Would you like to be my partner for the first dance at my welcome party?"

To Natalie, who she danced with wasn't particularly important. However, since Charles had asked her to do this, even though she planned to maintain some distance from Marcus, it was hard to refuse.

"Do you really think I have a choice?" Marcus asked, a hint of bitterness in his expression. "Even though you defended me and questioned Grandpa, nothing has changed."

"Have you considered the reasons behind it all?"

Marcus nodded, then shook his head. He had indeed thought about it and tried to find answers countless times, but Charles never provided any useful information.

Over the years, he'd also looked into his parents' past but found nothing. It was as if they had fulfilled their duty by having him and then vanished. To them, he felt like an unnecessary and familiar stranger.

"Okay, quit overthinking it," Natalie said, gently patting Marcus' shoulder. "I would like you to be my partner for the opening dance."

She continued, "You don't need to take my comments too seriously. If you have questions, it's best to ask Grandpa Charles directly, since I'm just an outsider."

Smiling at him, she added, "Thanks again. Let's head back."

"Okay."

The pair departed from Holden Residence, and Natalie could easily tell that Marcus was feeling down. He stayed quiet the entire drive back. After dropping Natalie at the Walker family home, Marcus drove off.

Natalie paused in front of the expansive window, contemplating for a moment before pulling out her phone and accessing a mysterious website.

King of Hearts had posted a directive. "Order: Find the location of Wesley Holden and Laura Reed from the Holden Group."

Almost instantly, a response came, "By King's order. The mission will be completed."