Twenty-Six receipts of betrayal Novel novel Chapter 77

Chapter 8

A week later, I was finally out of the critical zone. Moved from the hyperbaric chamber to a regular room.

The doctors said I was recovering better than expected–no major nerve damage, the frostbite was healing.

Just needed time.

That afternoon, Thaddeus visited with some news:

“Cassian and Lyra want to see you. Apparently they’re hoping to get your forgiveness, maybe catch a lighter sentence. If you don’t want to deal with their bullshit, I’ll shut it down.”

I hesitated for a moment, then nodded:

“I’ll see them. It’s time to close this.”

The jail’s visiting room was colder than I’d imagined, thick glass separating two different worlds.

They brought Cassian in first.

He was wearing standard–issue prison clothes, his face pale as death, all that cocky swagger completely gone–just exhaustion and panic now.

The second he saw me, tears started pouring down his face as he pressed against the glass:

“Isolde, I know I screwed up! I know I fucked up bad! I just lost my mind for a minute–Lyra got in my head with all her tricks. I never really wanted to hurt you… please forgive me this once? We had so many good years together…”

I looked at him and remembered all those mountains we’d climbed, all those roads we’d traveled together.

Sharing our last piece of chocolate in the wilderness.

Huddling together in freezing dawn hours waiting for sunrise.

That ecstatic hug when we won our first major award…

Those memories used to be my most precious treasures, but now they felt like faded photographs–blurry and distant.

“You didn’t just ‘lose your mind for a minute.‘ You chose ambition and control over human life and basic decency. You

your sick fantasies.” turned everything we built together into a stepping stone for

My voice was calm, almost detached.

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

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Chapter 8

“When you watched Lyra rip my clothes off, when you saw me dying in the snow–where was all that history then?”

Cassian’s tears came harder, his hands flat against the glass:

“I was completely out of my mind! I was scared of losing control of the studio, scared you wouldn’t need me anymore… Isolde, I love you! We can start over, right? I’ll do whatever you want from now…”

“Love?” I shook my head, the irony almost laughable.

“Your love came with too many conditions. Too many lies. The moment you let her swap my oxygen, it was over.”

Cassian’s shoulders collapsed, his eyes going dead. He couldn’t find any more excuses.

When visiting time ended and they dragged him away, his last words came out in a broken sob: “Isolde… I’m sorry…”

Then they brought in Lyra.

She looked even more pathetic, eyes darting everywhere except at me, like a scared rabbit.

After sitting down, she stayed quiet for a long time before finally whispering:

“My parents… they know. They’re ashamed. My mom’s not well…”

“Yeah,” I said, watching her. “When you do terrible things, there are consequences. Dragging your family into it is the

worst part.”

Lyra’s head dropped even lower, her voice choking up:

“I didn’t mean for it to happen… I just… I wanted success so badly, wanted Cassian’s approval so much… he said if I listened to him, I could have everything I wanted… so I…”

“There are no shortcuts to success, especially when you’re climbing over other people’s bodies and pain. That kind of success is built on quicksand.”

I cut her off.

“Do you

have any idea what those few minutes on the mountain meant? Do you know how close I was to dying? You were willing to trade a life for a promotion. You don’t deserve to hold a camera.”

Lyra’s face went white as a sheet, tears streaming down:

“I regret it… Isolde, I really regret everything… could you maybe… put in a good word for me? I’m still young, I can’t let this ruin my whole life…”

“Everyone has to live with their choices.”

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

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Chapter 8

I stood up, done listening to this.

“The law will decide your future. Not me.”

Walking out of that visiting room, the high–altitude sunlight was blazing and pure, hitting my skin like it could burn through any darkness.

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