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.

to?" he puffed, cheeks

met her son's. "We went to look for Ms. Talbot a minute ago. What's

just

Meredith Seiler?

Elliot's small fingers instead,

from the couch the instant they appeared,

like a soft, respectful

her to revisit the moment her mother slipped

sit." Then she asked the housekeeper to bring coffee, her tone

middle of a workday?"

wanted to check on you," Meredith said, folding her hands in her lap. "Second, I'm here about

to her?" Concern raced through Cecilia's

her. "I've moved her into my home, but the residency papers and guardianship are still unresolved." A shadow of worry tempered her smile,

to adopt the

help last time,"

about Dahlia weeks ago. He had dismissed

friends-no apologies. Meredith exhaled. "But I do need a favor now. Jamieson Group's legal team is legendary Put me in touch

spent with Dahlia had entwined their hearts; separation was

pulled out her phone and forwarded the chief legal advisor's