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Chapter 20 Rotten To The Core
The voice on the other end of the phone was sharp and full of anger—Nathaniel’s voice. Cecilia, still groggy, didn’t immediately recognize it, but the words hit her hard. His tone was bitter, as if he had been waiting for this moment to confront her.
She rubbed her temples, trying to clear the fog from her mind. Her heart beat a little faster as she sat up in bed, adjusting to the sudden tension. “Nathaniel,” she said softly, almost as if testing the waters, “What do you mean?”
A sharp laugh came from Nathaniel. “What do I mean? You disappear for days, and then I find out you’re selling yourself out for money. So tell me, how much is your dignity worth now?” His words felt like a slap, each one cutting deeper than the last.
Cecilia closed her eyes, her hand still gripping the phone tightly. She had braced herself for this confrontation, but hearing it from him still stung. She didn’t want to explain herself to him. She didn’t want to justify her actions. The man who had once been her husband now felt like a stranger—an angry, bitter stranger.
“I didn’t—” she started, but Nathaniel didn’t let her finish.
“No need to lie to me, Cecilia. I already know everything. You think I don’t know you’ve been talking to Stella? My mother sent her, didn’t she?” His voice trembled with a mixture of anger and disappointment. “I never thought you’d sink this low.”
Cecilia’s grip tightened around the phone. She could hear his breathing, heavy and labored with frustration. She didn’t want to argue, didn’t want to defend herself anymore. But the words escaped her lips before she could stop them.
“You don’t understand, Nathaniel. I didn’t do it for the money,” she said quietly, almost too softly for him to hear.
“Then why?” Nathaniel demanded. “Why are you doing this? Why are you making everything so difficult?”
Cecilia sat in the silence that followed his question, her mind racing. She thought about everything she had gone through, everything she had lost. She thought about the promises she had made to herself, to Martha, to the child growing inside her.
“You’ve already made your decisions, Nathaniel,” Cecilia said after a long pause. “And I’ve made mine. I’m done.”
The phone went silent, and for a moment, it felt like the world had stopped spinning. Nathaniel’s anger and frustration were palpable, but it was nothing compared to the numbness she felt. This was the end. She had known it would come to this.
She didn’t wait for him to say anything more. Without another word, she hung up the phone, her fingers trembling. The room felt colder now, as if the last thread of warmth she had held onto had been snapped in two.
