chapter2068

Outside the ward's sterile glow, he pulled out his phone. After a long, reluctant pause, he called Cecilia.

While the ringtone droned, he stared at the blizzard curling beyond the glass, stomach knotting with dread.

He knew he could never repay the mountain of debt. Cecilia was the one future he could still afford.

The thought tasted of shame, yet no other name lived in his thoughts.

Across town, Cecilia glanced at the unfamiliar number. The strange prefix told her it was Magnus.

Her private line was airtight. Unknown callers simply didn't exist unless they were family.

Besides Magnus, she knew no one in that dusty county code.

She pressed mute and let the phone pulse in silence. s ? ?s F?ndNovel.net

The ringtone died again. Magnus redialed, brows knitting. "Why isn't she picking up? Did she change numbers?" he muttered.

He blew out a white breath. "Looks like I'll have to risk a trip back to Tudela."

The New Year was only days away. Magnus convinced himself that holiday sentiment would loosen Cecilia's purse strings and drag him out of this mess.

Back inside the ward, he shut the door.

Denise looked up, worry creasing her brow. "So, this plan of yours, what is it? You're not about to do anything stupid, are you?"

"Of course not," Magnus said, shaking his head.

"But where are you getting that kind of cash?" Denise pressed, relentless as ever.

She never stopped digging until every shard of truth surfaced.

Magnus sighed but chose honesty. "I'll ask my sister. She's loaded. What I owe is pocket change to her."

At Cecilia's name, color drained from Denise's face. She stared at the wall, lips sealed.

A heavy stillness seeped into the room.

Even carefree Magnus felt the sudden chill.

He lowered his voice. "Denise, what's wrong? Think I'll head back to Tudela, get rich, and forget you?" He tried to make it sound like a joke.

Denise's gaze turned to ice. "I thought you'd changed. Clearly, you haven't. Why keep acting like a parasite?"

Parasite? The word slapped him. Had anyone else said it, he would have fired back, maybe even swung a fist.

Yet, it was Denise who stood in front of him. She was a living reminder of every line he had just crossed.

Heat surged beneath Magnus' skin. His cheeks blazed, the shame so fierce it felt as if someone had pressed a branding iron against his face.

"I" The word snagged in his throat, nothing but a jagged whisper and a heartbeat of silence.

"Leeching money from your sister, who, let's be clear, shares not one drop of blood with you, makes it

obvious our values don't matchet

Let's not be friends anymore." Denise's voice never wavered, each syllable a measured cut. s

She had built her life on self-reliance, refusing to offload burden or blame on anyone else, so Magnus' behavior landed like an insult she could not decipher.

Magnus' mind spun. Panic pooled in his stomach, cold and sudden, as though the ground had tilted beneath him.

"I was wrong, completely wrong," he

blurted, breath rushing out in uneven

bursts. "My head was messed up.

Please, don't be angry. I just didn't know what else to do. I figured if Cecilia helped us, you wouldn't have, in two

to keep breaking all

your parents' treatment would be secured." s

Denise's ire eased a fraction at his frantic honesty, the set of her shoulders loosening, though her eyes remained guarded.

"Magnus, that isn't what I need," she

said, gentler but firm. "I'll earn the money myself and pay for my parents care. Promise me you won't beg for cash in my name."

belongs to s

Regret pricked at her. The one mistake she could never forgive in herself was accepting Sven's ten thousand after Magnus had already taken the same amount from her.

She had agreed to put on an act with Sven.

However, if she were to do it again, Denise would still make the same choices.