When Her "Death" Couldn't Break Him (Cecilia and Nathaniel)

Chapter 2042

Nathaniel nodded once, a solemn vow rather than a gesture.

"But if he contacts you again, promise you'll tell me anything at all. No secrets," he said, the plea wrapped in quiet steel.

"All right." Her answer was immediate, unburdened. She lowered his hand from her face, fingers sliding down until their palms fit together. "Let's go home."

Their fingers threaded, and a calm he had never known seeped into Nathaniel's bones.

The world felt newly fragile; he feared her slipping away, feared someone stealing her as easily as a gust snatches a loose leaf.

"Ceci, you do love me, don't you?" he asked suddenly while they walked.

She stopped, eyebrows raised in amused disbelief. "We're practically an old married couple, and we have four children. Talking about 'love' now is downright childish."

Nathaniel answered her smile with a firmer squeeze, as if the warmth of her hand could seal every unspoken promise.

"So, tell me do you love me?" His voice came out low and steady, but the intensity in his eyes pinned Cecilia in place like a beam of molten light.

His fingers unwittingly tightened around her hand, sharp enough to sting. She parted her lips, ready to whisper the answer he craved, when Elliot came barreling toward them.

two disappear to?" he puffed, cheeks

went to look for Ms. Talbot a minute ago. What's

Seiler just arrived," Elliot

Meredith Seiler?

small fingers instead, and together they entered

Meredith rose from the couch the instant they appeared, grief

the air like a soft,

face filled her with dread. Well-intentioned condolences always forced her to revisit the moment

Then she asked the housekeeper to bring coffee, her tone polite, almost too

brings you here in the middle of

said, folding her hands in her lap. "Second, I'm here about

happen to her?" Concern raced through Cecilia's

healthy," Meredith assured her. "I've moved her into my home, but the residency

to adopt the girl

time," Cecilia murmured, remorse coloring each

ago. He had

legendary Put me in touch m ready

Dahlia had entwined their hearts; separation was no longer an option she could

out her phone and