Twenty-Six receipts of betrayal Novel novel Chapter 23

Twenty six pages. Twenty–six printed text message records.

Black and white screenshots, dense blocks of text–all of it flooding into Nicholas’s field of vision at once,

The images surged through his mind, dredging up memories from a past he’d buried long ago.

He went through them one by one, his eyes scanning the grainy photos first.

Every picture looked familiar.

Most of them were still saved on that old phone he hadn’t turned on in months–the originals tucked away in a hidden folder.

After he’d reviewed all the images, a strange numbness crept through his temples.

It didn’t hurt, exactly. But it shocked him into a terrible clarity.

He gathered the scattered pages from the floor, stumbling to his feet, and made his way back to the bedroom.

He flicked on the light, found the phone he’d tossed into a corner weeks ago, plugged it in, and held down the power button.

The lock screen displayed a photo of Elara. The passcode was her birthday.

His camera roll held only a handful of photos of the two of them together–all taken before September.

After that, nothing new. No more couple shots.

Because by then, his attention had shifted. His camera had turned toward someone else.

And those photos–the ones of her–he’d locked away in a private album. Password protected.

The password was Valentina’s birthday.

He punched in the digits. The screen jumped. Dozens of thumbnails appeared, one after another.

He scrolled for what felt like forever before reaching the bottom.

Comparing them to the blurry printouts in his hands, Nicholas found the matches. The outfits, the locations, the backgrounds–everything lined up perfectly.

Valentina had taken these pictures using his phone. She’d picked out the best ones and sent them to herself.

The rest, he’d locked away with the others.

By all accounts, no one else should have ever seen them.

Everyone knew he had a family, a wife in a wheelchair.

Whether by caution or design, every image in that album was meant to stay secret.

But somehow, without his knowledge, these photos had ended up in the hands of his wife–the woman everyone believed he loved devotedly.

She had printed them out. Left them in the study. Waiting for the day he would unearth the secret himself.

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Twenty Six Receipts of Betrayal: My Silence Was the Countdown to His Eternal Regret

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Chapter 23

A secret that would shatter every assumption people had about him. A secret that could destroy him.

Elara had known. And she’d told no one but him.

She was so cruel.

And yet, so merciful.

The text messages, starting from mid–November, dripped with provocation from the very first line.

Nicholas only made it through a few pages before he lost the courage to continue.

His hand gripped the edge of the desk, knuckles white, veins bulging from the strain.

Sweat poured from every part of his body, beading on his skin, soaking through his shirt within moments.

He stood frozen in the silent, empty room–a statue.

Only the faint tremor in his nostrils gave any sign he was still breathing.

A gust of winter wind blew in through the window, lifting the pages on the desk before letting them fall again.

The rustling, the sharp snap of paper–it sounded like a camera shutter clicking over and over.

When the wind died down, Nicholas stared at the white pages scattered across the floor. His stomach churned violently.

He doubled over the desk and retched.

But aside from the alcohol from the night before, nothing came up. The effort drained what little strength he had left.

He collapsed onto the floor, staring up at the harsh white light overhead.

And then, suddenly, he started laughing.

There was no sound.

Just his mouth stretched wide, the muscles around his eyes twitching uncontrollably.

He was laughing.

But somehow, it looked like he was crying.

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