Twenty-Six receipts of betrayal Novel novel Chapter 3

Elara woke up early the next morning.

Nicholas didn’t drag himself out of bed until past ten. He shuffled into the living room, spotted her at the dining table scribbling away, and

wandered over rubbing his eyes.

Her notebook was crammed with handwriting. He leaned in, scanning the list.

1. Visit the old neighborhood. Catch up with friends.
2. Feed the ducks at the lake.
3. Get blackout drunk at a bar…

“Babe, what’s all this for?”

Elara’s pen paused. She glanced up at him.

“Bucket list.”

The term seemed to trigger a memory. A fond smile touched his lips. “You made one of these when you were seventeen too. You had this whole list of things you wanted-”

He stopped mid–sentence. His face fell.

Elara knew exactly what he was thinking. That talking about the past would upset her.

But honestly? She was over it. She picked up right where he’d trailed off.

“Yeah. I wrote down a hundred things I wanted to do before I turned eighteen. Bungee jumping, skiing, white–water rafting, surfing… all this crazy stuff. And you were even crazier. You came with me for every single one and filmed the whole thing.”

The nostalgia in her voice seemed to pull him back. Nicholas smiled–genuinely this time.

“God, I was obsessed with you. Whatever insane thing you wanted to do, I was right there. I wasn’t afraid of anything as long as you were next to me. I literally jumped off a thousand–foot bridge with my eyes closed…”

Elara watched him light up as he talked.

When his eyes finally came back to her, she said quietly.

“It’s been a while since I’ve seen you smile like that.”

Nicholas’s smile froze.

The air went stiff for a few seconds. He cleared his throat and changed the subject.

“So uh… you want help with this list? Like we used to?”

Elara shook her head. Her voice came out firm. “This is MY list. Not yours. You’re busy with work anyway. Don’t worry about it.”

For some reason, the flatness in her tone made Nicholas’s chest tighten.

He wanted to argue–then his phone buzzed.

w! Fornal Regret

1.9%

Chapter 3

The second he looked at the screen, that smile came flooding back.

“Sorry, work call. Gotta grab this.”

He didn’t even look at her as he left the room.

Elara stared at the empty doorway.

She’d turned him down before. Told him she wanted to tackle challenges on her own.

But back then, he wouldn’t take no for an answer. He’d beg, pester, follow her around like a puppy until she caved.

Now? He didn’t even pretend to care.

He didn’t bother with the usual “I’m worried about you” script anymore.

Everyone always said marriage was where love went to die. She used to roll her eyes at that.

Now it felt like gospel truth.

Their love never even made it to the happily–ever–after part. It just… died along the way.

Slowly. Quietly. Until there was nothing left but exhaustion.

Elara finished the list in silence.

At the top of the page, in careful letters, she wrote: FINAL BUCKET LIST.

Her phone lit up on the table.

Another message from Valentina. This time it was a selfie–her grinning in the passenger seat of Nicholas’s car.

The first few times these came through, Elara thought the pain would kill her.

But after dozens of them, she felt nothing.

She picked up her laptop, saved the screenshot, and printed it out. Then she tucked it into the drawer alongside the bucket list.

The drawer was already stuffed with printouts like this–evidence she’d been collecting for days.

For Elara, death was mercy.

But that didn’t mean she was going to let Nicholas and Valentina ride off into the sunset.

If Nicholas didn’t love her anymore, fine. But he should’ve had the balls to tell her to her face–not sneak around like a coward.

And Valentina? She had no business rubbing Elara’s nose in it every single day.

The girl Nicholas wrote about in his journal–bubbly, sweet, full of light–was nothing like the vindictive bitch sending these texts.

Elara was more than happy to make sure Nicholas saw who Valentina really was.

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Ternal Regret