chapter2225

Exhaustion won; Cecilia drifted off soon after.

Unbeknownst to her, Nathaniel remained fully awake.

When her breathing settled into an easy rhythm, Nathaniel opened his eyes.

The dim nightlights drew a gentle outline of her form; his puzzled gaze lingered on her neck.

She had showered earlier and pulled on a high-collared shirt.

The shirt wasn't even proper sleepwear.

At first he'd thought the scarf itself odd; now he suspected she used it to hide something on her neck.

He reached out, intent on finding out.

Cecilia slept on, unmoving.

With a whisper of motion, he lowered the collar and found a square of gauze, a hint of red seeping through.

The contact made Cecilia's neck twitch, her head rolling slightly.

Nathaniel jerked his hand back, confusion knotting inside him.

Was she hurt?

How had it happened, and why hide it from him?

Sleep was impossible now.

He slipped out to the balcony, shut the doors to seal the sound, and took out his phone to place a call.

Nathaniel spoke into the phone, "Find out exactly what happened to Mrs. Smith last night."

He added, "Give me every single detail, leave nothing out."

After the man on the other end agreed, Nathaniel ended the call.

He stayed awake, settling into a chair beside the bed to wait for news.

He lost track of time before the ringtone finally shattered the quiet.

Nathaniel answered at once. "Have you got it?" he asked. His subordinate's voice came through the speaker.

"Mrs. Rainsworth spent the morning and noon at the wedding, then went shopping in the afternoon with her friends and Calvin, and ended up in the local arcade."

"Around eleven thirty that night she returned to the hotel, but after roughly half an hour she rushed out again and even called an

ambulance. Content net

"The cameras show her climbing in holding her neck."

Nathaniel cut him off.

"Send me that clip," he ordered.

"Yes, sir."

"Keep going."

went

"She the hospital, stayed the

whole night, and only left a bit after

six.

On her way out she boatteet

scarf at the nearby superm

The subordinate laid everything out clearly.

Nathaniel hung up and opened the footage he had just received.

The images showed her returning at eleven, then leaving again, obviously injured. Nathaniel called back. "Give me the hotel's interior footage within ten minutes."

"Understood."

In less than ten minutes, hallway and lobby recordings from the hotel popped up on his phone.

He watched closely and saw a figure step out of her room before she did.

The silhouette was painfully familiar.

Recognition struck at once.

Nicholas.

Nathaniel's eyes darkened, a mess of emotions swirling underneath.

No wonder Cecilia had kept silent; it all pointed back to Nicholas.

He clenched the phone so hard his knuckles whitened.

Returning to the bedroom, he lay down and pulled Cecilia into his arms.

Even that small movement made her flinch.