Chapter 1381

Neither of them had anything to say in objection to his statement.

Caitlin and Jonathan nodded in unison after a brief moment of hesitation.

"You're right, Mr.Thompson.We should let Joyce make that decision when she wakes up." Jonathan
said with a sigh, hunching his back even further.

Maybe Joyce would give up on committing suicide after finding out that she's pregnant...

Since Joyce had attempted to commit suicide in order to resolve the grudge between the Rivers family
and the Quinn family, she would surely make another attempt later on.

Jonathan and Caitlin knew that all too well because they were planning on doing the exact same thing.

As such, the discovery of her baby was probably their only hope at saving Joyce's life.

"All right..."

Caitlin sobbed.

Everyone else fell silent after that and simply stared at Joyce, who was still lying motionless on the bed.

After what seemed like forever, Jonathan turned toward Natalie and said, "How about you two head
back for now, Nat? I'm sure you must be tired coming all this way to see Joyce today.You can come by
again later."

Natalie glanced at Shane and her two kids in response.



Upon noticing how tired her kids looked, she nodded and replied, "All right, Mr.Rivers.We'll return to the
hotel and get some rest.We'll come by again later tonight, okay?"

"Sure thing,"

Caitlin and Jonathan replied in unison.

Natalie then turned toward Shane as she said, "Let's go, Darling."

Shane nodded, and the four of them walked out the door hand in hand.

After getting into the car, the driver drove straight for the hotel.

"I should've known that Joyce would commit suicide," Natalie said with reddened eyes along the way.

Shane put his phone away and looked at her.

"What do you mean?"

Natalie lowered her gaze as she explained, "Joyce came to see me a few days ago when I was leaving
for the airport.She mentioned something about her running out of time.I felt something was off about
her, but I couldn't quite put my finger on it, so I didn't give it too much thought afterward.If I had put
more effort into picking up the signs, I might've been able to figure out she was suicidal and stop her in
time!"

Shane reached out and gently pulled her into his arms.

"This isn't your fault.We are all separate individuals, so we can't control what others do.Even if you did
figure out Joyce's intentions and stopped her from committing suicide, how would you be sure that she
won't attempt it again in the future?"

Natalie froze upon hearing that and went silent instantly.



Shane flashed her a caring look as he continued, "See? You don't know what to say because you know
you can't make sure of it.You can't possibly be around Joyce all the time, can you? Eventually, you two
will have to go your separate ways, and she'll be free to do whatever she wants without you stopping
her.So, you see, there's no need for you to hold yourself accountable."

Natalie knew that he was right about everything he said.

"I just feel bad for missing the opportunity to stop her when I clearly had the chance to."

"I know, but you don't have to.Joyce turned out to be fine, didn't she? Now, stop thinking too much
about it and get some rest,"

Shane whispered while softly patting her on the head.His voice sounded so calming that Natalie soon
drifted off to sleep in his embrace.

Shane gave her a kiss on the forehead and tightened his grip on her shoulder.

They soon arrived at the hotel, and the two kids got out of the car while Shane followed closely behind
with Natalie in his arms.

Both Connor and Sharon kept glancing back at them as they made their way toward the elevator.

Upon arriving at the presidential suite, Shane gently laid Natalie on the bed and pulled the blanket over
her before turning toward the kids.

"I need you two to behave yourselves and stay quiet so your mommy can rest well"

He knew full well that Natalie had been tensed up and gloomy ever since she found out about Joyce's
suicide attempt.

As such, he needed to let her get enough rest or she would surely fall ill.



"Got it, Daddy!"

The two kids nodded obediently in unison.

"All right, go play in that room over there.I'm going to get some sleep with your mommy for a bit,"
Shane said while pointing at the room in front of his.


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