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

Chapter 2043

Stale darkness smothered the private villa; not the faintest shard of light dared intrude.

In the gloom, Nicholas slumped against a bare wall, half-buried in an ocean of empty liquor bottles. Sleep tugged at him like an undertow, yet he clung to consciousness out of sheer habit.

A sudden scrape of hinges shattered the hush. The heavy door swung inward, admitting a narrow blade of daylight

Nicholas flinched and threw up an arm, shielding bloodshot eyes until they adjusted.

When the blur settled, he saw a man backlit by brilliance-polished dress shoes clicking forward with deliberate menace.

Nathaniel stepped fully inside, flipped on the overhead light, and surveyed the wreckage with a muted sigh. Nicholas lay at the epicenter-bearded, unwashed, every inch of him broadcasting defeat.

Nathaniel's brow creased as he picked his way through the glass like a man crossing a battlefield.

"Is this really the life you've chosen for yourself-forever?" Nathaniel asked, voice calm yet cutting.

Nicholas lifted dull eyes. "You came to mock me, is that it?"

Nathaniel dragged a chair into the wreckage, sat, and flicked him a glance brimming with contempt. "Mock you?"

His lips curved in a chilly half-smile. "You'd have to be worth the effort first."

Nicholas'

rasped, "So why are you here? Surely

from you," Nathaniel

that possibly

bother with a preamble. "Meredith

face, dragging shadows in its wake. He stared at the floor, wordless, torn

all you want," Nathaniel continued, voice dropping to steel. "If you had real courage, you'd

and deep, swallowing

Nicholas muttered,

straightened, eyes glittering with a feral light. "But first-beg

his life, he'd been measured and

the summit he

nothing, his expression

staggered upright, one hand braced over his mouth as another coughing fit racked his chest. When the spasm passed, he barkada laugh, half-mad. "What's wrong?

you." Nathaniel forced each syllable through a throat lined

eyes widened, disbelief rippling across his face like glass struck by

Nathaniel apologized, let alone pleaded. That iron certainty was

do care about Ceci," Nicholas muttered, bitterness coating

don't just care," Nathaniel said. "I love

brother he

for