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Novel Catalog
Chapter 15 The Last Goodbye
The phone slipped from Cecilia’s trembling fingers, landing on the wet ground, the screen flickering before fading into darkness. She leaned heavily against her father’s tombstone, clutching the wooden puppet close to her chest as the rain continued to pour relentlessly. In that quiet, sorrowful moment, it almost felt as if she could see her father’s face, a gentle smile on his lips, as though he were standing before her, reaching out to comfort her.
Those who loved deeply were often idealists, while those who seldom loved were realists. Regardless of which path they walked, in the end, there was always regret, always something left unspoken or undone.
At Daltonia Villa, Nathaniel stared at his phone in disbelief as the call ended. The unsettling feeling in his chest only grew stronger. He redialed Cecilia’s number, but once again, only the cold, automated voice greeted him: “Sorry, the number you have dialed is currently unavailable. Please try again later.” His heart raced with growing panic.
Without a second thought, he grabbed his coat and made his way toward the door. But just as his hand reached the doorknob, he froze, uncertainty flooding him. What am I doing? He stood there, feeling torn between frustration and the gnawing fear that something was terribly wrong. “Cecilia is just playing hard to get,” he reasoned with himself. “We’re on the brink of divorce… Why should it matter to me what she does?”
Despite his attempt to dismiss his worries, he found himself back in his bedroom, unable to shake the weight of her words. They echoed in his mind, relentless and biting: “If I had known what my mother and brother did, I would have never… chosen to marry you. If I had known… that you’ve always had feelings for Stella… I would have never married you. If I had known that my father would be in a car accident on my wedding day, I… I wouldn’t have married you.”
The regrets in her voice were palpable, and they pulled at him in ways he didn’t want to admit. Nathaniel’s mind was a whirlwind, but it was as if something was pushing him toward her—compelling him to act, to confront whatever it was that had torn them apart.
He stood outside Cecilia’s door, staring at the dark, empty space beyond it. It had been over a month since she left, but it felt like it had just happened yesterday. With a deep breath, he pushed the door open. The room inside was pitch black, and the emptiness seemed to press in on him, suffocating him with its silence.
He flicked the light switch on. The room was barren, stripped of all its warmth, devoid of anything that felt like home. His gaze swept over the emptiness, and his heart sank as he sat down on the edge of the bed. His hand reached into the bedside drawer, and he pulled out a small, worn notebook.
Inside, he found a single sentence scrawled on one of the pages: “I believe that the one who truly chooses to leave experiences the greatest pain. This is because her heart has already endured countless struggles before she finally made up her mind.”
Nathaniel scoffed bitterly, the words biting at him more than he expected. “Pain? All these years I’ve spent with you, don’t you think I’ve suffered too?” he muttered, frustration boiling inside him. With a sharp motion, he tossed the notebook into the trash, the paper landing with a soft thud.
But as he turned to leave, he was stopped by the sight of the notebook, now carefully placed back on the bedside table, as if it had never been disturbed. He stood there, frozen, for a long moment.
The house felt colder than it ever had before, and he realized that he couldn’t escape the heavy weight of the night. He didn’t sleep at all that evening. His thoughts circled around Cecilia and the things she had said, the pain she had carried for so long, and the things he had failed to see.
Meanwhile, on the other side of town, Calvin was also awake, his mind restless. He had sensed something wasn’t right with Cecilia lately, but he couldn’t quite put his finger on it. At around four in the morning, his phone rang, Martha’s frantic voice cutting through the silence.
“Cal, could you please check on Ceci for me? I just had a really strange dream.”
Concern gripped Calvin’s chest. “What dream?” he asked, his voice tinged with worry.
“I dreamt that something happened to her. She came to me, drenched from the rain, begging me not to forget to take her home.” Martha’s voice trembled with fear. “I was terrified, but when I called her, no one answered. A few days ago, she told me to pick her up on the fifteenth. Something feels wrong…”
Hearing Martha’s words, Calvin’s unease deepened. He jumped out of bed, dressing quickly. “Don’t worry, I’m going to find her right now.”
Within ten minutes, he arrived at Cecilia’s apartment and pushed open the door. The silence in the air was chilling, and the emptiness of the room only intensified his growing sense of dread. The bedroom door was ajar, and the space inside was utterly barren. Cecilia was gone.
His eyes fell on two envelopes placed neatly on the pillow. He picked up the first one and opened it, surprised to find that it was a letter addressed to him. His hands trembled as he read:
“Calvin, I’ve already transferred the rent to your card. Thank you for looking after me these past few days. You know, ever since I arrived in Tudela, I haven’t had any friends. Before we met again, I thought I was such a loser, not even having a single friend. Thankfully, I met you again. You showed me that I wasn’t as bad as I thought, and for that, I’m truly grateful… Please, don’t be upset. I’m just going to see my father; he’ll take care of me.”
The words pierced Calvin’s heart, leaving him feeling utterly helpless. What had happened? Why had she left? What had driven her to make this decision?
In that moment, a sense of dread settled in his chest, and he knew he had to find her—before it was too late.
