After the Last Tear: Rising from the Ashes of a Broken Marriage By Cassila K

Chapter 64

I never expected Nina to come looking for me.

The restaurant was crowded that evening, the warm glow of the overhead lights casting soft reflections on the polished wooden tables. I barely looked at her when I set down the dish, just another customer in the endless stream of faces I served every day.

"Enjoy your meal," I said, the words automatic, practiced.

But then she spoke.

"You're Cecilia?"

The way she said my name sent a slow chill through me.

I turned my head, finally meeting her gaze.

She was watching me, appraising me like I was something cheap on a store shelf, something barely worth a glance, let alone her attention. Her perfectly manicured fingers toyed with the stem of her wine glass, a smirk playing at the corner of her lips.

Then, she let out a soft laugh-sharp, disdainful.

"Do you even have more than a hundred dollars on you right now?" Her voice dripped with mockery. "Where the hell did you crawl out from, huh?"

I didn't react.

I just looked at her, my expression giving nothing away.

She smirked, tapping a nail against the glass. "Two years by Pax's side. You must be good at playing your cards."

tell me do you even know

head slightly. "And if I

say

youngest son, their golden boy. The one who had been spoiled, adored, shielded from the real

flickered with amusement, as if she could already see the cracks forming

lowering into

my ground. "Or

eyes. "Or you'll stick around just

I said nothing.

really-what was there

I turned on my heel,

But she moved faster.

wrist, her grip delicate but insistent. Without thinking, I pulled back. I hadn't even

And yet-

slipping against the polished floor, her

plates and glasses down in a cascading

restaurant seemed to go

hear was the sharp ring of

switch

the sharp, arrogant

welling

she whispered, voice trembling,