Twenty-Six receipts of betrayal Novel novel Chapter 25

Chapter 25

Valentina came down carrying a large suitcase, her face lighting up when she saw Nicholas waiting by the car. She rushed over and threw her arms around him.

“Nicholas! I thought you were still mad at me. I’m so sorry about the other day–I said things I shouldn’t have. Thank you for forgiving me.”

The heavy floral scent of her perfume flooded his nostrils, and his stomach lurched violently.

But he said nothing.

He forced down the nausea crawling up from his gut, grabbed the handle of her suitcase with one hand, slid the other around her waist, and walked her slowly toward the car.

Valentina glanced down at his hand resting on her hip. A thrill shot through her chest. Her cheeks flushed pink.

In the five months they’d known each other, this was the first time Nicholas had initiated any kind of physical contact.

She took it as a sign he had finally moved past his grief and chosen her. Her voice practically bubbled over with excitement.

“Have you been eating? You look so thin–it breaks my heart.”

“Mm,” Nicholas murmured, popping open the trunk.

Valentina was about to say more when her eyes landed on the empty cargo space. Surprise flickered across her face.

“Wait–aren’t we going on a trip? Nicholas, why didn’t you pack anything?”

He stared at her for a long moment before finally answering.

“Don’t I have you?”

Valentina interpreted this as him putting the entire trip in her hands. Her smile grew even brighter.

She helped him hoist the suitcase into the trunk, then grabbed his arm and tugged him toward the front of the car.

“Okay, but we need to set some ground rules. You have to listen to me this time, got it? If I say you need to eat properly, you eat properly. And you have to take pictures of me…”

Once Valentina started talking, she didn’t stop.

Nicholas listened in silence for most of the drive.

He only offered a word or two when she glanced over, as if worried she was being ignored.

Eventually, she noticed something was off.

“Nicholas… are you okay? You’re so quiet.”

He glanced at the GPS. His tone was flat.

“I like listening to you,”

He’d said things like that before. Many times.

Reassured, Valentina kept chattering away.

16:31

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

Chapter 25

After a while, her throat grew dry. She grabbed a bottle of water, unscrewed the cap, and took a sip while gazing out the window

Then her expression changed.

“Wait–aren’t we going to the airport? Why are we leaving the city?”

“There’s a snowstorm in Lanford. All flights are grounded. I changed our destination. We’re going to the coast instead.”

Valentina pulled out her phone and checked. Sure enough, the weather alerts confirmed it.

“A road trip to the beach? That sounds amazing! We can watch the sunrise together. Remember that time we were up in the mountains and-”

She continued talking, oblivious.

She didn’t notice that the landscape outside was growing more and more desolate.

Or that the GPS showed the distance to their destination shrinking–20 kilometers, then 10, then 5.

When it hit zero, the sky outside had gone completely dark.

Nicholas pulled over and turned off the headlights.

Valentina looked around, confused. She was about to ask what he was doing when he rubbed his temples and spoke, his voice heavy with exhaustion.

“My eyes are killing me. Can you grab the eye drops from the backseat?”

Concern flooded her face. She immediately unbuckled her seatbelt and reached for the briefcase sitting in the back.

She unzipped it and rummaged inside. Her fingers found no bottle, only a thick stack of paper.

The moment she registered what was printed on them, her body went rigid. Her hands trembled.

Slowly, she turned toward Nicholas.

The man who’d claimed his eyes hurt had already lowered his hand. He was facing her now, staring directly at her.

His bloodshot eyes gleamed with something cold.

Something that made her blood run ice–cold.

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