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Novel Catalog
Chapter 25 The Truth
It had to be a coincidence, Zachary thought. If Cecilia was the one who had saved him, why had she never mentioned it? And if she had, then everything he had done to her over the years… He closed Cecilia’s medical report with a snap and sat silently in his office, the weight of everything sinking in. The entire night passed in quiet reflection.
The next morning, his thoughts were no clearer. He dialed Stella’s number, trying to shake off the unsettling feelings gnawing at him. “Stella, let’s meet. I have something to discuss with you.”
At a private restaurant, Stella arrived, elegantly dressed, and handed her coat to the waiter. Zachary’s eyes instinctively fell on her smooth, unmarked arms. There were no scars. It made him uneasy, recalling the memory from four years ago when he had been trapped in his car after the accident. The young girl had risked everything to help him, cutting her arm deeply on the shattered glass in the process. The director had even mentioned that the wound required stitches, and that the scar would remain. How could Stella be here, unscathed, when it was Cecilia who had been there?
Under Zachary’s intense gaze, Stella shifted uncomfortably. “Zach, you said you had something to tell me. What is it?”
Zachary snapped out of his thoughts, his tone cooling. “Cecilia is dead.”
Stella’s face froze, then registered shock. “When did this happen? How could it be so sudden?”
Her words seemed to contain disbelief, but Zachary caught a fleeting look of relief in her eyes. Cecilia’s death meant the last obstacle between her and Nathaniel was gone.
“It happened today,” Zachary said, his voice a little detached. “She died from excessive blood loss. The doctors couldn’t save her.”
He raised his glass of red wine, swirling it slowly before downing it in one gulp. Stella’s face revealed a brief flash of joy, but it quickly faded, masked by a sigh.
“This must be fate,” she murmured, her voice taking on a tone of eerie finality. “She had a life most people couldn’t even dream of. She used her family’s power to force a marriage with Nathaniel. And now, her death is nothing but karma.”
Karma? Zachary’s eyes narrowed as a strange chill crept over him. Karma? He thought. What did that even mean? Was it wrong for someone to be born into wealth? Was it wrong for Cecilia to have tried to navigate her circumstances, just like anyone else would?
His silence seemed to chill the air in the room, and Stella immediately tried to backtrack, realizing the implications of her words. “Zach, you know I’m talking about Cecilia. She was just… too scheming.”
Zachary’s lips pressed together in a tight line as he let out a quiet “Mm.” He poured himself another glass of wine, but his mind wasn’t on the drink. He began to reflect carefully. It had always been Stella who told him that Cecilia was scheming. Yet, Zachary had never witnessed any of these so-called schemes firsthand. The only thing he could see from Cecilia was her deep, unwavering love for Nathaniel, her efforts to please everyone around him—even Zachary himself. Could that truly be called scheming?
The wine in his mouth suddenly lost its taste. All this time, he had trusted Stella. How could he have believed she would lie to him about Cecilia? A woman who had risked her life for him, who had shown such selflessness. Was she really a bad person, as Stella painted her?
His voice came out hoarse, the weight of years of doubt pressing on him. “Stella, lately I’ve been dreaming of the past. Of when you saved me. You told me not to be afraid, that everything would be okay. Because of you, I survived. Do you still remember?”
